On March 21, the CHP Alliance submitted a response to the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Program’s Request for Information, on the regional clean hydrogen hubs implementation strategy.
Clean hydrogen development and cost reductions for deployment will be critical to solving climate change and ensuring that the U.S. is a global leader in developing clean energy technologies and that U.S. companies secure any competitive advantages from being early adopters of such technologies. The CHP Alliance and its members see clean hydrogen used in highly efficient CHP systems as a significant opportunity to reduce emissions from the industrial and buildings sectors that will be critical to achieving the nation’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Historically, CHP units have run on traditional fuels, and many today use natural gas. This use of CHP can be thought of as “CHP 1.0,” the first wave of CHP technologies that relied on fossil fuels. However, CHP units can be fueled by hydrogen fuel, known as “CHP 2.0.” Use of hydrogen fuel can allow CHP systems to reduce emissions even further than they do under CHP 1.0. Moreover, CHP systems will use hydrogen fuel efficiently, requiring less fuel inputs for the same energy outputs compared to other generation units. Given the high cost of hydrogen, using hydrogen fuel efficiently in CHP systems will help to keep costs low and enable greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions.
Engaging with industrial and commercial customers that have CHP systems can help DOE to better understand current hurdles to clean hydrogen adoption and develop plans to lower these hurdles. Ensuring that the hydrogen hubs’ work considers these customers’ needs and the needs of their systems that currently use natural gas can help to support potential customers when clean hydrogen becomes more readily available.
To view a copy of the full response, visit here.
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