The Biden administration has been one of the last in the West to go for this renewable energy that everyone is looking for. It wants to leave electric cars behind and be a true zero-emission model, unlike the others. Meet the proposal in which the United States wants to invest billions of dollars, even more than all of Europe put together.
Biden administration targets this renewable energy: billions of dollars to extract it
The Biden administration has emphasized the fact that hydrogen energy is on top of the things that they are working to develop. The new Inflation Reduction Act envelope, with the allocation of $370 billion, earmarks energy security and climate change investments, high on the list of which is the funding of hydrogen.
This large amount of money in pumping up hydrogen production and hydrogen infrastructure growth in the years to come is what this project seeks to do. Both with the government support the hydrogen energy is rolling for the rapid growth.
Nevertheless, the critics have been raising doubts about whether hydrogen will (after all) fulfil all the promises made to it. The increase of cheap clean hydrogen production is not easy. But others doubt over the fact that hydrogen is not profitable enough or practical for many imagined purposes.
Record amount of money earmarked for more renewable hydrogen
The Biden administration has pledged billions in subsidies and tax credits to spur development of hydrogen as a clean energy source. The U.S. Department of Energy plans to invest over $8 billion in hydrogen hub projects around the country.
These hubs will focus on clean hydrogen production, processing, delivery, storage and end use. An additional $7 billion in loan guarantees is available for projects that avoid, reduce, utilize and store greenhouse gases.
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act also includes major incentives for hydrogen production and infrastructure. It authorizes $9.5 billion in clean hydrogen production tax credits over 10 years, as well as a 30% investment tax credit for facilities producing, storing, transporting or using clean hydrogen.
The Department of Treasury has also proposed additional tax credits for clean hydrogen of up to $3 per kilogram. With all of these new subsidies and credits, the U.S. government is aiming to rapidly scale up domestic hydrogen production and use.
The goal is to help decarbonize major sectors of the economy like transportation and manufacturing. However, it remains unclear whether these investments will pay off as intended.
Electrolysis, the little-known process that will make us take advantage of hydrogen
Hydrogen can be produced through a process called electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This method extracts hydrogen from water using an electric current rather than fossil fuels.
The equipment used is called an electrolyser. It can range in size from small, appliance-size equipment to large-scale, central production facilities that can be linked directly to renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
Electrolysis is an attractive option because it can produce very pure hydrogen. And if powered by renewable electricity, the process results in virtually zero greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are drawbacks.
The equipment is still expensive compared to other hydrogen production methods. And the process is energy-intensive, typically requiring 50–55 kilowatt hours of electricity to produce 1 kg of hydrogen. So the cost and availability of renewable energy is a limiting factor.
It is clear that hydrogen will mark a before and after as a renewable energy, just what we need in the midst of an uncertain ecological transition. The main issue is whether we will be able to store it as efficiently as the rest of the world, in fact, even developing countries have discovered that they have deposits and are willing to explore them.