Hydrogen Hype is Back! Should we believe it this time?

Hydrogen-powered vehicles are back in the headlines, with major manufacturers including JCB, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota investing in new hydrogen technologies. But while battery-electric vehicle sales continue to grow, hydrogen transport remains stubbornly uncompetitive. With insights from energy experts Paul Martin and Michael Barnard, we examine the physics, economics, environmental impacts and infrastructure challenges behind hydrogen fuel cells and combustion engines — and ask why governments and industry are still pouring billions into a technology that struggles to compete with direct electrification. Help support this channel's independence at http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink Or with a donation via Paypal by clicking here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GWR73EHXGJMAE&source=url You can also help keep my brain ticking over during the long hours of research and editing via the nice folks at BuyMeACoffee.com https://www.buymeacoffee.com/justhaveathink Reference Links Paul Martin - The Case Against Hydrogen Trucks https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/case-against-hydrogen-trucks-paul-martin-gq5mc/ Paul Martin et al - A Review of Challenges Using the Natural Gas System for Hydrogen. https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.1861 Paul Martin - Green Hydrogen as a Fuel is a Zombie Meme https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/green-hydrogen-fuel-zombie-meme-paul-martin-gpplc/ H2 Science Coalition https://h2sciencecoalition.com/trackers/ Michael Barnard - How Much does Hydrogen Leak and How Much Does it Matter? https://cleantechnica.com/2024/10/21/how-much-does-hydrogen-leak-and-how-much-does-it-matter/ Michael Barnard - Hydrogen Has Narrative Density. Electrification Has Deployment Density. https://briefing.tfie.io/p/hydrogen-has-narrative-density-electrification Michael Barnard - Zero Emission Bus Procurement https://briefing.tfie.io/p/zero-emission-bus-procurement-has Hoppe et al - Cost competitiveness of alternative heavy-duty technologies under real-world utilisation profiles https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-76265-1 Wallington et al - Green hydrogen pathways, energy efficiencies, and intensities for ground, air, and marine transportation https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435124003416 ICCT - The EV Transition Check 2026 https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ID-687-%E2%80%93-high-9.1-Transition-Check-2026-Research-Brief-A4-50216-v6.pdf SNE Research links https://www.sneresearch.com/en/insight/release_view/746/page https://sneresearch.com/en/insight/release_view/707/page Check out other YouTube Climate Communicators Simon Clark: youtube.com/user/SimonOxfPhys ClimateTown: youtube.com/channel/UCuVLG9pThvBABcYCm7pkNkA Dr Gilbz youtube.com/@DrGilbz zentouro: youtube.com/user/zentouro Climate Adam: youtube.com/user/ClimateAdam Kurtis Baute: youtube.com/user/ScopeofScience Sarah Karvner: youtube.com/channel/UCRwMkTu8sCwOOD6_7QYrZnw Beckisphere: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT39HQq5eDKonaUV8ujiBCQ Our Changing Climate : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXvxXpDJXp-mZu3pFMzYHQ