It's offering $8 billion to entice the nation’s industries, engineers and planners to figure out how to produce and deliver clean hydrogen. States and businesses are making final pitches Friday as they compete for a new program that will create regional networks, or “hubs,” of hydrogen producers, consumers and infrastructure. The aim is to accelerate the availability and use of the colorless, odorless gas that already powers some vehicles and trains.
Big fossil fuel companies like Chevron and EQT Corporation, renewable energy developers such as Obsidian, and researchers in university and government labs are involved, too. Environmental groups say hydrogen presents its own pollution and climate risks. When emitted into the atmosphere, it boosts volumes of methane and other greenhouse gases, underscoring the need to avoid leaks from hydrogen systems – an issue the hubs should consider, said Nichole Saunders, staff attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund.The Energy Department asked for detailed plans and received 79.
The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub is a partnership involving the state of West Virginia and EQT, the nation's largest natural gas producer, among others. They say their region has enormous gas resources and could produce hydrogen from methane using heat, steam and pressure while capturing the carbon dioxide it would generate.
Some hubs would use both natural gas with carbon capture techniques and renewables, like the HyVelocity proposal in the Gulf region. That hub includes Chevron, Air Liquide, University of Texas, GTI Energy and the Center for Houston’s Future. They say a hub makes sense there because the Texas Gulf Coast already produces 3.5 million metric tons of hydrogen annually, or one-third of all U.S. hydrogen production.