During America’s leading hydrogen event #H2Americas2024 Summit & Exhibition, we spoke to global and regional #hydrogen and #energy leaders about the future outlook for the hydrogen industry, including an interview with Michael Hecht, President & CEO, Greater New Orleans Inc.
“Michael Hecht the President and CEO of Greater New Orleans inc out of New Orleans Louisiana.
What I think what came across in the panel is that hydrogen is real, the hydrogen projects are very real. In Louisiana we have literally 10s of billions of dollars of projects that have already been announced, so there is a real base for hydrogen, blue and green and beyond, but at the same time there are challenges, there are technological challenges, there are political challenges, there are infrastructure challenges and so I think it’s important that we get excited about this vision for hydrogend future, that we recognize there are templates we can look back to. For example what happened with natural gas and for example the Henry hub versus the hubs that we are building for hydrogen, but at the same time being realistic. It’s going to take some time, at the end of the day the cheapest molecule is always going to win so we have to get down to that price point and we have to be politically balanced. So if we take that visionary and patient approach then we’ll succeed with hydrogen locally and globally.
It’s important because there’s going to be learnings that we’re going to be able to get from each other, for example in Louisiana, we probably have the best place in terms of infrastructure, geology and politics to do hydrogen projects in the United States right now, but we don’t have the reputation say of a Texas, so for us to be able to talk to perspective investors, people who we can learn from, respective international partners, it has huge benefits just potentially in terms of attracting investment and us becoming part of the global movement to hydrogen. We can’t do that if we’re not together at an event like Hydrogen Americas.
I find that any good conference does a few things, it provides inspiration because you see others that are doing better than you that you can be inspired from, it provides networking, people you can learn from going forward, and it provides a cohort which is going to give you an ongoing learning opportunity, and from the people that I’ve met here today it seems that this conference is hitting all 3 of those marks really well.
I think that the truth of it what really is driving that is the Inflation Reduction Act which of course is really a climate act, a massive piece of climate infrastructure investment bill, and so what happens now is that when you talk to not just innovators and universities and startups but the super majors, there all investing in hydrogen now because frankly the proper incentive is there to make it financially viable. I think that’s why when you come out of a conference like this you realize that this genie is not getting back in the bottle, this tooth paste is not getting back in the tube because the financial incentive has now kicked off the innovation and now it’s about how do we make it work overtime.
For us to win at hydrogen on a global basis, we’re going to have to de-risk it, de-risk it financially, de-risk it in terms of business relationships and de-risk it politically. And if we take that attitude that while we are innovating at the same time we are de-risking, that type of balance approach I think will lead to growth into the future.”
Join us at #H2Americas2025
We’re returning to Washington D.C. to once again provide global and regional #hydrogen and #energy leaders the opportunity to meet the entire hydrogen ecosystem at #H2Americas2025 Summit & Exhibition taking place on 3-4 September 2025. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness the latest products and solutions, learn the latest news, policies and updates, establish key connections and sign business deals to accelerate the deployment of the hydrogen economy. Register your place among hydrogen pioneers.
