Is Green Hydrogen an Opportunity or Distraction for The U.S.?

by Felicity Bradstock (OilPrice.com) Green hydrogen production is gaining momentum in the U.S., driven by substantial funding and ambitious goals. -- Some experts argue that green hydrogen projects should prioritize new renewable energy sources rather than relying on existing grids, while others see it as a distraction from direct electrification.

The U.S. is facing regulatory challenges and differing viewpoints on the role of green hydrogen in achieving clean energy and climate objectives.

However, an increase in green hydrogen capacity would require a significant amount of clean electricity from renewable resources. Many energy experts in the U.S. are now asking whether the production of hydrogen is the best use of solar, wind and other clean energy sources or whether they could be better used directly.

Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources to power an electrolysis process, which separates the hydrogen and oxygen in water. The process emits no carbon dioxide, making it much cleaner than grey hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels. There has been increasing interest in green hydrogen as, in contrast to many other clean energy sources, it is suitable for a wide range of applications.

In the U.S., the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the country’s most comprehensive climate policy to date, provides huge amounts of funding to the hydrogen industry.

This month, President Biden and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced the seven regional hydrogen hubs – H2Hubs – chosen to be awarded $7 billion in federal funding.

However, not everyone is so supportive of the widescale development of U.S. hydrogen capacity. At present, green hydrogen production accounts for just one percent of total U.S. hydrogen production, with most projects continuing power production with fossil fuels. The 45V programme is aimed at accelerating low-carbon hydrogen production, whether it is green or grey – using carbon capture and storage systems to reduce carbon emissions. But now the Treasury must put rules and regulations in place to ensure that hydrogen is produced using clean methods.

Jesse Jenkins, a professor of macro-scale energy systems at Princeton University, stated, “The IRA’s section 45V production tax credit is the most generous clean hydrogen subsidy in the world.” She added, “But without proper implementation, 45V could backfire, wasting a tremendous opportunity for the United States to become a global leader in new clean industries and causing a significant increase in domestic emissions that imperil U.S. climate goals.”

Some climate experts believe that green hydrogen can only be considered green if new renewable energy sources are developed to power production operations, rather than using the existing grid and questionable carbon accounting schemes. However, BP America disagrees with this view, stating “Strict additionality rules requiring electrolytic hydrogen to be powered by new renewable energy is not practical, especially in the early years, and will severely limit the development of hydrogen projects.”

Other energy experts believe that green hydrogen production detracts from the direct use of renewable energy sources. Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell University, explained, “Renewable electricity is a scarce resource. Direct electrification and batteries offer so much more, and much more quickly. It’s a huge distraction and waste of resources to even be talking about heating homes and passenger vehicles with hydrogen.”

While there is significant optimism about the expansion of U.S. clean hydrogen capacity, and there are high levels of funding backing the sector, the widescale development of truly green hydrogen projects is not so simple. READ MORE