It was first announced in June 2021 as the "hydrogen target". Together with $8 billion in federal funds, it was clearly stated in the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act, which became law last November.
The document also sets the goal of the United States of America to produce 50 million tons of clean hydrogen annually by 2050, the medium-term goal is to produce 10 million tons by 2030, and 20 million tons by 2040 -- while the current goal is "almost zero.". The United States currently produces about 10 million tons of gray hydrogen annually from unreduced fossil fuels.
By the way, the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act requires US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to submit a clean hydrogen strategy and roadmap to Congress "within 180 days from the date of promulgation of the law". The bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021.
High impact use
This 121 page document makes the following argument for "strategic, high impact use of hydrogen" - it may disappoint many people.
"Although the versatility of hydrogen enables it to be used in many applications, the Ministry of Energy will focus on clean hydrogen for decarburization in areas that are difficult to be electrified, such as industry and heavy transportation. In these areas, processes using fossil fuels as chemical raw materials [such as ammonia and methanol], or in generating high-temperature heat or long-term schedulable electricity, will require clean fuels, such as hydrogen, to achieve decarburization."
It says that half of industrial emissions are due to the burning of fossil fuels to produce heat and electricity.
"Although the lower level of heating is usually feasible for electrification, about 30% of the heat used in industry is above 300 ℃, and it is likely to require clean fuel to decarbonize."
But this indicates a lack of understanding of the options. As Gniewomir Flis, an analyst at Agora Energiewende, a German think tank, told Recharge last year. "The idea that high-temperature process heat energy can only be decarburized with hydrogen is a marketing strategy. In most cases, electric heating is also feasible, and it can even decarbonize high-temperature industrial heat energy more effectively than hydrogen."
As pointed out in a recent scientific paper, today's heavy industry has an all electric heating solution that can provide more than 1000 ℃ of high temperature heat, including infrared and microwave heaters, induction furnaces and resistance furnaces, as well as electric arc furnaces common in the American steel industry.
The draft strategy said: "The furnace burning pure hydrogen or hydrogen mixed with natural gas is the key choice for these applications."
Many studies have shown that burning a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas is an extremely expensive and ineffective way to use high-value H2. Due to the low volume energy density, about three units of hydrogen are required to generate the same heat as one unit of natural gas, so 20% hydrogen mixture can only reduce carbon emissions by 7%.
Energy storage
The document added that it believed that the use of hydrogen for long-term energy storage was "the key to the growth of the use of clean electricity in all sectors".
"The use of hydrogen in fuel cells or low NOx turbines is a leading choice, which can provide the grid with dispatching power for many days. In the case of high electrification rate, more clean hydrogen and other clean fuels may be required to provide reliable power, and variable renewable energy will be incorporated into the grid to obtain stable dispatching power".
Converting electricity into hydrogen in an electrolytic cell and then into hydrogen in a fuel cell will result in an energy loss of about 65-72%, depending on the transportation, storage and distribution of hydrogen. Many experts believe that hydrogen should be used for energy storage only when variable renewable energy accounts for a high proportion of the power mix and cheap options are not enough.
Use of hydrogen in transportation
The draft strategy states: "In terms of transportation, hydrogen has a strong value proposition in the truck transport sector, especially for the fleet with heavy vehicles, long distance (>500 miles) routes or multi shift operations that need fast refueling. Hydrogen is also the basic raw material for the production of liquid fuels, which will be necessary for large-scale energy applications, such as aviation, railway and maritime transport."
It added that clean hydrogen could replace the ash hydrogen used to split heavy crude oil and remove sulfur in oil refining, and be used to produce biofuel from biomass and serve as the basic component of synthetic fuel that is chemically the same as petroleum or aviation fuel.
The document indicates that hydrogen will be used directly as fuel for medium and heavy trucks and buses.
"Fuel cells are particularly feasible in applications such as heavy trucks, which require a fast filling time comparable to today's diesel fuel, or a long distance of more than 500 miles [805 kilometers]."
The document does not point out that the operating cost of vehicles using green hydrogen will be two to three times that of similar vehicles powered by all electric batteries, or electric trucks like Tesla Semis will be able to travel 500 miles in a single charge. Hydrogen will be very important to decarbonize the aviation industry.
"The development of SAF [sustainable aviation fuel], such as biofuels and power to liquid fuels that can replace traditional jet fuels, is critical to decarbonizing the industry."
Hydrogen can be combined with captured carbon dioxide to produce synthetic jet fuel that is at least carbon neutral in theory. Hydrogen can also be directly used as fuel for short distance flight. The aircraft developed by ZeroAvia and other companies can travel 1800km one way.
First, second and third waves
At the end of the strategy document, it talked about the "first wave" of clean hydrogen application, which will be in the "existing market with few substitutes except clean hydrogen".
It lists such applications as forklifts, oil refineries, synthetic ammonia production, buses, long-distance heavy trucks, and heavy machinery in mining, construction and agriculture that require rapid refueling and operation away from the power grid.
In the second wave -- "Clean hydrogen provides a growing economic value proposition and is supported by industry commitment and policy momentum -- its applications will be steel production, energy storage and power generation, aviation, medium trucks, regional ferries, and" production of certain industrial chemicals ", such as plastics.
Then came the third wave. The application will become competitive with the expansion of clean hydrogen production scale, the reduction of cost and the popularization of infrastructure.
Here, it lists container ships, methanol production, cement, mixing with existing natural gas networks, and backup and fixed power supplies to replace diesel generators in key all-weather facilities such as hospitals and data centers.
Definition of clean hydrogen
The Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL), requires the Department of Energy to establish a standard for clean hydrogen production, that is, the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per kilogram of hydrogen is less than 2 kilograms, which is reiterated in the draft hydrogen strategy.
However, in another document released yesterday, the Ministry of Energy suggested that the standard should be doubled, that is, each kilogram of hydrogen contains 4 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
This is consistent with the Inflation Reduction Act of last month, which provides tax credits for clean hydrogen projects with greenhouse gas emissions of 4kgCO2e/kgH2 within their life cycle.
The reason provided by the Ministry of Energy for this growth is: "This goal may also be defined by those who meet the BIL definition of" clean hydrogen "at the production site
The strategy document -- which does not mention the new 4kg standard -- pointed out that the life cycle emissions of blue hydrogen produced through steam methane reforming (SMR) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) "may be between 3-5 kg CO2e/kgH2, depending on the extent of fugitive emissions, capture rate and carbon intensity of the power grid".
It added: "When the power supply is 100% carbon free -- as the government's goal before 2035 -- the well gate emissions of electrolysis are close to zero, but when the current average U.S. grid combination is used, the emissions of electrolysis may be twice that of SMR."
The document also points out that hydrogen generated from waste or biomass can also meet the standard, and biomass plus CCS can produce carbon negative H2.
cost reduction
The "hydrogen shooting" announced in June last year seeks to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen to one kilogram and one dollar within ten years, which is called "111". The new strategy document adds a medium-term target of $2/kg by 2026. A key part of this challenge is to reduce the cost of electrolysers. It says, "This will require mass manufacturing, innovation in the balance of electrolyzer stacks and factory components, and the integration of electrolysers in the next generation system."
For blue hydrogen, "the reduction of carbon dioxide transportation and storage, variable [operation and maintenance] costs, and capital costs can help achieve the hydrogen shooting goal".
Regional network
BIL calls for the establishment of at least four regional centers for the production of clean hydrogen. Among the three production routes of fossil fuel, renewable energy and nuclear energy, each route has at least one central proposal supported by 8 billion dollars. Each center should demonstrate the different uses of clean hydrogen: power generation, industrial manufacturing, residential and commercial heating, and transportation. At the same time, the bill also expects each regional center to be located in different regions of the United States and use "the rich energy of the region".
However, these standards are not static, as the bill only requires the Secretary of Energy to meet these standards "to the maximum extent practicable". BIL defines the regional clean hydrogen center as a network composed of clean hydrogen producers, consumers and connecting infrastructure, "not far away" from each other.
The strategy document pointed out that "the common positioning of hydrogen supply and demand can reduce the demand for new long-distance infrastructure, reduce the cost of early market growth, until large-scale and stable demand is developed in the region and nationwide. The $8 billion fund" will promote the production, processing, delivery, storage and final use of clean hydrogen, and achieve sustainable and equitable regional benefits and market absorption. The data collected from the Center will be used for future analysis to determine the best method for market launch, such as using price difference contracts, matching production with off takers, creating targeted large-scale demand with major tenants, and using existing infrastructure strategies, including CCS and other pipeline infrastructure, where applicable. "
conclusion
The document finally pointed out that clean hydrogen "will be an important factor on the national decarbonization road".
"Although there are still many uncertainties, the potential of hydrogen is clear. Key investments and actions need to be made in the near, medium and long term to lay the foundation for wider use of clean hydrogen, promote cost reduction, and expand the scale in a sustainable and comprehensive way. Through effective and efficient cooperation and coordination, as well as the correct strategy and implementation plan, the United States can and must successfully develop a sustainable Flexible and fair clean hydrogen economy. "
