As tensions rise between the U.S. and Iran, two very different stories are playing out in the global energy world. One involves Japan’s hopes for green hydrogen. The other involves California’s $7 billion hydrogen hub program. The two stories are connected in ways that aren’t immediately obvious.
Green hydrogen is made using renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. It doesn’t produce carbon emissions. Many countries see it as a key fuel for the future. Japan has been pushing hard to build a green hydrogen economy. But those plans have faced serious challenges, mostly tied to cost and energy supply.
Green hydrogen produces no emissions — but cost and supply challenges are slowing the race to a cleaner future.
Iran sits near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. About 20% of the world’s oil passes through it. Trump’s threats against Iran, amid broader war tensions in the region, have raised fears that this strait could be disrupted. That kind of disruption would send oil prices higher and make countries more eager to find alternative energy sources. For Japan, which imports most of its energy, that urgency could speed up its push for green hydrogen.
California’s situation is very different. The state received federal funding to build hydrogen hubs as part of a clean energy push under the Biden administration. But shifting political priorities under Trump’s administration have raised serious questions about whether that $7 billion will actually flow. Clean energy programs have faced budget pressures. California’s hydrogen hub projects are now seen as being at risk. The original federal initiative was designed to decarbonize hard-to-electrify industries like shipping and heavy manufacturing, sectors where hydrogen offers unique advantages over batteries.
So the same geopolitical tension that might help Japan’s green hydrogen goals could be hurting California’s. Higher oil prices and energy insecurity tend to push some countries toward hydrogen faster. But in the U.S., political winds are blowing in a different direction right now.
It’s worth noting that the full picture here isn’t entirely clear yet. The search data available doesn’t fully confirm all the connections between Trump’s Iran policy and these specific hydrogen programs. Reportedly, Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gas complex, a critical energy lifeline supplying electricity and export earnings, has added another layer of instability to global energy markets amid the broader regional conflict. Reporters and researchers are still working to piece together exactly how these global forces will shape the hydrogen energy landscape going forward.
