OPINION:
To support the United States’ efforts to address global climate change and strengthen our energy security, the Department of Energy last week released the nation’s first Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, which aims to increase domestic clean hydrogen production by 400% in 20 years, from 10 million metric tons produced annually by 2030 to 50 million metric tons by 2050.
This will be no small feat, considering that 95% of hydrogen now produced in the U.S. is made primarily from natural gas, which results in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
For many, producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar is the long-term goal. With the technologies and infrastructure available today, however, this method is the most expensive, costing almost five times as much as producing hydrogen from natural gas. These facts suggest it is unrealistic to rely exclusively on renewables to meet the ambitious 2050 production and net-zero targets.
Instead, we must do exactly what the road map prescribes and “support opportunities for hydrogen production from diverse energy, including fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage (CCS).”
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last summer by Congress, confirmed that CCS will likely be an important part of the U.S. approach to mitigating climate change — a confirmation welcomed by environmental and energy justice advocates, labor unions, industry, academia, national laboratories, and federal, state and local governments that informed the Department of Energy’s strategy, which rightly notes that numerous domestic CCS projects are already “putting the United States on the global map in terms of hydrogen deployment.”
CCS is necessary to produce and deploy clean hydrogen at scale, but more is needed to accelerate the deployment of this game-changing technology to meet the administration’s 2050 production targets and net-zero goals.
Most urgently, the Biden administration needs to address the Environmental Protection Agency’s permitting backlog of Class VI carbon storage wells. These wells are necessary to store the large amounts of carbon dioxide that will need to be captured if the U.S. is to leverage its natural energy resources, such as natural gas, to increase clean hydrogen production by 400% in the next 20 years.
While the EPA is responsible for reviewing and permitting Class VI wells, a handful of states have applied for primary authority (“primacy”) to permit these wells themselves. So far, the EPA has awarded primacy to only North Dakota and Wyoming, where, on average, Class VI permits take just months to approve. The EPA’s approval timeline is measured in years, and the agency now has a significant backlog, with more than 75 outstanding Class VI applications awaiting review. In fact, since the IRA was passed last summer, no Class VI permits have been approved — despite the clear congressional intent of making CCS a key part of the administration’s climate goals.
These permitting delays have all but stalled construction and could add uncertainty that dissuades project developers and investors, ultimately slowing broader decarbonization efforts and the contributions of technologies like clean hydrogen.
The journey toward sustainability requires collective efforts, collaboration and innovation. By integrating CCS technology into hydrogen production facilities, we can maximize the environmental benefits of clean hydrogen while addressing carbon dioxide emissions. We can also ensure that we scale hydrogen at the pace necessary to meet aggressive decarbonization targets.
• Jillian Evanko is president and CEO of Chart Industries.
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