Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Biden’s Hydrogen Hub Plan Sparks $8 Billion Race Among
U.S. States
David R Baker
Fri, April 8, 2022, 6:00 AM
(Bloomberg) -- A hydrogen economy that runs factories and
power plants on the clean-burning fuel may be years down the road, but that
hasn’t stopped U.S. states from jockeying for a share of the $8 billion in
federal funds earmarked for so-called hydrogen hubs.
President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure plan, which
became law in November, includes funding to build at least four hydrogen
hubs—places where the gas can be produced and used in a self-reinforcing cycle.
Two must be in regions with abundant natural gas reserves, a provision that
helped secure backing from U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The hubs,
intended to test different ways to produce and use the gas, are a key piece of
Biden’s efforts to wean industry off fossil fuels and fight climate change.
Hydrogen is emerging as one of the cleanest options to power industries that typically rely on fossil fuels, since burning the gas can generate electricity without spewing climate-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Companies worldwide are exploring hydrogen as a fuel for long-haul trucks, factories, trains, ships and even airplanes, though many efforts are in their early stages. Establishing hydrogen hubs could provide the jolt needed for the gas to gain ground in the country.
“We’re pretty excited about the potential of a lot of industries to switch over to hydrogen: steel, trucking, shipping,” said Bryan Fisher, a managing director at RMI, a nonprofit research group focused on the clean energy transition. “It makes all the sense in the world, if we’re trying to start a hydrogen economy, to be able to match production and demand in a specific region.”
States are announcing their interest in the money—sometimes working together, sometimes on their own. They haven’t filed formal applications yet, much less worked out the details of what they’d do with the money, and the pool of contenders is likely to grow. There are already some potential heavy hitters in what could become a crowded field. And the carve-out for natural gas could pit fossil-fuel states—usually allies on federal energy issues—against one another as they vie for funding.
All Together Now
Many of the states in the race have decided to join efforts in regional partnerships rather than go it alone. Their approaches tend to be based on available resources.
New York, for example, formed an alliance with Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut last month. Their announcement focused squarely on “green” hydrogen–hydrogen stripped from water using renewable energy. The process emits no greenhouse gases, either when the fuel is produced or used. Hydrogen can also be stripped from natural gas, but since none of the four states is a big gas producer their plan to use solar power and offshore wind to supply energy for a hub makes sense. New York is also home to one of the main companies specializing in green hydrogen–Plug Power Inc., based near Albany–which is already building a hydrogen production plant between Rochester and Buffalo.
Another partnership that includes Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma would use existing infrastructure to form the basis of its hub. Hydrogen is already produced in the region using natural gas. The hydrogen output is used there in some manufacturing processes, such as lowering sulfur content of fuels from refineries. To qualify for the federal money, the carbon dioxide released by stripping hydrogen from gas will need to be captured and stored, most likely underground. The three states want to use the hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industry and transportation.
A third alliance involving Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming also seems to be taking an “all-of-the-above” approach. The sprawling combination of states includes plenty of natural gas and renewables, particularly wind power, and their agreement to seek funding highlights both.
Going It Alone, For Now
Some states are gearing up to compete on their own, at least for the moment. One example is West Virginia, whose Democratic Senator Joe Manchin was a driving force behind the idea of having some of the hubs based in gas-producing regions. Manchin and his Republican counterpart, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, helped establish a working group for the state to pursue the funding. Kentucky set up a working group, too.
There’s always the chance they’ll join a partnership. In February, a coalition of businesses that includes Equinor ASA, Mitsubishi Power, Marathon Petroleum Corp. and United States Steel Corp. said they would help work on a hub that would knit together Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Here, too, the focus would be on hydrogen produced from the region’s ample supply of natural gas, with the fuel used in heavy industry.
Wild Cards
Oil and gas powerhouse Texas seems to have all the key ingredients needed for a hydrogen hub. Its petrochemical industry along the Gulf coast already produces and uses hydrogen, and the state’s natural gas fields contain the raw material for more. A consortium of oil companies led by Exxon Mobil Corp. is already exploring the potential for a system to capture and store carbon dioxide in the region. Other businesses have reported plans for a major green hydrogen project at Corpus Christi. And the non-profit civic group Center for Houston’s Future has proposed a hub around that city. So far, however, Texas hasn’t declared its intention to compete for the federal money.
Neither has California. The utility Southern California Gas Co. in February proposed building a green hydrogen system called the Angeles Link that could serve as the basis of a hub in the Los Angeles area, with the fuel taking the place of natural gas in up to four power plants. SoCalGas is also part HyDeal LA, an effort to drive down the cost of green hydrogen that also includes the city’s municipal utility. Two Los Angeles city council members proposed applying for the federal money. But so far, the state hasn’t.
Translation
（彭博社）- 使用清潔燃料運行工廠和發電廠的氫經濟可能還需要數年時間，但這並沒有阻止美國各州爭相在 80 億美元用於稱為氫樞紐的聯邦基金中分得一杯羹。
拜登總統的兩黨基礎設施計劃於 11 月成為法律，其中包括資助建造至少四個氫氣樞紐 - 在這些地方可以生產和使用氫氣，用自我強化循環運作。其中兩個必須位於天然氣儲量豐富的地區，這一條款有助於獲得美國西弗吉尼亞州參議員Joe
Manchin的支持。這些中心旨在測試生產和使用天然氣的不同方式，是拜登努力地使工業擺脫化石燃料和應對氣候變化的關鍵部分。
氫氣正在成為通常依賴化石燃料的電能行業最清潔的選擇之一，因為燃燒氫氣可以發電，而不會向大氣中排放導致氣候變暖的二氧化碳。世界各地的公司都在探索氫作為長途卡車、工廠、火車、輪船甚至飛機的燃料，儘管許多努力還處於早期階段。建立氫氣樞紐可以為天然氣在該國獲得發展提供必要的啓動衝擊力。
專注於清潔能源轉型的非營利研究組織 RMI 的董事總經理 Bryan Fisher 說: “我們對許多行業轉向氫氣的潛力感到非常興奮：鋼鐵、卡車運輸、航運”; “如果我們試圖啟動氫經濟，以便能夠匹配特定地區的生產和需求，在世界上是很有意義的。”
各州正在宣布他們對這筆錢的興趣 - 有些是一起合作，有些是自己单獨進行。他們還沒有提交正式申請，更不用說確定他們將如何使用這筆錢的細節，而且競爭者的數量可能會增加。現已經有一些潛在的重量級人物,
令這領域可能變得擁擠。對天然氣的樞紐分拆可能會使化石燃料州份 - 通常是聯邦能源問題上的盟友 - 在爭奪資金時相互競爭。
現在都走在一起了
競爭中的許多州已決定加入區域夥伴關係，而不是單獨行動。他們的方法往往基於已擁有可用資源。
例如，紐約上個月與馬薩諸塞州、新澤西州和康涅狄格州結成聯盟。他們的聲明直接關注“綠色”氫 - 使用可再生能源從水中提取的氫。該過程在生產或使用燃料時不會排放溫室氣體。氫氣也可以從天然氣中提取，但由於這四個州都不是大型天然氣生產州，因此他們計劃利用太陽能和海上風能為樞紐提供能源是有道理的。紐約也是專注於綠色氫氣的主要公司之一 - 位於奧爾巴尼附近的 Plug Power Inc. 的所在地 - 該公司已經在 Rochester和 Buffalo 之間建造了一座氫氣生產廠。
另一個包括阿肯色州、路易斯安那州和俄克拉荷馬州在內的合作夥伴關係將利用現有基礎設施作為其樞紐的基礎。該地區已經使用天然氣生產氫氣。那裡輸出的氫氣被使用於一些製造過程，例如降低煉油廠燃料的硫含量。為了獲得聯邦資金的資格，從氣體中提取氫氣所釋放的二氧化碳需要被捕獲和儲存，很可能是藏在地下。這三個州希望使用氫來使重工業和交通運輸脫碳。
第三個聯盟涉及科羅拉多州、新墨西哥州、猶他州和懷俄明州, 似乎也採取了“以上所有”的方法。各州的龐大組合包括大量的天然氣和可再生能源，尤其是風能，它們尋求資金的協議突出了兩者。
暫時单獨去進行
至少在目前，一些州正準備獨自競爭。一個例子是西弗吉尼亞州，其民主黨參議員Joe Manchin 是推動將一些中心設在產氣區的想法的推動力。Manchin和他的共和黨參議員Shelley Moore Capito幫助該州建立了一個工作組來尋求資金。肯塔基州也成立了一個工作組。
大衆總是有機會加入合作夥伴關係。 2 月，包括 Equinor ASA、三菱電力、馬拉松石油公司和美國鋼鐵公司在內的企業聯盟表示，他們將幫助建立一個將俄亥俄州、賓夕法尼亞州和西弗吉尼亞州聯繫在一起的樞紐。在這裡，重點也將放在該地區有充足的天然氣用於供應生產氫氣，所生產氫燃料用於重工業。
百搭牌
擁有大量石油和天然氣德克薩斯州似乎擁有氫樞紐所需的所有關鍵要素。它在墨西哥灣沿岸的石化工業已經生產和使用氫氣，該州的天然氣田含有更多的原材料。由埃克森美孚公司牽頭的一個石油公司財團已經在探索在該地區建立一種捕獲和儲存二氧化碳的系統的潛力。其他企業已經報告了在Corpus
Christi 進行大型綠色氫項目的計劃。非營利性民間團體 Center
for Houston’s Future已提議在該城市周圍建立一個樞紐。然而，到目前為止，德克薩斯州還沒有宣布打算爭取聯邦資金。
加利福尼亞也沒有打算爭取聯邦資金。公用事業公司南加州天然氣公司在 2 月提議建立一個名為“洛杉磯連線”的綠色氫氣系統，該系統可以作為洛杉磯地區樞紐的基礎，在多達四個發電廠中使用氫燃料代替天然氣。 SoCalGas 也是 HyDeal LA 的一部分，旨在降低綠色氫的成本，其中還包括該市的市政公用事業。兩名洛杉磯市議會成員提議申請聯邦資金。但到目前為止，該州還沒有行動。
So, the US President’s infrastructure
plan includes funding to build at least four hydrogen hubs places where the gas
can be produced and used in a self-reinforcing cycle. These hubs, intended to
test different ways to produce and use the gas, are a key piece of US’s efforts
to cut its dependence on fossil fuels and to fight climate change. Probably
these hubs will become a profitable new industry eventually.
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