Full Title: Supercharging Electrolyzers: Boosting Zero-Emission Hydrogen Production and Deployment in California
Author(s): Ethan Elkind and Ross Zelen
Publisher(s): Berkeley Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Publication Date: December 4, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Hydrogen could play a critical role in helping California to decarbonize its electricity grid and achieve carbon neutrality. The gas can be generated from surplus renewable energy resources (like solar or wind) to create zero-emission (or “green”) hydrogen. The clean electricity powers a device called an electrolyzer, which uses the process of electrolysis to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be used to help decarbonize high-heat industrial activities, provide long-duration energy storage, and fuel transportation, especially heavy-duty trucks, ships, and possibly airplanes. Yet today zero-emission hydrogen is roughly triple the cost of traditional fossil-based hydrogen production. Electrolyzer project developers also face hurdles around producing, storing, transporting, and facilitating cost-effective purchases of their zero-emission hydrogen.
This report highlights policies that could scale zero-emission hydrogen in a way that reduces fossil fuel demand, enhances state energy resiliency, creates new job opportunities, and contributes to improved air quality in disadvantaged communities. The recommendations could also help the state secure a portion of the $8 billion in competitive grant funds for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs that the U.S. Department of Energy announced as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.