HOUSTON — Oil industry executives said on Monday they are skeptical that hydrogen can be used as a viable alternative fuel, potentially throwing a wrench into governments’ climate goals.
The heads of Exxon Mobil, Saudi Aramco and global trading company Gunvor all said the high cost of producing clean hydrogen was preventing it from displacing oil and natural gas. Their pessimism comes as Europe and the United States have created incentives aimed at making the fuel a linchpin in reducing greenhouse gas emissions at industrial sites that are ill-suited to use renewable energy.
Exxon Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Darren Woods told CERAWeek conference in Houston he doubted the United States would meet its goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions in 2050 — partly because the cost green hydrogen made from renewable energy was too high for customers.
“One of the challenges here is while society wants to see emissions reduced, nobody wants to pay for it,” Woods said.
