The Future Is Colorful—An Analysis of the CO2 Bow Wave and Why Green Hydrogen Cannot Do It Alone

In both the private and public sectors, green hydrogen is treated as a promising alternative to fossil energy commodities. However, building up production capacities involves significant carbon production, especially when considering secondary infrastructure, e.g., renewable power sources. The amount of required capacity well involved calculated in this article. Using Germany an example we show that switch purely bow waves terms financial resource demand. An economic model for optimal decision derived and—based on empirical estimates—calibrated. It shows that, even if competitive technology future, using alternatives like turquoise or capture storage necessary significantly reduce avoid mentioned waves.