All energy comes with a cost. Fossil fuels, the world’s mainstay, have a high pollution footprint and a dangerous environmental impact, while solar and wind power, frequently touted as options in lieu of hydrocarbons, have extremely low energy densities, intermittent energy production, and a high dollar-cost for installation.
This has engineers seeking out alternatives to both, and hydrogen fuel is frequently touted as just such an alternative. Hydrogen solves the problems inherent in fossil fuels, wind, and solar – it is cheap, abundant, and non-polluting, and can be derived from simple water. Its main drawbacks are high reactivity and flammability, and the attendant regulatory requirements.
This hasn’t stopped energy researchers from working on cheaper, faster modes of producing pure hydrogen from clean feedwater. Chemists at USC are working on an ‘on-demand’ technology to generate hydrogen when and where it’s needed, bypassing the need for high-pressure storage and transport logistics. The key point here is removing the high-pressure systems; that will drastically reduce the input costs of hydrogen power systems.
The advantages of and developments in the hydrogen fuel industry are sparking interest on Wall Street. Leading the charge is Samantha Hoh, an analyst at HSBC, who is intrigued by the industry’s potential. Her recent picks include two hydrogen-related stocks that she predicts could gain up to 65% in the upcoming months.
Do other analysts agree with Hoh? We’ve used the TipRanks database to find out. Let’s take a closer look.
Bloom Energy (BE)
First up is Bloom Energy, a hydrogen company focused on clean fuel cell power generation technology. Bloom’s fuel cells, based on solid oxide technology, use chemical reactions to oxidize a fuel, producing a stable flow of electricity. Being based on hydrogen fuel, the oxidation reaction in the fuel cell generates simple water, pure H2O, as its by-product – but the cells are compatible with several other fuels, including natural gas and biogas. The end result is the end-all be-all of clean energy…
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