The project is part of an audacious plan to create hydrogen, which produces no carbon dioxide when burned, and store it in caverns until electricity is needed.
The crisis, worsened partly by climate change, has been accompanied by soaring food prices and could have consequences for hunger, elections and migration worldwide.
There were 28 storms, wildfires or other disasters that each cost at least one billion dollars in damages, a sign of the growing economic burden of climate change.