As Canada works to reduce the pollution generated by its power stations, attention has turned toward hydrogen, a versatile fuel that can be produced by using electricity to separate water into its elements. Nowhere in the country is the electricity for that demanding process more plentiful than along the exposed western coast of Newfoundland, near Stephenville, where powerful Atlantic gusts blow almost continuously. The idea is not new, since factories have used hydrogen in their processes for several decades. What is new is the scale of the ambition, as companies now intend to build enormous coastal wind farms and harness them to produce "green" hydrogen for sale at home and abroad.
Green hydrogen holds several clear advantages over competing clean fuels. When the fuel is burned, it releases nothing but ordinary water vapour, and therefore contributes no greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Unlike electricity, hydrogen can be stored within pressurized tanks and drawn upon whenever it is needed, which means it can supply power even during calm periods when the turbines stand motionless. It can also drive the heavy trucks and cargo ships that today's batteries remain too weak to move. Because the fuel is made only from water and wind, resources that are abundant along this coast, its essential raw materials will never run short.
