Michael Liebreich is an outspoken critic of hydrogen for transportation & energy solutions. Michael purports to be an objective resource on energy information but he is a ground floor investor in ChargePoint which presents a conflict of interest to his objectivity. ChargePoint bills itself as the world’s leading EV charging network and says they focus on their “commitment to EV charging—and only EV charging”.[1] Michael says we must choose only one solution for entire market segments like energy & transportation; and he says hydrogen cannot compete economically in those segments. Michael has fabricated a narrative he calls the Hydrogen Ladder to support his investments and sow doubt about hydrogen. Michael specifically and aggressively tries to discourage sovereign investments directed toward hydrogen through Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms. Michael uses his bully pulpit to try to kill off hydrogen ambitions he perceives as threats to his personal investments with information that misleads the public.
RMP has largely ignored Michael Liebreich over the past few years as one more blustery voice among many that would use their platform to smear hydrogen’s economic potential. I decided to post this article on RMP to debunk Michael’s Hydrogen Ladder after he was invited to give the keynote speech at the October 2022 World Hydrogen Congress in Rotterdam. It is important to speak up and speak out against information that misleads the public and does not serve the best interest of our economy and our environment. Just like RMP has debunked false narratives spun to smear hydrogen from Dr. Ulf Bossel & Mark Jacobson, RMP will now debunk Michael Liebreich’s Hydrogen Ladder.
Introduction
RMP follows the energy sector of our economy closely and has a history as an environmental watchdog organization. The org was formed when HVHF oil companies came to Michigan in 2008 to produce small amounts of natural gas & oil using record amounts of our fresh water resources. RMP seeks to expose human avarice that threatens our fresh water public natural resources for private profits when headlines don’t jive with the underlying data. RMP’s core mission is to protect our fresh water natural resources. RMP has been successful exposing threats to our environment because of our focus on how energy operations work in the real world and how those operations generate profits & losses using our natural resources. RMP uses a simple formula at the heart of our research: follow the money.
RMP has gathered a wealth of energy infrastructure data in a relational database over the past 14 years that allows insight into how legislators and decision makers use our natural resources. RMP uses this relational database of energy infrastructure to debunk or corroborate claims made in the news or on social media by people like Michael Liebreich. Because RMP has one of the most (if not the most) comprehensive public & free to use databases of hydrogen infrastructure in North America, RMP is particularly well suited to debunk false claims about hydrogen fuel cells & hydrogen infrastructure. In this post, RMP will apply our Continue reading “Michael Liebreich’s Hydrogen Ladder Debunked”
