Should You Buy Fuel Cell Stocks in 2021?
Fuel cell stocks had a great run in 2020. Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) led the way as its stock surged a whopping 973% during the year. Though it's been around for decades, hydrogen fuel cell technology has seen renewed interest in part due to a push from the European Commission, which envisions 13%-14% of Europe's energy coming from hydrogen by 2050. Considering Europe's progress in using renewable sources -- including solar and wind -- for electricity generation, its vision for hydrogen has some chances of materializing. So, is the enthusiasm behind fuel cell stocks well-founded? Let's discuss what may and may not work for fuel cell stocks in 2021 and beyond.
Hydrogen fuel cells can produce energy without any direct carbon emissions, their only by-product being water. However, nearly 95% of all the hydrogen in the U.S. is currently derived from natural gas, so it's not as clean as it looks. Nonetheless, the objective is to increasingly use renewable sources to produce hydrogen, which essentially makes it a zero-emission source of energy.
Image source: Getty Images.
Source Fool.com
