Clean Air Council Responds to Federal Funding for Two Hydrogen Hubs in the Pennsylvania Region

PHILADELPHIA, PA (October 13, 2020) – Today, President Biden announced that $7 billion dollars in U.S. federal grants will fund multiple groupings (“hubs”) of hydrogen projects, two located partially in Pennsylvania – one near the coast and one in the Appalachian region. Hydrogen is not a source of energy, but rather a means of storing energy derived from other sources. The coastal hub, MACH2, states that it will produce hydrogen from a mix of energy sources, including methane gas, renewables, and nuclear power. “Green” hydrogen, considered the “cleanest” form of hydrogen, is produced using renewable energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Green hydrogen is currently less than 1% of the global hydrogen supply. Pink hydrogen is produced using electricity from nuclear plants. 

The Appalachian project, or ARCH2, will produce “blue” hydrogen with methane from fracked gas as its primary feedstock. The process of producing blue hydrogen is twofold. The hydrogen itself comes from splitting methane molecules; carbon dioxide that is released as a byproduct of this reaction is then attempted to be captured and stored. However, blue hydrogen requires environmentally harmful fracking for gas and the carbon capture and sequestration technology it relies on is largely unproven. 

Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:

“Hydrogen is not the one-size-fits-all fix to our energy needs and the climate crisis, and it could actually make greenhouse gas emissions worse. Hydrogen production is incredibly energy-intensive – even green hydrogen is a much less efficient way for industry to decarbonize compared to using renewable energy directly. Green hydrogen may be able to play a future role in specific end-uses that cannot otherwise be electrified. These massive projects are heavy on government subsidies and greenwashing and light on details. Taxpayers deserve to know more about the proposals and potential impacts.”