washington – clean hydrogen fuel’s versatility and flexibility makes it foundational to a clean energy transition, experts told lawmakers, including clean hydrogen enthusiast joe manchin, at a senate committee on energy & natural resources hearing thursday. 

“it can provide reliable power and long-duration energy storage to enable resiliency and a renewable grid,” said sunita satyapal, the director of the u.s. department of energy’s hydrogen and fuel cell technologies office. “analysis shows the potential for two to four times more hydrogen demand in the 2040 timeframe.”

hydrogen, the universe’s most abundant element, can be separated from compounds such as water using power sources like renewable energy. this process’ net energy cycle can be low carbon or high carbon depending on how hydrogen is extracted. according to satyapal, resulting fuel can be stored in gas or liquid form and be adept at meeting larger industries’ high energy demands. 

“it can reduce emissions, especially for hard-to-decarbonize sectors like heavy duty transportation,” she told senators. 

despite hydrogen’s opportunities, obstacles remain. while fuel can be derived by extracting hydrogen atoms from water using an electric current in a process called electrolysis, the electricity’s high costs make the alternative — using natural gas — an often preferable low-cost option. 

this, coupled with hydrogen’s high flammability, contributed to senators’ concerns about the fuel. 

“there are many logistical questions that need to be answered as to the use of this technology and how it grows,” said sen. james lankford (r-okla.). 

manchin, who chairs the committee, has opposed reforms curbing the activities of the coal and natural gas industries, which remain foundational to west virginia’s economy. his own family business profits off selling waste coal to high-emission power plants. 

nevertheless, west virginia’s coal production has continued to decline due to decreasing demand and the covid-19 pandemic’s economic consequences, according to data from the u.s. energy information administration. 

unlike renewable energies such as solar and wind, hydrogen fuel still relies on natural gas. this is good news for manchin — and his west virginia constituents in the natural gas sector. 

thursday’s hearing comes after manchin backed away from the biden administration’s build back better plan, leading to several new rounds of hand-wringing and political overtures to placate the democrat. 

but manchin’s support for hydrogen is not singular, as other democrats, as well as republicans alike on the panel expressed support for the clean fuel. 

“it appears that we have bipartisan agreement that hydrogen hubs are something that can point us toward a lower-carbon future,” said sen. bill cassidy (r-la.). 

manchin asked mike graff, who is both the chairman and chief executive officer of industrial gas production company american air liquide holdings, inc., how the u.s. can accelerate hydrogen production.

“there’s got to be a clear role in a public-private partnership with the government to have smart climate policy that incentivizes the need to build the infrastructure to make this occur,” graff said. 

to accelerate progress, brian hlavinka, the director of new energy ventures for williams companies, emphasized pursuing all production methods through a “colorblind approach.”

hydrogen fuel is categorized into “color” categories that describe its carbon emissions. “green hydrogen” — the most climate-friendly option according to experts — is produced by renewable energy, whereas “blue” and “gray” hydrogen use fossil fuels and emit carbon dioxide. 

nevertheless, sen. martin heinrich (d-new mexico) later pointed out that, by around 2030, green hydrogen made from electrolysis will be cheaper overall for companies than the hydrogen made from natural gas that requires subsequent carbon capture. 

clean air task force’s jonathan lewis pushed back. “we need a lot of clean hydrogen quickly,” he said. “our expectation is that hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture sequestration is significantly cheaper than green electrolytic processes right now.”

he’s the most well known guy on the block, but he’s totally invisible.

picture your average neighbor… with a few quirks. the house with over a dozen solar panels, three solar-powered pink flamingos, and a hydrogen fuel cell? it’s totally off the grid. what was once a typical “1920s sears kit home” has become a modern, sustainable energy hub.

aside from the energy savings, scott sklar lives like any other resident of arlington, virginia… right down to the hybrid car in his driveway. his blend of technologies and innovations are constantly spreading – half his block has now invested in solar panels too!

“most people make decisions about technology not on cost, but when they see other people doing it,” sklar said.

sklar tells his employees at the stella group, and his students at the george washington university, that even if they can’t afford a tesla or solar panels for their dorms, they can still make a difference every day by making smarter energy choices. as simple as buying an led light bulb.

some have called his house weird, innovative, and maybe even a little crazy… but don’t take their word for it, see for yourself!

surprisingly, fuel cell technology has been around since 1839, more than 150 years. it was originally called the “gas battery.” the invention of the fuel cell vehicle (fcv) didn’t come until 1959 in the form of a tractor.

but despite many years of research, fcvs are rare in the auto industry. the first fcv to become widely available for customer leasing was honda’s fcx clarity which debuted in 2008. although toyota has been invested in the potential of fcvs for years, they have yet to actually sell one. this is likely due to the huge success of the toyota prius.

the problem with hydrogen vehicles is the issue of refilling the tank and the huge amount of energy it takes to produce the hydrogen to fill it. if the hydrogen is produced with fossil fuels and bio-ethanol, there are still emissions even if they aren’t expelled from the operation of the fcv. to solve the problem that indirect emissions pose to the spread of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the hydrogen would need to be produced using renewable energy only.

right now hybrid and electric cars are rising in popularity because they are convenient for consumers. after all, every home has an electrical outlet and a car can charge in as little as 20 minutes now. there are even special parking spaces with places to plug in.

despite difficulties, it’s certainly possible for fcvs to rise in popularity, especially due to the fact that california law favors the technology. sure enough, toyota will release the toyota mirai, their first official fcv, to consumers as of 2016 — to california only. hopefully, the mirai will match the success of the prius and provide another clean option for the planet.

(image at top: the toyota mirai will be released to consumers in 2016. / mario roberto duran ortiz)

this video but university of mississippi students highlights research there to develop hydrogen fuel cells for cars, which could reduce the need for oil and gasoline.

lyrics:

gasoline gets people where we gotta go, but let’s talk a little bit about the price though.
at the pump we know it’s like a living hell, but, even worse, we’ve been damaging the earth as well.
and there are other choices that we could be taking:  a hydrogen fuel cell is in the making.
it breaks down water, turning it into fuel, emitting zero pollution, which is real cool.
but what about dollar signs, talk about the fee.  to keep the earth clean tell me what it costs me.
to drive it around cost almost none, but the fuel cell cost about a million.
see the platinum inside it is the problem now.  we need to run it without it; nobody knows just how.
we don’t want coal or electricity, but, most of all, you see, we can’t afford platinum.

and so a friend of mine is trying to find a better way.  doctor ritchie’s researching, looking towards a better day.
he’s gonna have a say in lowering the cost of driving your car, saving you the cash that you would’ve lost.
see we have had a fuel cell, and, well, it’s been nice, but it’s been unaffordable because the price was too high.
so the bottom line is doctor ritchie’s up and at ’em, finding a way that we don’t gotta use platinum.