Hydrogen is flowing in pipes under the streets in Cappelle-la-Grande, helping to energize 100 homes in this northern France village. On a short side road adjacent to the town center, a new electrolyzer machine inside a small metal shed zaps water with electricity from wind and solar farms to create “renewable” hydrogen that is fed into the natural gas stream already flowing in the pipes. By displacing some of that fossil fuel, the hydrogen trims carbon emissions from the community’s furnaces, hot-water heaters and stove tops by up to 7 percent.

Cappelle-la-Grande’s system is a living laboratory created by Paris-based energy firm Engie. The company foresees a big scale-up of hydrogen energy as the cost of electrolyzers, as well as of renewable electricity, continues to fall. If Engie is right, blending hydrogen into local gas grids could accelerate a transition from fossil to clean energy.

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