Happy Clean Hydrogen Month!
As part of President Biden’s?Investing in America agenda, DOE announced $7 billion to launch seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) across the nation and accelerate the commercial-scale deployment of low-cost, clean hydrogen. This historic milestone is part of the third installment of the Investing in America tour to announce this unprecedented investment in American manufacturing and jobs.??
DOE’s?Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations?(OCED) manages the #H2Hubs program and will provide project management oversight for the projects selected to produce clean hydrogen; demonstrate end uses; generate training opportunities and good-paying, high-quality jobs; reduce emissions and pollution; and ensure tangible benefits flow to local Hub communities.?Learn more about the seven H2Hubs selected for award negotiations?here.?
The Loan Programs Office (LPO) is already evaluating a loan for a hydrogen hub. Most of these hub selections are for Phase 1 of these projects and LPO is looking at Phase 2 of these U.S.?clean hydrogen projects.
To meet President Biden’s goals to achieve a clean grid by 2035 and reach net zero emissions economy- wide by 2050, an array of decarbonization technologies — including clean hydrogen — will play a critical role.?This is particularly true in difficult-to-decarbonize industrial and chemical processes like ammonia production and oil refining, as well as transportation use cases such as heavy-duty trucking and aviation fuels.?DOE’s?Hydrogen Shot?has set the goal of?reducing the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per 1 kilogram by the end of the decade.
As we describe in our LPO?Tech Talk on Clean Hydrogen, the clean hydrogen sector includes low carbon intensity production, either through electrolysis using carbon-free electricity like nuclear, wind, or solar; or by steam reforming natural gas, biomass, waste coal, or other materials and capturing and storing or utilizing the carbon.?
The?DOE National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap?provides a snapshot of hydrogen production, transport, storage, and use in the United States today and explores the potential for clean hydrogen to contribute to national goals across multiple sectors,?provides a snapshot of hydrogen production, transport, storage, and use in the United States today and explores the potential for clean hydrogen to contribute to national goals across multiple sectors,?with strategic opportunities for 10 million metric tonnes annually (MMTpa) of clean hydrogen by 2030, 20 MMTpa by 2040, and 50 MMTpa by 2050.
Using clean hydrogen can reduce U.S. emission approximately 10 percent by 2050 relative to 2005.tonnes annually (MMTpa) of clean hydrogen by 2030, 20 MMTpa by 2040, and 50 MMTpa by 2050. Using clean hydrogen can reduce U.S. emission approximately 10 percent by 2050 relative to 2005.
DOE recently?highlighted?the opportunities and challenges associated with scaling the clean hydrogen economy (for both private and public sector capital allocators) in the launch of Department-wide Pathways to Commercial Liftoff?reports. The reports emphasize that the United States clean hydrogen market is poised for rapid growth: Project announcements are accelerating, and investors are actively engaged, partly because of new policy tools like H2 Hub funding, the hydrogen production tax credit (PTC), the carbon sequestration credit (45Q), and decarbonization goals across the public/private sectors.?Taken together, these incentives and policies will kick-start the transition from high carbon-intensity to low-carbon intensity hydrogen in sectors that already use H2 today, and they will make it possible for more nascent segments (e.g., transportation use cases, seasonal energy storage) to scale-up.
But, like all clean energy technologies, challenges remain if we want to see the clean hydrogen economy accelerate. As the Clean Hydrogen Liftoff report attests, hydrogen is a complicated value chain: we need to bring down production costs, scale midstream infrastructure, and secure long-term offtake. In production, the opportunity is large.
We have the opportunity to scale from 0 MMTpa of clean H2 production today to 10 MMTpa in 2030 and 50 MMTpa in 2050. For midstream infrastructure, the industry faces high costs and limited value chains from a single producer to a couple of offtakers. And in end use, long-term offtake agreements can help derisk projects for private sector investors. These and other issues are broken down in the Clean Hydrogen Liftoff?report, which will be updated regularly as the sector evolves and additional industry feedback is incorporated in this analysis.
In the last year, LPO closed its first loan to a clean hydrogen project, to?Advanced Clean Energy Storage, in?Title 17 Clean Energy Finance Program. Through Title 17,?LPO can finance a variety of production and storage projects, including clean hydrogen production facilities (e.g., clean electricity plus?electrolyzers) and storage facilities (e.g., salt caverns).
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LPO also can support other?projects across the clean hydrogen supply chain, including?through the?Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. These include direct use in fuel cell-powered advanced technology vehicles, like heavy-duty vehicles; and through indirect use via synthetic fuels, like in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or maritime fuels.
LPO is uniquely situated to help support key parts of the clean hydrogen value chain in order to reach our decarbonization goals. As of the end of March 2023, requested financing from LPO for hydrogen sector-based projects via active loan applications totaled over $3.5 billion. For more current details, view LPO’s?Monthly Application Activity Report, which explains the level of interest from applicants for LPO financing and what technology sectors have been most actively engaged with LPO.
CLEAN HYDROGEN – ADVANCED CLEAN ENERGY STORAGE
In June 2022, DOE?announced?it closed on a $504.4 million loan guarantee to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, Utah — marking the first loan guarantee for a new clean energy technology project from DOE’s Loan Programs Office since 2014. The loan guarantee will help finance construction of the largest clean hydrogen storage facility in the world, capable of providing long-term low-cost, seasonal energy storage, furthering grid stability. The project is expected to create up to 400 construction and 25 operations jobs, advancing President Biden’s climate and clean energy deployment goal of net zero emissions by 2050.?
ADVANCED FOSSIL – MONOLITH MATERIALS
In December 2021, LPO?announced?a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee to Monolith? Inc. (formerly Monolith Nebraska, LLC). Monolith uses renewable energy to separate natural gas into its elemental components, hydrogen and carbon, for use in difficult-to-decarbonize industrial processes. The hydrogen can be burned as-is for fuel or converted to ammonia for fertilizer, and the carbon is used in clean carbon black for tires and other products. Monolith’s existing turquoise hydrogen production already displaces carbon emissions, and the planned facility expansion, for which LPO has conditionally offered the loan guarantee, will allow the company to produce clean hydrogen at an even larger scale.
Clean Hydrogen news roundup:
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Find this sector spotlight on the Loan Programs Office website: Sector Spotlight: Clean Hydrogen
Managing Partner @Texas Consulting & Development, LLC (TCD) - Microgid integration & Green H2 Business Development
1 年Innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum- it takes investment. The path to hydrogen is no different. I have a growing list of stationary fuel cell projects right now and my challenge is getting companies like Cummings, Boom, Plug and Ballard to engage. I have reached to each recommending they support an alternate channel or supplier program, because the shortage for demand isn't interest - its their ability to scale to the demand. Good article.
Principal @ Organic Code LLC | Commercial Real Estate, Advanced Technology Site Selection
1 年Brilliant love the news letter. I am following a simple strategy. Successful SMR placement, operation, and production requires: A site that is suitable Existing Work force and supply chain to support nuclear power generation. Specific use Hydrogen Production Strategic plan to align with state and federal to create a hydrogen hub, a hydrogen highway, replace diesel fuel, and build a green port. We need direction from DoE to support the current administration. Apply and qualify for grants, and develop a nuclear R&D campus to collaborate with the Navy’s new Columbia Class submarines Nuclear engineers.
Director, SmiSar G.A.S. Pvt. Ltd. Climate-ready Green Technology Developer and Green Business Consultant, working in Food, Energy and Water [a F.E.W.] sectors. ESG<Climate Change<Climate Shift.
1 年Very good initiative by LPO, DOE to achieve clean energy goals. I am just wondering about the loan review process. Implementation is the key to meet the target.
Eco-trailblazer | Facilitator | Experiential learning developer | Behaviour change guru | Building positive-learning solutions, and empathic MI communication skills around the world
1 年There has long been a gap in *****How to sell***** alternative energy schemes, that is preventing them from becoming more of a household name. Gaps especially in how we get to yes, when in situations of authority, but not autonomy. Obama knew this and his executive order needs to be reinstituted to help this purpose. Executive order 13707 "Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the American People" Key amongst these is the use of Motivational Interviewing the best known behavioural science pathway for change. Tech like hydrogen or any variety of new energy tech is both human change, alongside the change in the energy system. The human side is expected to just get there, and powerful evidenced approach like Motivational Interviewing are of critical importance in key areas - but under or never utilized. I would be happy to share more information / a brief on the importance / potential applications of Motivational Interviewing and other behavioural science insights. [email protected] (or message me here on linkedin, legitimate messages will all receive a reply so you don't waste your InMail) Vince PhD student in Education Member of MINT - The Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers
JWMI Graduate Student | Retired Chemical Engineer | Affiliate Member at MIT Alumni For Climate Action with expertise in Climate Action | Friend of Johns Hopkins University Energy Policy and Climate
1 年I have learned from MIT Alumni for Climate Action (MACA) PhDs that we should not be using hydrogen for heat--especially blending with natural gas. We are working on a position paper to explain our scientific analysis, but align with Princeton's E+ RE+ case and Professor Jacobson (Stanford)'s wind-water-solar (WWS) with storage philosophy. Hydrogen is just too expensive to create, we are running into problems with build-out of WWS, there will likely be thermal NOx production, etc. I suggest you read[1]. References: [1] Jacobson, Mark Z. 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything. Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.?