Why such a focus on a US hydrogen strategy against the climate crisis?

The Department of Energy has identified three key priorities for the use of H2 to decarbonize.

The United States Department of Energy (DoE) recently released a draft of a US hydrogen strategy and roadmap with a focus on green H2.

This draft identified the three primary priorities of rolling out this roadmap for the country.

“It is go time for hydrogen and for clean hydrogen, specifically, in the United States, and we do believe for the entire Western Hemisphere,” said US Department of Energy Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on in her opening keynote address at the 2nd Annual Hydrogen Americas Summit. “Hydrogen, it has been said, and I think this is a tremendous analogy, is like the Swiss Army Knife of clean technologies. A tool that, if we get it right, can offer multiple benefits for the economies and for our efforts to overcome climate change.”

The US hydrogen strategy was created with the following priorities:

1. Focusing on strategic, high-impact H2 applications
2. Reducing the cost of clean H2 to $1 per kilogram by 2031
3. Targeting deployment of at least four regional clean H2 hubs

The first goal set out by the US hydrogen strategy was to bring the cost of green H2 down to $1/kg.

That initial goal was announced under the name “Hydrogen Shot”, which was first announced in June 2021. That said, the third goal – the hubs – were announced along with the $8 billion in federal funding for them within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which became law in November 2021.

This latest roadmap draft also lays out the United States goals for the production of 50 million tons of clean H2 annually by 2050. Targets along the way also include 10 million tons by 2030 and 20 million tons by 2040. The current production level has been assessed as “nearly zero”, meaning that all those targets will be a substantial increase.

The United States currently produces around 10 million tons of grey H2 per year. This means that it is produced using unabated fossil fuels, sending greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere during the production, even if the H2 itself can be used without carbon emissions. Among the top goals of the US hydrogen strategy is to decarbonize that production process so that neither the H2 nor the way it’s made will result in CO2 emissions.

To Summarize…

-The United States Department of Energy (DoE) released a draft of a US hydrogen strategy and roadmap that has a focus on green H2.
-The priorities of the strategy are to focus on strategic, high-impact H2 applications, reduce the cost of clean H2 to $1 per kilogram by 2031, and target the deployment of at least four regional clean H2 hubs.
-The goal of the hubs is to increase the production of clean H2 to 50 million tons annually.
-Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from H2 production by transitioning to renewable energy sources
-Improve the efficiency of electrolysis plants
-Develop technology to capture CO2 emissions from hydrogen production and use them for other purposes