Renewable energy technology is a tale of two trajectories. Over the past decade, we’ve seen dramatic cost reductions for solar power, wind power, and batteries stemming from a mixture of technological improvements, economies of scale and learning effects. This is all great news for decarbonization, yet a few key pieces are still missing¹. Critically, we need a form of cheap, scalable, long-term energy storage, a means of decarbonizing heavy industry and chemical synthesis, and a form of chemical energy for long-haul transportation where batteries will likely be impractical for the foreseeable future. Is green hydrogen the solution?

The hot word in the power grid these days is ‘dispatchability’. The ability to adjust power output, or on the other end, adjust power consumption on demand is vital to balancing the grid¹. Dispatchable generation and dispatchable loads will become increasingly valuable with heavier penetration of non-dispatchable renewable generation, such as wind and solar.

The favorable economics of renewables and zero marginal cost of production mean that in many cases, it will make economic sense to overbuild generation capacity and simply curtail production when it isn’t needed. An even more economically sensible option is for large consumers with load flexibility to perform demand response, turning up their consumption when electricity is plentiful and turning down or even idling when generation is low.

On June 21, 1961, in a dusty small town in Texas, about 60 miles south of Houston, President John F. Kennedy stepped up to the podium to make a speech before the assembled throngs of people below. Or rather, his aides did. The ongoing Cuban missile crisis demanded his presence in Washington, so he instead gave the speech through a telephone call. The event, however, was deemed of sufficient importance that Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was in attendance.