Full Title: Green Hydrogen Proposals Across California
Author(s): Elena Krieger, Bethany Kwoka, and Boris Lukanov
Publisher(s): PSE Healthy Energy
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Local and state governments across California have set ambitious goals to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades. In recent years, policymakers, utilities, and other planners statewide have increasingly relied on green hydrogen as a component of their plans to meet climate targets, yet review of these plans has found that they rarely align. Statewide, decision-makers have set a wide range of targets for green hydrogen deployment, with different primary end-uses, timelines, and definitions of what makes hydrogen “green” or “clean.” In many cases, these plans also lack sufficient detail to fully characterize the potential impacts—positive and negative—of proposed hydrogen deployment strategies. The adoption of green hydrogen—and its role in the economy-wide energy transition that California will undertake in the coming decades—holds implications for climate change, public health, equity, safety, cost, the environment, and the overall feasibility and speed of achieving the State’s climate goals.
In this report, they review current plans for green hydrogen adoption to support California’s climate goals, and also discuss potential adverse consequences associated with its proposed deployment. Where there is insufficient information, they outline the key questions that must be addressed to better understand the impacts of these proposals.