Hydrogen is bound by some inconvenient facts of physics. Breaking it from oxygen in water requires huge amounts of energy, which to be climate friendly must come from low carbon sources like wind or nuclear already much in demand. If you want to say that you made clean hydrogen, you've got to be actually drawing on a power source to run what's called your electrolyzer.
The EPA has just announced new rules for power plants to clean up their act. But to get to those lower limits, companies might have to switch to two largely untested technologies in the power sector: hydrogen production and carbon capture.
This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and Amanda Lewellyn, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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