氢 can play a starring role in a clean 能源 future — but only if it finds a critical mass of initial support. The federal government is about to drop $8 billion to ensure that happens.

A U.S. Department of Energy initiative designed to spur hydrogen adoption is less than two months away from reaching a milestone. In September, department officials intend to select winners for the 区域清洁氢中心 程序.

The department will select six to 10 sites to split $7 billion to build networks that link producers, infrastructure providers and customers across multiple industries, 包括运输. The government will spend an additional $1 billion to jump-start hydrogen demand in the early years of production.

Officials tout the hub initiative as a "once in a generation opportunity" to build support for hydrogen, an abundant element that when used as a fuel emits water vapor rather than carbon dioxide — the main global warming contributor.

“氢是一种奇妙的分子,Melissa Klembara说, director of portfolio strategy in the department's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, 由谁来监督氢能中心项目.

但这里有个问题. 氢 is more expensive today than incumbent fuel technologies such as gasoline and diesel. And it is only as green as the 能源 used to produce it. Some observers fear increased use might do more environmental harm than good.

A green hydrogen refueling station for city buses in Barcelona, Spain.

尽管如此, federal officials and industry experts believe hydrogen can decarbonize up to 25 percent of global 能源 emissions, 根据能源部的说法, and it stands as a pillar in a White House goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

一路走来, the hub 程序 is hoped to give the nascent hydrogen economy a trampoline bounce toward commercial viability.

“这是巨大的。,布莱恩·诺曼说, senior business development manager with Honeywell's Sustainable Technology Solutions division. "There are a lot of challenges for the industry to work through that need to be solved. But this is exciting because it really kick-starts private interest."
这可能是一个保守的说法.

The initial response to the hub initiative exceeded Energy Department expectations, Klembara said. 79个实体提交了概念文件. 集体, 他们要求近600亿美元的资金, more than seven times the amount available in the 程序 outlined in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

进一步, those proposals outlined $150 billion in private capital commitments, 热情超乎预期.

"I was blown away by the excitement we were able to generate and the types of partnerships coming together,克莱姆巴拉说.

The Energy Department winnowed the field in April. Thirty-three entities are now vying for the funding.

“I was blown away by the excitement we were able to generate and the types of partnerships coming together.”
——Melissa Klembara, director of portfolio strategy in the Energy Department office that oversees the hub 程序

胸怀大志获益者

For now, government officials aren't talking about the applicants. 行业专家正在密切关注. While there's not a singular formula for choosing winners, there are some known criteria.

Some of the chosen hubs will utilize renewable 能源 feedstock, while others will rely on fossil fuels and nuclear power. Some will target specific industries, such as steel making, heavy-duty trucking and power generation.

Geography is another key consideration because the Energy Department wants to spread the economic and environmental benefits and will locate the hubs in different regions to "the maximum extent practicable." Many of the partnerships and coalitions that submitted applications were formed along state and regional lines.

其他 groups formed with a central corporate partner coordinating efforts among a variety of stakeholders.

超出规定的标准, one factor that could determine which applicants are chosen is the scope of their project's ambitions.
 

The average amount of public funding requested by the finalists was $1 billion, 根据一项分析 华盛顿特区.C., think tank Resources for the Future, which has been tracking hub developments. Those that didn't make the cut had requested an average of just $600 million, 根据分析.

"Scale appears to matter," said Yuqi Zhu, senior research associate at the organization. "The [Energy Department] seems to prioritize larger — and likely more ambitious — endeavors rather than pilot-scale projects."

A preference toward bigger projects underscores the government's view of the initiative. 更大意味着产生氢气的能力更大, highlighting how it is a linchpin in the national strategy to reach net-zero emissions in 2050.

The DOE should select hub projects with the capacity to generate 100 million metric tons of hydrogen per year or more, 莫娜·达贾尼说, 可再生能源主管, hydrogen and infrastructure practice at global law firm Shearman & 英镑.

"其他wise, it's going to take many more hubs to meet the DOE's road map goals," she said.

Currently, 10 million metric tons are produced in the U.S. each year, according to Energy Department figures, almost all produced via carbon-emitting methods.

在全球范围内，氢发电已经达到了155美元.3 billion market, according to Grand View Research, a market insights firm in San Francisco. The company estimates the market will reach an estimated value 2030年的3170亿美元.

The Energy Department expects it will take eight to 12 years for selected hubs to ramp up operations.

拜伦·麦考密克，退休人员 scientist who developed hydrogen fuel cell technology at Los Alamos National Laboratory and later was a General Motors executive, said the hydrogen hub initiative is a textbook example of how well-placed government dollars can accelerate implementation.

But he said the government should pick sites for their business potential and avoid political considerations.

The hub 程序's "value will ultimately depend on the balance between political favoritism and hard-nose business and utility applications,他说. “这里有很大的机会, but years of experience have shown that opportunity can also be squandered."

Federal government support extends beyond the hub initiative funding. A provision in the Inflation Reduction Act known as 45V extends a tax credit of as much as $3 per kilogram to producers of clean hydrogen.

But what constitutes "clean" is a controversial question. 美国.S. Treasury Department will determine the answer this summer. 环境ists fear the government could extend the tax credit to hydrogen production methods that actually increase carbon emissions.

Passengers ride a hydrogen-powered bus in Aberdeen, UK.

Here's the conundrum: Utilizing renewables or nuclear 能源 for 电解, the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, 会更干净但更贵吗. Using electricity from the current grid would be cheaper — accelerating adoption — but not environmentally advisable, 根据能源部的说法.

“电网电力不是理想的来源，” 根据一份报告 from the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, "because most of the electricity is generated using technologies that result in greenhouse gas emissions and are 能源 intensive."

An 来自环境保护基金的分析 是比较钝的.

It warns a hydrogen electrolyzer powered by an average U.S. electric grid would generate more than twice as much carbon emissions as hydrogen produced today using steam-methane reforming . But the method using the grid would be considered clean under the current tax credit standards.

Also, hydrogen leakage into the atmosphere can further exacerbate global warming. 氢 is the smallest molecule and can slip through equipment initially designed for larger particles. The group urged hub developers and the Energy Department to make plans for containing leakage in their blueprints and to establish a definition for "clean" that considers the entire life cycle.

"Clearly, the whole emissions story matters," wrote Akin Olumoroti, a senior analyst at the group.

“这里有很大的机会, but years of experience have shown that opportunity can also be squandered.”
-- 拜伦·麦考密克，退休人员 scientist and former General Motors executive who developed hydrogen fuel cell technology at Los Alamos National Laboratory

While there's disagreement about whether cheaper, emissions-producing hydrogen should be used today as a bridge to greener future use cases, there is consensus that hydrogen produced from the new hubs should first target hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as oil refining and ammonia, 混凝土和钢材生产.

"As the hydrogen economy grows more prolific and after infrastructure has been decarbonized, then those ancillary use cases start to make sense,霍尼韦尔的诺曼说.

包括交通. 丰田汽车(Toyota Motor Corp .)等汽车制造商., General Motors and Hyundai Motor Group have poured effort into exploring hydrogen use across transportation modes and 能源 products.

卡车公司, 包括货运班轮的所有者戴姆勒卡车, 沃尔沃集团和肯沃斯, are exploring fuel cell and hydrogen combustion options.

A Hyundai Motor Group Xcient fuel cell electric truck at the 2021 Ulsan International 氢 Energy Exhibition and Forum in Ulsan, 韩国.

大多数人认为氢是最合理的, 至少一开始是这样, in heavy-duty trucking applications and on long-haul routes where long charging times and heavy batteries make electric trucks less economically viable.

"It really makes sense as a fuel source when you have places where batteries just won't work for some reason,迈克尔·伯鲁比说, deputy assistant secretary for sustainable transportation and fuels at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Trucking could begin to implement hydrogen at scale in the 2027 to 2034 time frame, when refueling infrastructure could be more readily available, 根据能源部的 国家清洁氢战略和路线图.

Less than 1 million metric tons of clean hydrogen are produced per year today in the U.S.根据该部门的数据. 但政府的生产目标是 50 million metric tons of clean hydrogen per year by 2050.

这是一条艰难的增长曲线. 枢纽计划只是一个开始.

"This is definitely not enough," said Dajani, of Shearman & 英镑. “需要开发更多的枢纽."