Q&A: Hydrogen CEO on branding, tax credits and natural gas - E&E News by POLITICO

HOUSTON — One gas dominated conversations at the global energy conference here last week — and it wasn’t hydrogen.

As speaker after speaker at CERAWeek by S&P Global touted natural gas, the tone around hydrogen suggested it could be a tool to help the fossil fuel industry grow and to make products like fertilizer without necessarily transforming the U.S. energy landscape.

Frank Wolak, CEO of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, said the industry has reached an inflection point. People in the hydrogen business are looking at where the gas is already being used and where demand already exists — including in industries such as oil refining.

“You can be cleaner and better, and also make money and serve industries that are already in place,” Wolak said in an interview.