New Mexico governor seeks hydrogen investment with trip to Netherlands

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The governor of New Mexico has announced plans to court new investments in hydrogen fuel development at a business summit in the Netherlands over the coming week.

In a news release Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she’ll lead a delegation to an industry summit exhibition in the port city of Rotterdam seeking the “opportunity to sell New Mexico as a dynamic and thriving place for hydrogen industry investment.” She led a similar mission last year to Australia to talk with hydrogen entrepreneurs.

Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has been a vocal proponent of investments in hydrogen as a transition fuel that can replace fossil fuels with cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity.

Some environmentalists call hydrogen a false solution because it frequently relies on natural gas as a fuel source. Several New Mexico-based groups have resisted proposed state incentives for hydrogen development, citing concerns that it would prolong natural gas development and increase demand for scarce water supplies.