Hydrogen for Marine Shipping

Marine shipping vessels primarily burn bunker fuels like heavy fuel oil or marine gas oil. However, in July 2023, the International Maritime Organization’s 175 member states voted unanimously to work toward net-zero marine shipping by “close to” 2050. Thus, the industry has momentum to decarbonize, but it will need policy support to ensure the costs of this transition will be borne across all parties rather than harming first movers.

This fact sheet is part of an Energy Innovation paper assessing clean hydrogen’s value for cutting climate pollution from 12 end uses.…

Hydrogen for Seasonal Electric Storage

Achieving a fully clean electricity system with a high share of variable renewable energy resources will require complementary long-duration energy storage (LDES) services. In particular, the grid will need seasonal to multi-annual energy storage capacity, with the former primarily shifting wind and solar generation from high- to low-output months, and the latter primarily shifting hydro generation from wet to dry years. Electrolyzers can use excess clean energy to make hydrogen, which can then be stored at large volumes over long periods.

This fact sheet is part of an Energy Innovation paper assessing clean hydrogen’s value for cutting climate pollution from …

Hydrogen for Industrial Process Heat

More than 90 percent of combustible fuel use in U.S. industry (i.e., excluding fuels used as feedstocks) is used to provide heat to alter materials or manufacture goods. Different industrial processes require different temperatures of heat, categorized loosely as low (below 100-200°C), medium (from 100-200°C to 500°C), and high (above 500°C). Particularly for highheat processes needed to make steel, cement, glass, and chemicals, industrial stakeholders often look to lower-carbon fuels like hydrogen to reduce their emissions. This is because hydrogen readily achieves high temperatures and—as a fuel—is a more familiar concept that might not require as many changes to equipment …

Hydrogen for Heavy-Duty Vehicles

While light-duty vehicles (LDVs) are well on their way to an electric future, hydrogen is often talked about as still having a sizable market in cleaning up heavy-duty trucks (HDTs)— and particularly long-haul tractor-trailers—due to perceived limitations with battery electric trucks (BETs). For example, six of seven federally funded hydrogen hubs have plans to build out hydrogen refueling station networks, with at least five explicitly pointing to serving HDTs.

This fact sheet is part of an Energy Innovation paper assessing clean hydrogen’s value for cutting climate pollution from 12 end uses. …

Hydrogen for Light-Duty Vehicles

Manufacturers, governments, and researchers have spent decades developing hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in pursuit of clean vehicles that operate similarly to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs)—that is, promising long ranges and fast fueling times. However, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have improved dramatically over this time, closing the gap on these metrics and taking off in sales and infrastructure deployment. Even so, a desire to keep all options open has kept interest in FCEVs alive. For example, California is dedicating substantial funding to FCEVs despite very low sales and a booming BEV market.

This fact sheet is part of …

Hydrogen for Buildings

U.S. gas utilities have announced at least 22 proposals to blend hydrogen with natural gas in their pipelines, aiming to deliver lower-carbon fuels to homes and businesses for space heating, hot water, cooking, and clothes drying. Concepts for net-zero gas delivery vary from switching to a “clean fuels” portfolio—consisting of hydrogen, renewable natural gas (RNG), and synthetic natural gas—to enabling a 100 percent hydrogen system. Utilities find such approaches compelling for meeting (or anticipating potential) legislative requirements for decarbonizing their operations while continuing to use and invest in their gas delivery systems; however, superior alternatives exist that generally obviate the …

Hydrogen for Day-to-Day Power Generation

Electric utilities and independent power producers (IPPs) in at least 18 U.S. states have proposed “hydrogen-ready” power plants, aiming to co-fire natural gas and hydrogen to gradually reduce these facilities’ carbon intensity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also issued rules in April 2024 addressing climate pollution from existing coal- and new natural gas-fired power plants, with hydrogen co-firing being one potential compliance tool.

This fact sheet is part of an Energy Innovation paper assessing clean hydrogen’s value for cutting climate pollution from 12 end uses. …

Hydrogen Policy’s Narrow Path: Delusions And Solutions

Hydrogen excitement is feverish as billions in federal funds loom, the industry scrambles to get off the ground, and politicians race other governments to gain an investment edge. But things could easily go sideways, turning into a taxpayer boondoggle that increases climate pollution if the policies supporting hydrogen aren’t designed correctly.

Hydrogen will be important for achieving our climate goals, but it can do so if and only if it is truly clean and directed to appropriate applications. Straying from this narrow path can reverse, delay, or raise the cost of emission reductions while failing environmental justice goals, potentially dooming …

Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program

The Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) Program, managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), aims to create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier that can deliver or store tremendous amounts of energy.

Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, OCED selected seven H2Hubs to begin award negotiations for up to $7 billion, the largest investment in clean manufacturing and jobs in American history. Following negotiations, in July 2024, OCED awarded the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub—led by the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen …

Hydrogen: Not a Solution for Gas-Fired Turbines

Electric utilities and project developers have latched on to the “hydrogen-ready” and “hydrogencapable” tags in describing their plans to build new methane gas-fired (popularly called natural gasfired) power plants. State regulators and potential project investors need to scrutinize assertions that hydrogen gas will be widely used in methane-fired turbines. IEEFA concludes that these assertions amount to little more than marketing designed to obscure the myriad shortcomings and unanswered questions associated with using hydrogen in methane-fired turbines, particularly regarding the enormous cost and lengthy time that would be required to build out the infrastructure needed for such a transition.

Utilities and …