Biden Unveils $7 Billion Hydrogen Hub Plan Amid Mixed Reactions

President Biden announced on Friday afternoon the selection of seven regional hubs for hydrogen production, which is a cleaner energy source than fossil fuels.

However, not all environmentalists are happy.

The hubs will employ $7 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to manufacture hydrogen, which can be used in everything from agriculture to heavy industry without emitting pollutants when burned.

“We’re building a clean energy future here in America, not somewhere else,” Biden stated during the event in Philadelphia. “The emission reductions from these hydrogen hubs will be the equivalent of taking 5.5 million gas-powered vehicles off the road — 5.5 million.”

How Hydrogen Converts into Energy

Liquid or gaseous hydrogen can be burnt in a gas turbine engine instead of oil to generate power, with the sole result being water vapor.

As a result, energy experts consider hydrogen as a possible alternative to fossil fuels in industries that will be more difficult to transition to electric vehicles, such as aviation and trucking, where batteries are too hefty. Because hydrogen is relatively simple to store and utilize, it might serve as a backup for intermittent sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar.

Hydrogen is the “Swiss Army knife of zero-carbon technologies,” according to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “If we get it right, it can do just about everything.”

The Various Colors of Hydrogen

Hydrogen does not have any color. However, the names vary depending on how it was created.

“Green hydrogen” is produced by passing an electric current across water to separate molecules. However, it is only truly “green” if it generates electricity from a clean source, such as solar energy, rather than coal or gas.

The dirtiest type is “gray hydrogen,” which is created by breaking apart methane, a potent planet-warming gas, with high-pressure steam, resulting in other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

Then there’s “blue hydrogen,” which is gray hydrogen plus equipment to catch greenhouse gas emissions throughout the production process. Some environmentalists are suspicious of this approach, pointing out that it does not address the emissions associated with collecting methane in the first place.

So climate change specialists urge government funding for hydrogen production to focus on green hydrogen, with strict restrictions that it not be produced using filthy electricity.

“This move to support fossil hydrogen is a disappointing first step from the Biden administration,” Sarah Lutz, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “We need an ambitious transition away from dirty energy, not another taxpayer subsidy that enables Big Oil to repackage fossil fuels as so-called clean energy.”

Philadelphia’s Tioga Marine Terminal, where Biden and Granholm made the announcement, will produce hydrogen using renewable energy and nuclear power. Some other hubs will use renewable energy sources, including two in the Midwest that will use wind or nuclear power. However, some are producing hydrogen using fossil fuels, such as hubs in Appalachia and Texas that will use methane from natural gas supplies in those regions.

Environmentalists Crack Up…

Though green groups praised the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act for its enormous expenditures in green energy, they oppose directing part of the cash to hydrogen produced from fossil fuels.

“It is extremely disappointing to see the Biden administration provide funds for hydrogen hubs that will be based on fossil fuels, even with carbon capture,” says Robert Howarth, an ecology professor at Cornell University.

While Local Politicians Cheer

However, officials from the communities where the centers will be located welcomed the current announcement. On Monday, West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, joined Granholm in Morgantown, W.Va., to celebrate the establishment of the Appalachian Hydrogen Center.

“We are here today to show the rest of the world what we can do for the energy that this country and the world require,” said Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy and Commerce Committee. “The innovation and creation will start here.”