H2? Oh.

The universe cares not for the laws of supply and demand, else why would hydrogen, the universe's most abundant element, be so expensive to harness? Literally ligher than air, hydrogen also offers the cleanest, greenest source of power for automotive and industrial use. The key to making it affordable? Innovation.

Thus China unironically vows to lead the way in spurring and implementing that innovation. Sarcasm seldom translates well into Mandarin, and lately the jibes of "copycat" have grown less frequent, what with advances in AI , becoming the global leader in new patents, and ranking 9th in the Global Innovation Index, just behind the United States. The question is, how could such innovation shape the clean energy landscape?

"Even if a relatively cheap way to manufacture 'green' hydrogen for fuel cells is found, conventional battery-powered EV has a huge head start, and is already on a lowering-cost curve," says Jimmie Jeremejev. "Nonetheless, China's government is offering huge subsidies to all manner of companies pursuing innovative hydrogen technologies. I'd say the smart play is to invest in companies that will use hydrogen for more traditional industries, such as steel production."