See https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127170236
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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-benefits-of-hydrogen-are-at-risk-as-fossil-fuel-industry-pressures-mount/
Climate Benefits of Hydrogen Are at Risk as Fossil Fuel Industry Pressures Mount
Rigorous standards are required to scale hydrogen as a clean energy solution; otherwise, it will be a costly, polluting diversion
By Julie McNamara on November 6, 2023
Hydrogen can play a critical role in the clean energy transition. However, hydrogen is not, and never will be, the core of the clean energy economy. Despite that, the littlest molecule has lately claimed the largest space in seemingly every climate conversation—and is increasingly grabbing an outsized share of climate funding, too.
One headline policy, the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, or “H2Hubs,” is a $7 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law initiative charged with concurrently developing clean hydrogen production, transport, storage and use. A second, the clean hydrogen production tax credit, or “45V,” is a lucrative Inflation Reduction Act incentive that could add up to tens of billions of dollars—or more—to shift the economics away from carbon-intensive hydrogen to low-carbon hydrogen.
Targeted support to enable hydrogen as a clean energy solution is valuable; unbridled hydrogen enthusiasm is not. The risks are twofold: First, that it distracts from the pressing priority of directly displacing fossil fuels with renewable electricity throughout the economy; and second, that it fails to tailor hydrogen production processes and end uses to those that are truly beneficial and climate-aligned.
Severe consequences will follow from a reckless start to the clean hydrogen economy. That’s because missing on hydrogen by a little actually means missing by a lot, quickly flipping the gas from a valuable tool for climate progress to an outright reverser of climate gains. As the Biden administration finalizes the details for these two policies, which could fundamentally shape whether and how hydrogen contributes to the clean energy transition in the time ahead, it must get them right.
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