President Donald Trump’s administration is planning or has already cut many incentives and programs to produce hydrogen using only electrons. That’s left the door open for China in one area of green tech where it doesn’t yet have a commanding lead.

Today’s newsletter shows what China (and other countries) stand to gain by the US ceding ground on green hydrogen. Plus, we share breaking news on the German government’s new multi-billion incentive program for electric cars and a scoop on layoffs at a major green infrastructure investor. 

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Losing steam

By Lili Pike and Coco Liu

Green hydrogen for making steel and powering ships is one of the few clean technologies where China doesn’t yet have an insurmountable lead. But recent shifts in US policy on hydrogen will impede the country’s ability to compete with China and other rivals in this futuristic fuel source.

The US Department of Energy announced plans last week to cancel funding for two hydrogen hubs on the West Coast, which were allocated $2.2 billion under former President Joe Biden. The hubs were among a list of more than 220 clean energy projects that saw their funding axed amid the government shutdown.

“The US is falling behind on hydrogen, leaving other regions to take the lead,” says Beth Trask, an expert specializing in global energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund.

The projects focused on making and using so-called green hydrogen. The vast majority of hydrogen made today is stripped from natural gas in a process that emits carbon dioxide. But a growing number of companies are working on creating green hydrogen, which is produced using electrolyzers and renewable energy to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Beyond the funding cuts for the hubs, DOE also cancelled awards to several US electrolyzer manufacturers. (The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment.) Earlier this summer, Trump’s tax bill weakened incentives to produce green hydrogen, requiring plants to be under construction by the end of 2027 to qualify for tax credits. The deadline was previously 2032. Tariffs on parts used to make electrolyzers have also driven up production costs in the US.

“There has undoubtedly been a slowdown in project development as companies pause to reassess policy and investment risk under the new administration,” says Roxana Bekemohammadi, executive director of the US Hydrogen Alliance, an industry group focused on low-carbon options.

An electrolyzer stack used to make green hydrogen. Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg

Australian mining giant Fortescue Ltd. announced this summer that it was backing out of a green hydrogen project in Arizona, citing recent policy changes.

By contrast, China has stepped up its support for green hydrogen. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s economic planning agency, released its first national hydrogen plan in 2022 that called for building out 100,000 tons a year of green hydrogen production capacity by 2025.

BloombergNEF projects that the nation will reach double that amount as state-owned enterprises have rushed to comply with the plan. That would represent a large share of the world’s capacity: Facilities were able to produce less than 250,000 metric tons in 2024, BNEF estimates.

China’s National Energy Administration signaled further support for the industry in June with a new nationwide green hydrogen pilot program, pushing all provinces to build out a variety of projects.

“Any retraction in any type of incentives from the government definitely makes it harder to compete with China just because costs are so low over there,” Payal Kaur, a hydrogen analyst at BNEF, says of the US.

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China’s clean energy export record

The West is so far behind, it might be...

EVs get a German boost

By Arne Delfs,  Michael Nienaber and  Kamil Kowalcze

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling alliance agreed on new purchase incentives for zero-emission vehicles worth €3 billion ($3.5 billion) through 2029 as part of his government’s broader effort to support the nation’s ailing carmakers.

Merz announced the measures — targeted at low- and middle-income households — earlier today after talks with his Social Democrat partners in Berlin. The conservative leader is hosting top auto executives and labor officials today to discuss the future of the industry, a key sector of Europe’s biggest economy that is struggling with increasing competition from China and uncertainty around US trade tariffs.

“We agree that we want to do everything we can in the coalition under the responsibility of the federal government to ensure a bright future for the German automotive industry,” Merz said.

A Mercedes-Benz AG Electric G Class vehicle  Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

The coalition, which took office in May, had been expected to unite behind Merz’s push for the European Union to water down its 2035 ban on new combustion-engine vehicles. The chancellor said there will be further discussions with carmakers on the ban and hopefully an agreement on a joint coalition stance.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com.

By Mark Chediak and Coco Liu

Generate Capital PBC, an investment firm that has raised more than $14 billion since 2014 to bankroll largely US-based sustainable projects, has cut staff as the withdrawal of US policy support upends the clean energy investing landscape.

The majority of job cuts were in administrative and corporate operation positions, said Tina Wadhwa, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Generate. Dozens of people were impacted, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment on the number of layoffs and said it currently employs 200.

Last month, Generate brought in David Crane, an industry veteran who served at the Energy Department under former President Joe Biden, to replace co-founder and former CEO Scott Jacobs. In a Sept. 25 post on the firm’s site, Crane said that Generate “made mistakes rooted in the euphoria of the early 2020s” — a period when federal incentives and low interest rates led a boom in clean energy financing. Deviating from the company’s “operational roots” led to “poor performance in one component of our investment portfolio,” Crane wrote.

Solar panels in San Francisco, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

US clean energy investors have been trying to find stable footing following a flurry of policy moves by President Donald Trump’s administration. Those include the withdrawal of billions of dollars handed out during the Biden administration, phasing out of clean energy credits, and halting and delaying permits for renewable energy projects.

Investments in renewable energy fell by $20.5 billion in the US for the first half of the year, according to BloombergNEF. That’s a 36% dip compared to the second half of 2024. Roughly $22 billion in clean energy projects and factories were canceled in the first half of the year as well, according to a report from the nonpartisan group E2.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com and subscribe to Green Daily for more exclusive content on clean technology companies.

Greg Jackson Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

The UK used to be a shining example of how to act on climate change. It created one of the world’s first climate laws in 2008, which bound the government to reduce emissions on tight deadlines. That law used to have cross-party support, but that’s no longer the case with politicians trying to make climate a wedge issue. Greg Jackson, chief executive officer of the UK’s largest energy retailer, Octopus Energy, joins Akshat Rathi on the Zero podcast to discuss his plan to bring down bills and keep the public on the green side.

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday. 

Americans just lost federal tax credits for buying an electric vehicle, but charging one has grown more convenient in recent months with about 780 public high-speed charging stations opened in the US in the third quarter. 

Microsoft Corp. warned that it is competing for limited supplies of clean electricity in parts of East Asia, even as its window to achieve a key 2030 climate target narrows.

The US and Finland will sign a deal to kickstart the expansion of the American icebreaker fleet due to the rising geopolitical importance of the Arctic.

A battery-electric e-Truck on the production line in Munich, Germany Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

BloombergNEF’s annual Pioneers awards are open to startups working on transformational technologies to cut emissions. This year’s categories include building more sustainable data centers; flattening the duck curve; and developing low-carbon solutions for shipping and heavy-duty transport. There’s also a wildcard category for startups that don’t fit neatly into those three boxes.

Work at a startup or know someone who does? Submissions of interest are due by October 17. Read our coverage of this year’s Pioneers winners for inspiration. 

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