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Across the country, states are forging pacts with neighbors or seeking billions of dollars in federal funding to build self-made “hydrogen hubs” in the puzzle to decarbonize the US economy.
But how much role it should play is debatable.
The U.S. Department of Energy is about to distribute $7 billion from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill that could fund up to 10 Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs are defined as “networks of clean hydrogen producers, potential clean hydrogen consumers, and close connectivity infrastructure” and will be located throughout the country.
“H2Hubs is a center for helping communities across the country benefit from clean energy investments, high-paying jobs and improved energy security while supporting President Biden’s goal of a net zero carbon economy by 2050. It will be a powerful driving force,” the agency said. news release Last month called the federal cash injection one of the biggest in DOE history.
That cash pool joins the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. hydrogen production enacted tax credits and big changes carbon capture tax credit – It can also boost hydrogen.
“Several states will be motivated by climate goals. Hydrogen is an important tool for achieving those climate goals,” said a professor of mechanical engineering and executive director of the Energy Laboratory at Colorado State University. says Brian Wilson. “Others are really motivated by economic development and hydrogen represents a tremendous new business opportunity.”
Wilson is also a film director. Rocky Mountain Alliance for Next Generation Energyconsists of universities and national laboratories from four western states providing technical support to efforts to create a western interstate hydrogen hub. collaboration It is between the two red states and the two blue states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Matt Fry, Senior Policy Manager, Carbon Management, Nonprofit Great Plains Institute A former adviser to Republican Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said even conservative states oppose the need to capture carbon and the apparent effects of a changing climate.
“We know this is what we have to do,” he said. “We will use hydrogen in bridging from a fossil fuel-based economy to an electrified economy.”
A similar hub agreement has been signed between them. Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas; Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin When Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New YorkMinnesota and Wisconsin have separate states. Memorandum Together with Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, we aim to “accelerate and improve” clean hydrogen production.When Oregon and Washington We are also working together to create a hub for the Pacific Northwest.
other states, etc. pennsylvania When Georgiastarted an effort to create its own hub.
“A hub is an area where you have the resources to produce it, the resources to use it, and the resources to balance its supply and demand,” said Jeffrey Preece, director of research and development at the Power Research Institute. trying to concentrate on “We are still working on where and how we deploy hydrogen in a decarbonized future. Bringing stakeholders together is key to understanding this. By guessing, you can actually find out where you’re facing the limitations of today’s infrastructure.”
why hydrogen?
There is consensus that hydrogen is released. no carbon emissions If burned, electrification could become a major part of addressing the hard-to-decarbonize parts of the economy where electrification is not feasible. Shipping, aviationheavy ground transport like a rail, industries such as steelmaking and cement. hydrogen fuel cell power heavy vehicle Long haul tractor-trailers that require more range than batteries can currently provide, or hydrogen can be used for Produces fuel compatible with existing internal combustion engines.
You can also blend— up to a point Now — natural gas is burned in gas turbines to generate electricity. In what has been called the largest test of its kind, the Georgia Power Reported in June The company was able to burn a 20% hydrogen mixture in one of the turbines at its Plant McDonough-Atkinson natural gas power plant outside Atlanta, reducing CO2 emissions by 7%.
However, the cleanliness of hydrogen depends on how it is produced.just now most hydrogen In the United States, steam methane reforming with natural gas, the so-calledgray hydrogen“Green” hydrogen is produced by an electrolysis process using clean energy. “Blue” hydrogen comes from fossil fuels, carbon captureCO2, which normally climbs stacks and flues, is excluded from emissions, underground storagealthough more and more efforts are being made to find Beneficial use for that carbon.
Little of the precious green or blue hydrogen is currently being produced, but Wilson said the hydrogen hub, production tax credits, and Department of Energy “hydrogen shotAn initiative to reduce the cost of hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources to $1 per kilogram over the next decade from about $5 per kilogram today could change that.
“There is no doubt that hydrogen from fossil sources is cheaper now,” he said. “But as the cost of renewable energy continues to fall and the cost of hydrogen continues to fall, the case for green hydrogen becomes very compelling.”
However, given its dynamic, environmental groups believe that renewable energy and electrification (e.g., home heating It has the potential to extend the life of fossil fuels, especially natural gas.
“In general, with hydrogen, we feel there are some good opportunities, but also some very bad potential, depending on how this is implemented,” he said. said Patrick Drup, deputy legislative director for climate and clean air at the Sierra Club. .
Drupp noted that political controversy over the infrastructure bill has created some constraints for the Department of Energy in evaluating hydrogen hub proposals.
“There were certain things that the law required that we disagree with,” he said. “DOE needs to focus on making hydrogen deliver the best possible results.”
for example, at least one Hubs must demonstrate hydrogen production from fossil fuels (with carbon capture), one from nuclear power and one from renewable energy. Also, they must be located in different regions of the United States, and “at least two in areas with abundant natural gas resources, including H2Hub, and using energy resources that are abundant in those areas.” says the DOE document.
Drupp said building a large-scale hydrogen economy with its own storage and transportation requirements would require expensive infrastructure, such as new pipelines to process the high concentrations of hydrogen mixed into the natural gas system. I pointed out that I would need it.
As of March, natural gas and power companies had proposed more than 20 pilot projects related to the production and distribution of hydrogen for power generation, building heating, or other uses. report Energy Innovation, Policy & Technology, a non-partisan energy and climate policy think tank. Mixing hydrogen and natural gas for such purposes does little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, “hindering more viable decarbonization pathways, increasing costs for consumers and increasing air pollution.” It could exacerbate the situation and pose a safety risk,” the report warns.
“There’s a lot of money out there,” Drupp said. “The gas industry has seen the writing on the wall and sees this as an opportunity to prolong the industry.”
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