Oklahoma officials who were behind a proposed hydrogen hub with Arkansas and Louisiana were left disappointed Friday when the Biden administration chose other clean-energy projects in seven states to be eligible for $7 billion in government funding.
The HALO Hydrogen Hub was not among those chosen by the Biden administration. The proposal by the three states was submitted last fall and was one of 79 hydrogen hubs that applied for government funding. The U.S. Energy Department narrowed the list to 33 and the HALO Hub was among those encouraged to submit full applications.
The office of Oklahoma Energy Secretary Ken McQueen did not respond to an OK Energy Today request for a comment.
The final list included:
- Appalachian Hydrogen Hub (Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2); West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania)
- California Hydrogen Hub (Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES); California)
- Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub (HyVelocity H2Hub; Texas)
- Heartland Hydrogen Hub (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota)
- Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2); Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey)
- Midwest Hydrogen Hub (Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2); Illinois, Indiana, Michigan)
- Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNW H2; Washington, Oregon, Montana)
The hydrogen hubs are designed to replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil and to use cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source. The clean hydrogen is considered “essential to achieving the president’s vision of a strong clean energy economy” and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050, according to the White House.
The Energy Department contends the seven hubs will eventually spur more than $40 billion in private investment and also create tens of thousands of jobs.
The infrastructure law Biden signed in 2021 included billions of dollars to develop so-called clean hydrogen, a technology that industry and clean-energy advocates have long pushed as a way to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels.