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Can green hydrogen save a coal town and slow climate change?

A smokestack stands at a coal plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Developers in rural Utah who want to create big underground caverns to store hydrogen fuel won a $504 million loan guarantee this spring. They plan to convert the site of the 40-year-old coal power plant to cleanly-made hydrogen by 2045. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Trevor Johnson speaks during an interview Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Developers in rural Utah who want to create big underground caverns to store hydrogen fuel won a $504 million loan guarantee this spring. "People are fine with the concept and the idea of it being built," Johnson, one of the GOP primary winners said. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Delta City Council member Nicholas Killpack poses for a photo on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Killpack is optimistic about plans to make his town a hydrogen power hub, but says many worry about jobs at the closing coal plant. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Cows peek out of a fence near a highway on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. In this tiny Utah town surrounded by cattle, alfalfa fields and scrub-lined desert highways, hundreds of workers over the next few years will be laid off as the coal power plant closes— casualties of environmental regulations and competition from cheaper energy sources. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A tractor drives along Main Street during the Fourth of July parade Monday, July 4, 2022, in Delta, Utah. In this tiny Utah town surrounded by cattle, alfalfa fields and scrub-lined desert highways, hundreds of workers over the next few years will be laid off as the coal power plant closes— casualties of environmental regulations and competition from cheaper energy sources. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A tractor carries hay through a field Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Delta, Utah. In this tiny Utah town surrounded by cattle, alfalfa fields and scrub-lined desert highways, hundreds of workers over the next few years will be laid off as the coal power plant closes— casualties of environmental regulations and competition from cheaper energy sources. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Employees of Sawtooth Caverns walk in front of transmission towers at a power plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. In three years, the power lines will start being used to transport power generated with hydrogen to consumers in California and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Coal-fired electricity is transmitted through a substation at Intermountain Power Plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. In three years, the power lines will start being used to transport power generated with hydrogen to consumers in California and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Cecil Crow walks through an electricity substation at Intermountain Power Plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. In three years, the power lines will start being used to transport power generated with hydrogen to consumers in California and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) This artist rendering provided by Mitsubishi Power Americas shows what Advanced Clean Energy Storage Developers plan to create using caverns in impermeable salt formations underground in Delta, Utah, where they can store hydrogen fuel and sell it to electricity providers. In three years, plans call for mixing the hydrogen with natural gas to provide energy for the nearby Intermountain Power Plant (Advanced Clean Energy Storage I LLC/Mitsubishi Power Americas via AP) Piles of coal wait to be burned outside Intermountain Power Plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Developers in rural Utah who want to create big underground caverns to store hydrogen fuel won a $504 million loan guarantee this spring. They plan to convert the site of the 40-year-old coal power plant to cleanly-made hydrogen by 2045. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A sign reading Danger is displayed at a power plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Developers in rural Utah who want to create big underground caverns to store hydrogen fuel won a $504 million loan guarantee this spring. They plan to convert the site of a 40-year-old coal power plant to cleanly-made hydrogen by 2045. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Intermountain Power Agency spokesperson John Ward walks through a coal power plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Developers in rural Utah who want to create big underground caverns to store hydrogen fuel won a $504 million loan guarantee this spring. They plan to convert the site of the 40-year-old coal plant to cleanly-made hydrogen by 2045. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A smokestack stands at a coal plant on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. Developers in rural Utah who want to create big underground caverns to store hydrogen fuel won a $504 million loan guarantee this spring. They plan to convert the site of the plant completely to cleanly-made hydrogen by 2045. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)