Clean Energy Explained

Making green hydrogen from water & sunlight

A mobile-first guide to how renewable electricity splits water into clean hydrogen fuel — the technology, the energy cost, and the economics across the western United States.

H₂O
Water in, hydrogen & oxygen out
~50 kWh
Electricity per kg of H₂ (real systems)
0 CO₂
Direct emissions at the electrolyzer

What makes hydrogen "green"?

Hydrogen is colorless — the "colors" describe how it's made.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but on Earth it's almost always bound up in other molecules like water (H₂O) or methane (CH₄). To use it as a fuel, you have to pull it out — and how you pull it out determines its climate impact. Green hydrogen is made by using renewable electricity to split water through electrolysis, producing no direct carbon emissions.

GreenElectrolysis powered by renewable electricity (solar, wind, hydro). No direct CO₂.
BlueMade from natural gas, with much of the CO₂ captured and stored.
GreyMade from natural gas without capture — today's most common, most carbon-intensive route.

Explore the guide

Five short chapters, built for reading on a phone.

Why it matters: hydrogen can carry clean energy to places batteries struggle to reach — heavy industry, long-haul transport, steelmaking, and seasonal energy storage. Producing it cleanly and cheaply is one of the central challenges of the energy transition.