On What the Hell is a Hydrogen Hub: Steel production represents an estimated 7% of the carbon dioxide emissions worldwide and manufacturing totals run as high as 33% of the carbon “footprint”. Reduction of these outputs is part of getting to environmental sustainability. In an effort to reduce these numbers in the U.S., Congress included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law some $8 billion to launch up to ten “hydrogen hubs” across the nation. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Hawaii Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wisconsin are among the States actively seeking grants under this provision. Most of these States are partnering with private consortiums that are being formed where there are industrial/manufacturing clusters. Some have State legislation that provides financial support. So, what the hell is a hydrogen hub and how does it help with our road to a cleaner environment?
Simplistically, a hydrogen hub ties together a region’s carbon dioxide emitters to reduce the use of “fossil fuels” and uses carbon capture technology (CCS) to put carbon dioxide into sealed underground caves and mines. Hydrogen is considered a much cleaner fuel and it can be used to “capture” carbon dioxide. It is a way to “green up” the current industrial/manufacturing capacity. Congress, following its environmental and economic advisors, felt this is a next step toward acceptable emissions by 2050. A Hydrogen Hub will retrofit facilities to both shift to hydrogen fuel and capture emissions. Pipelines will be used to pump the emissions underground. The money allotted is to develop viable plans for what will cost many times that, to actually implement.
The environmental community is not of one mind on this approach. Using natural gas means heavy reliance on fracking, to produce hydrogen volumes that will be required. Fracking is opposed by many environmentalists based on the belief that it creates its own environmental problems. There is “blue hydrogen” and “green hydrogen”. The “blue” variety is produced from natural gas. The “green” hydrogen comes from renewables like wind, solar and water. Some environmentalists fear that mitigating carbon emissions with CSS may encourage manufacturing and industry to hold on to its current production processes. They would prefer that we move directly to “green” hydrogen and invest in that. Many in this camp would shut down existing facilities, believing that equally good jobs will allow workers to transition smoothly. A belief that is not shared by those actually relying on industrial/manufacturing jobs. If by shutting down U.S. capacity, it is moved offshore, the net advantage to the planet is negated. Being lost in the carbon reduction race is the acknowledgement that much of our industrial/manufacturing production is critical to “going green”. This raises the ironic fact that we will have to continue to engage in carbon-producing production, to lower our carbon footprint for the long term.
The good news is that the nation is trying to do tangible things to get to sustainability. In a democratic nation, the debate on how to get there is both necessary and important. The hydrogen hub approach is incremental and uses technology that currently exists. There are technologies in our labs and in pilot projects that promise some “green hydrogen” solutions. But they are years off and at this point, extremely expensive. Additionally, wind, solar and water each have their own technology and deployment problems. The question comes down to do we move forward with what we have now or wait for a more optimal solution?
The debate over the hydrogen hubs is just one of many we have to resolve in our efforts to get to sustainability within the time frames that scientists tell us we must meet. Credit is due to the environmental movement. If it weren’t for their pressure, the global corporations now vested in fossil fuels, would do nothing. However, in the efforts to move forward, the environmental community needs to be willing to deal with the practical pace of change, consider the impact of drastic measures and accept that self-interest is inherent in any change proposal. The hydrogen hub is what we can do now. It’s not the end game. Technology promises greater progress yet to come. And there are at least 66% of non-industrial/manufacturing emissions that also have to be part of any sustainability plan.
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