Organizations such as GTI Energy and the Center for Houston’s Future have spent the last several years trying to spur a transition toward hydrogen – which is viewed as a key element in making the energy industry cleaner and safer as well as more efficient and cost-effective.
The petrochemical industry in the Texas Gulf Coast region now produces about a third of the hydrogen used in the United States, according to Brett Perlman, the CEO for the Center for Houston’s Future. The region also is home to more than half of the country’s 1,600 miles of dedicated hydrogen pipelines, said Brian Weeks, the senior director of research operations for GTI Energy, which is based in the Chicago area but also operates out of Houston.
And many more hydrogen-related initiatives are in the figurative pipeline. Perlman said his organization identified 25 projects this summer that, if completed, would exceed the region’s current hydrogen production.
Now the two nonprofits and a coalition of other organizations and companies – including Amazon, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and the University of Texas – are seeking to expand and accelerate the development of hydrogen energy applications in the Houston area and beyond. Under the name “HyVelocity Hub,” they are applying to become a regional hydrogen hub as designated by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is distributing $7 billion from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help create a clean energy economy and combat the impacts of climate change.
“This trend that we’re seeing toward moving from the hydrogen we produce today to producing clean hydrogen is happening already,” Perlman said. “We have a lot of the know-how, the companies, the infrastructure in the Texas Gulf Coast to create a clean hydrogen hub. The (Department of Energy) money is really about accelerating that trend, and the DOE money is a tool to leverage private-sector dollars.”
The Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations notified HyVelocity Hub on Dec. 28 that it was encouraged to submit a full application for the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, or H2Hubs, according to Weeks, who said the federal agency plans to designate between 6-10 hubs. The Houston group was one of 79 across the country to submit “concept papers” for the program, with 33 of those groups having been officially encouraged by the department to submit full applications by April 7.
Among the goals of the H2Hubs program is to create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to existing energy technologies and processes along with supporting President Joe Biden’s vision for a net-zero carbon economy by 2050, according to information on the Department of Energy’s website. It said in a news release that the submitted concept papers were evaluated based on criteria that included “qualifications, experience, and capabilities; expected contributions toward a national hydrogen network; plans to develop production, end-use, and connective facilities; and the community benefits plan component.”
Perlman and Weeks said the Houston area is well-positioned for a hydrogen hub designation because it already is recognized as the energy capital of the world, with an abundance of intellectual resources and existing energy infrastructure, a track record of bringing emerging technologies to the marketplace and one of the world’s busiest seaports in the Port of Houston.
“Houston and the Gulf Coast region is the most logical place to create a hydrogen hub,” Perlman said. “We can do this much faster, we can do it better, we can do it cheaper. That’s what it’s going to take to really crack the code on decarbonization.”
Weeks said the Houston-area…