I don’t think that’s the case here in Japan. I’ve read several papers that indicate there is an emerging consensus in the manufacturing industries that hydrogen is the way to go for a lot of things.
Case in point, in greenhouse agriculture, there is a strong move towards replacing fossil fuel heaters with hydrogen burners, which not only heat the greenhouse, they add humidity and are virtually pollution free.
Hitachi is spending a lot of money on hydrogen technology, and of all the big name Japanese firms I am familiar with, they are the ones that consistently come up with the most surprising successful innovations, so I am not going to bet against them on this.
How are they planning to generate the hydrogen?