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Outside/In: The future was hydrogen

A man stands between rows of hydrogen tanks on a spring day. Patches of snow litter the ground.
Felix Poon
/
NHPR
Mike Strizki stands in his New Jersey yard.

Mike Strizki drives the only hydrogen-powered car on the East Coast. That’s because he’s the only person with access to the fuel — which he makes, by himself, in his backyard in New Jersey.

And it’s not just his car. Mike’s house, his lawnmower, even his bicycle are all powered by hydrogen. He’s convinced that this element could be the single most important solution to the climate crisis, if only people and governments would just get on board.

But he’s been screaming this from the rooftop of his hydrogen house for two decades. And today, fewer than 0.2% of cars in the U.S. run on hydrogen. What’s it like to be the earliest early adopter of a technology that never catches on? Does Mike still have a chance to be proven right?

Featuring Mike Strizki.

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

A toy hydrogen car sits in a garage, next to a family photo of three young children.
Felix Poon
An old photo of Mike Strizki’s children sits next to a hydrogen-powered remote control car and Star Wars figurines.
A blue toyta with images of hydrogen equipment decaled onto it sits in a driveway. Mike walks into frame, hands in pocket.
Felix Poon
Mike Strizki has decaled his Toyota Mirai with a diagram of the car’s components under the hood, trunk, and seats of the car.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

In the race to decarbonize cars, battery electric vehicles have proven more popular than hydrogen. But debate still rages about which is the better zero-emission technology. Some say hydrogen cars cannot catch up to battery-electric vehicles, whereas others claim EVs aren’t the future — hydrogen is.

Mike Strizki and his hydrogen-powered house have been featured on The Wall Street Journal, ABC World News, and a number of New York Times articles including “The Zero-Energy Solution,” and “The Gospel of Hydrogen Power.”

SUPPORT

To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon

Editing by Taylor Quimby

Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.

Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Lennon Hutton, and Walt Adams

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.

Felix Poon first came to NHPR in 2020 as an intern, producing episodes for Outside/In, Civics 101, and The Second Greatest Show on Earth. He went to work for Gimlet Media’s How to Save a Planet before returning in 2021 as a producer for Outside/In. Felix’s Outside/In episode Ginkgo Love was featured on Spotify's Best Podcasts of 2020.
Outside/In is a show where curiosity and the natural world collide. Click here for podcast episodes and more.
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