The Latitude: Could government rules mess with green hydrogen's growth?

‍This week's The Carbon Copy was a cross-over episode with The Latitude podcast.

The green hydrogen industry in the United States is at a critical juncture.

After months of input and debate, the government put out draft rules for tax credits at the end of last year — setting strict requirements for matching new, local renewables to hydrogen production.

It was hailed by many as a really important step for ensuring that green hydrogen actually lives up to its name. But across the industry, the reaction has been mixed — even among those who want to make the industry as clean as possible.

Maeve Allsup, one of our reporters at Latitude Media, started asking around the industry: how are these rules impacting projects?

"It's sort of a split in the industry, I think is what we found as we were talking to different folks," she told The Carbon Copy host Stephen Lacey. "There are people who are saying, we need the strictest guidance and we need it now to ensure that the hydrogen industry that we're building is truly green, and then there are other people who say, we need to ease into this, we're doing too much too soon and we're sort of choking off industry growth right as it's getting off the ground."

This week, we have a crossover episode with The Latitude, a podcast that brings you stories from our journalists and columnists reporting at the commercial edge of energy tech, markets, and deals. Editor Lisa Martine Jenkins presents two features from the pages of Latitude Media on how the U.S. green hydrogen industry is responding to new rules and canceling some projects.

This episode is brought to you by The Big Switch. In a new 5-episode season, we’re digging into the ways batteries are made and asking: what gets mined, traded, and consumed on the road to decarbonization? Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows.