I keep seeing hydrogen hyped up like it’s going to solve everything. Cars, planes, heating, heavy industry, whatever. Here in the EU every few...
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The original was posted on /r/collapse by /u/TostiTomaat on 2025-11-09 12:30:11+00:00.

I keep seeing hydrogen hyped up like it’s going to solve everything. Cars, planes, heating, heavy industry, whatever. Here in the EU every few months it’s the same PR trash: “the future is hydrogen.” Meanwhile, in the real world, it never actually happens. Wonder why. Maybe its the evil BigOil or the jews or who knows holding it back.

Nahw.

The physics and economics are brutal. The whole system bleeds energy and money at every step. Why it’s a fantasy:

  • The energy loss is insane. You start with electricity, run it through electrolysers, then compress or liquefy the gas, move it, and often convert it back to electricity or burn it. By the end, you’ve thrown away half to three-quarters of your original energy. Using that power directly (EVs, heat pumps, etc.) is way more efficient.
  • Infrastructure would cost a fortune. We’d need new pipelines, storage tanks, refuelling stations, ships, safety systems. All for a gas that leaks, corrodes metal, and is hard to store. Imagine rebuilding the entire energy supply chain for this shit.
  • It’s not clean unless your inputs are. Right now, almost all hydrogen is made from fossil gas. “Blue” hydrogen still depends on carbon capture, which doesn’t really work at scale. “Green” hydrogen assumes infinite cheap renewables, which don’t exist and never will.
  • Transport and storage are nightmares. Hydrogen is tiny and sneaky, it leaks through materials and embrittles metals. Keeping it liquid means cryogenic temperatures and big energy losses.
  • Leakage makes warming worse. Even if it’s not a direct greenhouse gas, it changes how the atmosphere handles methane and ozone, which means it still contributes to warming when it escapes.

Governments and greens love to sell the illusion of a clean tech fix that doesn’t require changing the system. It buys time and headlines without touching consumption or growth.

Hydrogen is comforting because it promises that we can keep everything running like before, just with “clean” fuel.

You would think its ThE eViL bIg CoRpOrAtIoNs or the jews but in reality, nobody is willing or capable of 30x your energy bills.