Clean Hydrogen and Grid Reliability

As states strive to reduce emissions while ensuring a reliable and resilient electric sector, clean hydrogen has emerged as a potential solution, particularly in applications such as long-duration energy storage (LDES) and microgrids. With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) playing pivotal roles in stimulating investment in scaled hydrogen production and use across the United States, states have a plethora of use cases to consider for clean hydrogen. The IIJA allocates funds specifically for creating regional clean hydrogen hubs and enhancing hydrogen production, processing, delivery, and end-use. Complementarily, the IRA offers tax credits …

Environmental Justice Views on Hydrogen

This EFI Foundation (EFIF) factbook highlights the perspectives of environmental justice (EJ) organizations. It reflects feedback gathered through two surveys—one targeting members of EJ communities, among others, (EJ members) and a follow-up survey focusing solely on EJ organizations (EJ groups)—as well as public letters of EJ organizations’ perspectives on hydrogen.

The factbook data show that while environmental justice groups generally support green hydrogenc in specific applications, such as in hard-to-abate sectors, concerns remain regarding hydrogen’s potential to prolong our dependence on fossil fuels, cause explosions, and create local air pollution problems. These groups also lack faith in the community benefits …

Green Hydrogen Proposals Across California

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 and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan

Clean hydrogen is a key part of a comprehensive portfolio of technologies and fuels needed to achieve our nation’s
climate goals and build a sustainable, secure, and equitable clean energy economy. Clean hydrogen, which has very low or zero emissions, can be produced in every part of the country and from virtually any energy resource (such as renewables, nuclear, or fossil energy with carbon capture). And it can be used in many applications: as a
transportation fuel, where it can be converted to electricity in a fuel cell, with no emissions other than water vapor; as a fuel for combustion …

Insight Brief: Clean Hydrogen For The Electric System

Clean electrolytic hydrogen has emerged as an option to help decarbonize electric power generation. While this is a nascent approach and industry, its decarbonization potential has garnered a rush of U.S. policy support. Electric utilities will play a key role in managing increased electricity loads if electrolytic hydrogen production scales up as forecasted. Although few electric utilities may yet be grappling with nuances of electrolytic load growth– or have a near-term need for the long-duration energy storage services that hydrogen can offer– now is the time to begin examining the topic and setting up a glide path for anticipated deployment …

What Do National Hydrogen Strategies Tell Us About Potential Future Trade?

As of April 2024, 58 national hydrogen strategies and roadmaps have been published, while many other countries have mentioned targets. A few strategies (Germany, France, Japan) have already been updated. Most strategies position their country in terms of future trade, including whether the nation is seeking importer or exporter status, the trade medium (whether the product imported or exported will be in the form of hydrogen or a hydrogen derivative), and the value, ranking, or economic benefits the nations expect to achieve. This piece is a comparative analysis of the strategies published, focused on these trade-related aspects. It utilizes CGEP’s …

Alaska Hydrogen Opportunities Report

Hydrogen has recently received significant attention at the national and international levels due to its decarbonization potential in numerous economic sectors. As a piece of the clean energy solution puzzle, it offers spatial and temporal flexibility in the use of energy sources that might otherwise pose challenges in their locations and times of output. This inaugural report on Alaska’s hydrogen energy opportunities introduces key themes for developing a hydrogen economy in Alaska, establishes a baseline understanding of Alaska’s infrastructure and resources relevant to hydrogen, and contextualizes this baseline in terms of national and global initiatives focused on hydrogen. This report …

45V Exemptions Need Strong Guardrails To Protect Climate, Grow Hydrogen Industry

New Energy Innovation analysis shows the Treasury Department is considering a design flaw in its draft guidance for the 45V clean hydrogen production tax credit that could undermine its success, despite containing the “three pillars” approach required for truly clean electrolytic hydrogen. This analysis finds a “general carve-out” for exempting some share of existing clean energy from Treasury’s “incrementality” requirement would be disastrous for the tax credit’s integrity. For example, a 5 percent carve-out would allow for approximately 1.5 million metric tons (MMT) of dirty electrolytic hydrogen production per year, contributing roughly 30 to 60 MMT of CO2 emissions annually. …

Scaling Hydrogen Financing for Development

This report unveils a unique and in-depth proposal to transform ideas into attractive investment projects. It highlights how policy and financial risk mitigation mechanisms play a critical role in slashing the funding gap and reducing the cost of hydrogen generation.
The findings promise to boost clean hydrogen lighthouse projects to revolutionize this multi-billion-dollar industry, so that emerging markets and developing countries can successfully participate in this nascent sector.…

Building Stronger Community Engagement in Hydrogen Hubs

Building Stronger Community Engagement in Hydrogen Hubs (February 2024) is a factbook reporting the results of a survey of nearly 5,000 respondents from disadvantaged, tribal, labor, and environmental justice communities on their attitudes toward hydrogen hubs and community engagement. It contributes to ongoing efforts by communities, hydrogen hub developers, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to align on community engagement approaches and best practices for DOE’s $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) program. The factbook gives insight into communities’ preferred modes of engagement with hydrogen developers, their attitudes toward hydrogen hubs, and their perceptions of DOE’s community engagement …