DOE offers funds for clean hydrogen projects

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management announced $28 million for projects to advance clean hydrogen for power generation, transportation and industrial use.

DOE offers funds for clean hydrogen projects

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management announced $28 million for research, development and front-end engineering design projects to advance clean hydrogen for power generation, transportation and industrial use.

Hydrogen, when combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, produces electricity with water and heat as by-products. 

Most hydrogen in the United States is traditionally produced using natural gas, a process that emits carbon. The federal funding aims to boost the production of clean hydrogen at lower costs from materials that include municipal solid waste, legacy coal waste, waste plastics and biomass with carbon capture and storage.

Projects will be selected under five areas of interest: Clean Hydrogen Cost Reductions for Hydrogen Shot; Clean Hydrogen from High-Volume Waste Materials and Biomass; Sensors & Controls for Co-gasification of Waste Plastics in Production of Hydrogen with Carbon Capture; FEED Studies for Carbon Capture Systems at Domestic Steam Methane Reforming Facilities Producing H2 from Natural Gas; and FEED Studies for Carbon Capture Systems at Domestic Autothermal Reforming Facilities Producing H2 from Natural Gas.

Last August, the DOE announced $52.5 million in funding for 31 projects to advance next-generation clean hydrogen technologies and support the department’s Hydrogen Energy Earthshot initiative. The first Earthshot, Hydrogen Shot, which was launched last July, seeks to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per one kilogram in one decade.

Achieving that cost reduction goal could unlock new markets for hydrogen, including steel manufacturing, clean ammonia, energy storage, and heavy-duty trucks. 

The projects selected last year can be found here and here.

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