The Hydrogen Hype: Solving Renewable Intermittency and Deep Decarbonization

Policy Punchline

Sunita Satyapal is the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). She is one of the most knowledgeable experts and policymakers on the topic of hydrogen – an ever more important topic in the energy world. While usually hydrogen is overshadowed by its solar and wind peers, it is the most abundant resource in the world and may prove to be a crucial piece to decarbonizing the modern world. Having worked in academia, industry and now government, Dr. Satyapal has a unique perspective on the intersection of these different forces in helping hydrogen reach commercial status. While hydrogen has come to the attention of financiers and energy aficionados in recent weeks due to proposals by the incoming Biden administration and the success of some smaller hydrogen companies, researchers like Dr. Satyapal have spent years learning the intricacies of not just individual companies, but the micro-level processes of how hydrogen works. The conservation starts with Dr. Satyapal explaining what exactly hydrogen and hydrogen energy are, debunking some myths and walking us through the power creation and storage processes. We then discuss the cost of hydrogen, which is currently a huge barrier for the technology to come to market, and how cost reduction projections may allow it to compete without subsidies in the near future. Dr. Satyapal noted how this hydrogen “hype cycle” differs from the previous one, which occurred in the early 2000s. The more mature hydrogen technologies benefited from the previous deluge of investment, but new research and development advancements have pushed it to be far closer to commercialization than ever before. As she oversees various research opportunities, she also emphasizes the importance of government funding in ensuring the success of future R&D. We also touch on Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCV), its differences from electric vehicles (EV), and the importance of decarbonizing the transportation sector in a long-term view of the country. A competitor to lithium-ion batteries, hydrogen may prove to be the more sensible route towards electrifying fleets of cars and buses. Overall, our conversation with Dr. Satyapal was filled with optimism and enthusiasm as entrepreneurs, government officials, and academic researchers all help the drive towards making hydrogen an important part of the clean energy future.