Political hot air lifts hydrogen stocks: here's how to profit

Boris Johnson is committed to a green revolution. Hydrogen, long touted as the obvious answer to our energy woes, will have to be at least a part of that vision. Stuart Watkins reports.

Offshore wind turbines
A greener future is blowing in
(Image credit: © Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Imagine a future where your kettle, your washing machine, your plug-in car and “the whole lot of them will get their juice cleanly and without guilt from the breezes that blow around these islands”, as Boris Johnson invited his audience to do at the virtual Conservative party conference earlier this year. Imagine Britain as the Saudi Arabia of wind. Imagine wind power propelling this country to “commercial greatness” again, just as it once puffed the sails of Drake and Raleigh and Nelson. Imagine a future, post-Covid-19, when investment in new energy technologies has boosted the economy, created tens of thousands of new jobs, and helped the UK to meet its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It’s easy if you try, no doubt. But though you may call the PM a dreamer, he’s not the only one. Europe and China have committed to similarly bold plans, as have Saudi Arabia, Japan and Korea; the US seems likely to too, now that Joe Biden is on his way to the White House. Investors have been placing their bets: the S&P Global Clean-Energy Index has climbed by over 70% since the start of this year.

From vision to reality

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Stuart Watkins
Comment editor, MoneyWeek

Stuart graduated from the University of Leeds with an honours degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, and from Bath Spa University College with a postgraduate diploma in creative writing. 

He started his career in journalism working on newspapers and magazines for the medical profession before joining MoneyWeek shortly after its first issue appeared in November 2000. He has worked for the magazine ever since, and is now the comment editor. 

He has long had an interest in political economy and philosophy and writes occasional think pieces on this theme for the magazine, as well as a weekly round up of the best blogs in finance. 

His work has appeared in The Lancet and The Idler and in numerous other small-press and online publications.