WMT - Hydrogen's Make-Or-Break Moment: Industry Awaits Key Treasury Decision On Tax Credits | Benzinga
Hydrogen fuel has been a top-of-mind carbon-free alternative for generations, but after decades of development, the industry is still not producing sizable revenues.
In order to reach full implementation, hydrogen companies rely on government subsidies, including the largest one in history, issued last year within the Inflation Reduction Act.
As an investment strategy, hydrogen's high costs and production hurdles pose significant challenges for bullish investors. Now, a Treasury decision on how subsidies should be regulated could be the make-or-break moment for the industry.
According to a study by Grand View Research, the hydrogen production industry was valued at $155 billion in 2022 and is projected to expand at a 9.3% annual growth rate from 2023 through 2030.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), signed by President Joe Biden in August of last year, was called by the White House "the most significant action Congress has taken on clean energy and climate change in the nation's history."
The ability to use hydrogen as a fuel without releasing harmful emissions into the atmosphere, has placed the compound high on the list of valuable technologies leading the shift to carbon neutrality.
Today, almost all the hydrogen consumed in the United States is used in oil refining, metal production, fertilizer production and food processing, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But the use of hydrogen fuel cells, which combine hydrogen with oxygen to generate electricity, with the byproduct being only water, have raised the industry's prospects to include the possibility of it becoming a main source of power for long-haul shipping, maritime shipping, industrial heating and air travel, among other processes.
Read also: Hydrogen-Electric Vehicles Are Outperforming EVs In Range And Refuel Speed
Hydrogen can also be a ...