Advanced BioFuels USA

by John Hitch (Fleet Owner) Produced using renewable energy, green hydrogen could help make transportation a carbon-neutral reality—if the cost can match the price of diesel. That is what Plug Power is trying to accomplish by 2030. Go behind the scenes at its operations in New York.

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Plug Power uses hydropower from Niagara Falls to energize its electrolyzers, which generate liquid hydrogen from water. This green hydrogen can be used onsite or transported for use in stationary and mobility applications

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Hydrogen fuel in general is seen as an enticing alternative to diesel for commercial vehicles and power generation. It has three times the energy density of diesel fuel (120 megajoules/kg vs. 45.45 MJ/kg).

“As fleets are required to move to cleaner alternatives, hydrogen serves as an excellent zero-emission ‘one-for-one’ replacement for diesel,” noted Katrina M. Fritz, executive director of the California Hydrogen Business Council. “Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) that are powered with hydrogen enjoy long range, limited maintenance, and short refueling time. This makes FCEVs ideal for duty cycles of commercial trucking fleets.”

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In the over-the-road segment, FCEVs also are expected to have a range more comparable to diesel trucks, while battery-electric trucks are under 300 miles.

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At least for now, an electric truck takes 30 minutes using a DC fast charger, a method that early testing indicates reduces overall battery capacity over time, while liquid hydrogen pumps about the same rate as diesel, or under 15 minutes.

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The current challenge is that the cost to produce the fuel source has been too high to make it cost-effective. Particularly in trucking, green hydrogen must get closer to price parity with diesel for any significant adoption.

This is where Plug comes in. The company doesn’t only want to create a renewable source of fuel but an affordable one as well. The company has more than 50,000 e-mobility units in the field, virtually all fuel cell forklifts, and that volume and scale have benefited Plug at the plant level.

“Every time we doubled the number of units in the field, our costs declined by about 25%,” relayed Marsh (Andy Marsh, Plug’s president and CEO).

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The company has found success selling fuel-cell forklifts for about nine years, though.

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The (Plug Power) innovation center showcases the various technologies, including the electrolyzer stacks, pumping stations, and bulk fuel haulers that carry the liquid hydrogen, which reaches a frosty -452 degrees F.

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The IRA specifically allows up to a $7,500 tax credit for light-duty commercial vehicles (14,000 lb. GVWR) and $40,000 per medium- and heavy-duty (>14,000 lb. GVWR). Along with these incentives, the IRA includes specific clean hydrogen production tax credits, and users can stack other tax credits associated with hydrogen storage.

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The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also includes $1 billion for a Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program that cuts green hydrogen costs and the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Shot program is working to reduce green hydrogen cost from $5/kg to $1/kg in a decade. READ MORE

Plug Power and Johnson Matthey announce long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the hydrogen economy (Johnson Matthey)