Republican lawmakers introduced a bill June 16 that would waive certain U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements for federally funded hydrogen projects, so long as the hydrogen is produced using a zero-emission power source.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. representatives Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.; Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.; and Ted Budd, R-N.C., would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to exempt certain federal hydrogen programs from the environmental review provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Only hydrogen projects that use nuclear, renewable or geothermal power would be eligible for exemption. The bill, dubbed the Hydrogen Permitting Simplification Act, would not apply to blue hydrogen or hydrogen generated from natural gas using carbon capture and storage.
"I am a strong supporter of hydrogen energy technologies and am proud to introduce this legislation, which will remove regulatory roadblocks and help us deploy these technologies more efficiently, more affordably and more responsibly than ever before," Newhouse said in a statement.
Future hydrogen economy
The bill comes amid a mad dash for the $8 billion the U.S. Energy Department is offering for the development of up to 10 regional hydrogen hubs. The program funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law is part of a Biden administration effort to create a national economy for the gas. At least a dozen U.S. states and companies have already registered their interest in the federal funding program, which is expected to start taking applications in the fall.
Hydrogen is an energy carrier, with potential end uses including manufacturing, metals refining, transportation, energy storage and electricity production. The clean-burning gas is championed by environmentalists and natural gas companies alike due to its zero-carbon footprint and compatibility with existing pipeline infrastructure.
Hydrogen production, however, still comes with a high carbon footprint. More than 95% of hydrogen in the U.S. is produced by fossil fuels from steam-reforming of natural gas, according to the DOE.
So-called green hydrogen, which uses renewable electricity to extract hydrogen from water, remains prohibitively expensive. Blue hydrogen, meanwhile, is controversial among environmentalists because it relies on carbon capture and storage to offset its emissions. The nascent technology has yet to be proven at a commercial scale.
The DOE's regional hydrogen hub program mandates that the hydrogen be "clean," with at least one hub devoted to green hydrogen, one to blue hydrogen and one to nuclear-powered — also known as pink — hydrogen.
Permitting logjam
Hydrogen projects must receive numerous state and federal permits, including the National Environmental Policy Act. Energy developers, including some clean energy developers, have criticized the environmental regulation for its ability to delay a project for several years.
"Companies that produce hydrogen from zero-carbon emission sources currently face burdensome, costly, and lengthy environmental regulations even though they have no effect on the environment," Lesko said in a news release accompanying the recent bill.
But environmentalists say the full impact of a hydrogen economy — even a green hydrogen economy — still needs to be studied.
"The same holds true for evaluating the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of hydrogen end-use applications, as well as the magnitude of climate impacts of hydrogen leakage itself," said Julie McNamara, senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in an April 11 report on the DOE's hydrogen hub program. "And for each of these, DOE must look beyond carbon to also consider impacts such as criteria pollutants and water availability and use."
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