Watching the UK government grapple with energy policy, we’ve seen U-turns and varying views on how to tackle the UK’s future energy security and short-term energy crisis. 

On the one hand, we saw the rather controversial decision to lift the ban on fracking, since reversed. On the other, as Jacob Rees-Mog puts it, the hydrogen ‘silver bullet’. Speaking to the House of Commons, he remarked that “with some adjustments [hydrogen could be] piped through to people’s houses to heat them during the winter.” 

The sheer scope of potential applications puts hydrogen firmly in the picture as a long-term solution to the energy transition challenge. But can hydrogen take us from hero (fuel) to zero (emissions)? In this article, we explore the arguments for and against hydrogen as a fossil fuel alternative.