Does the Hydrogen Economy Have a Pipeline Problem?

The hydrogen economy has become one of the dominant investing themes of 2020, but investors might regret chasing fuel cell stocks higher.

Fuel cell manufacturers Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) and Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) have hooked investors on their hydrogen manufacturing ambitions. It seems simple enough. After all, an electrolyzer (the device that produces hydrogen) is essentially a fuel cell running in reverse. Throw in the facts hydrogen fuels can be produced from renewable energy and consumed without generating carbon emissions, and the hydrogen economy begins to take shape. 

The pitch looks great in investor presentations, but it's a little too simplistic. There are enormous technical obstacles standing in the way of the hydrogen economy, including one of the most fundamental aspects of energy: transporting it from the point of generation to the point of consumption. Could that be enough to trip up these anointed growth stocks?

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Source Fool.com