Hydrogen

September 26, 2024

A debate over $100 billion in taxpayer subsidies could set the fate of the U.S. hydrogen industry

When hydrogen is burned, it releases only water vapor and no greenhouse gases, making it a potentially climate-friendly fuel for uses like steel production and cement manufacturing depending on how the hydrogen is made. But hydrogen is expensive to produce, which is why the Biden Administration and Congress provided up to $100 billion in taxpayer subsidies for hydrogen production in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Those proposed rules have ignited a debate over how strict those rules should be, with some energy companies lobbying for subsidies for hydrogen made from natural gas.

Courtney Bernhardt

September 5, 2024

EPA’s failure to regulate laughing gas is deadly serious for the climate

Nitrous oxide is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas. When released into the air, it is 273 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere. On July 23, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new voluntary actions by industry to reduce emissions of climate-warming “super-pollutants,” including nitrous oxide. But the announcement included no regulations for nitrous oxide and no requirements for industry to control this super-pollutant. This isn’t the first time that EPA has passed on the opportunity to curb nitrous oxide emissions from industry.

Brendan Gibbons

August 1, 2024

Environmental Integrity Project launches updated Oil & Gas Watch database and news site

The Oil & Gas Watch database and news site are being re-launched today (Aug. 1) with new features to make it easier for users to track oil and gas developments in local areas and gather national data on the growing industry. The database features a new “alerts” function to highlight new projects, updates, and public hearings. It also has new search tools; the projected greenhouse gas and related health impacts of projects; new maps; and sharable summary pages for industries. We also redesigned the Oil & Gas Watch News site and email newsletter. We are hosting a free virtual webinar at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 21 to explain how to use the new database.

Griffin Bird

July 11, 2024

Most hydrogen plants proposed near disadvantaged communities

At a time when the federal government is offering billions in subsidies to encourage hydrogen as an alternative fuel, U.S. companies have proposed at least 24 projects to build new plants to manufacture hydrogen out of natural gas. Public records show that about 90 percent of these projects are in or near low-income neighborhoods. The construction of these hydrogen plants in disadvantaged communities poses an environmental justice problem because they release not only greenhouse gases, but also air pollutants like particulate matter that threaten the health of local people.

Brendan Gibbons

March 6, 2024

World’s largest ammonia complex would make fertilizer from natural gas in West Virginia coalfields

The world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer plant, which would make ammonia out of natural gas, could be headed for a former coal mining site in rural West Virginia. TransGas Systems, a New York-based company, is seeking an air quality permit for a facility in Mingo County with six ammonia manufacturing units capable of producing up to 6,000 metric tons per day – a total of more than 13 million metric tons per year. The proposed plant is part of a wave of new and expanding fertilizer factories being built across the country.

Ari Phillips

January 25, 2024

Biden Administration proposes climate guidelines for billions going into hydrogen power

In an effort to nudge the growing hydrogen industry in a climate-friendly direction, the U.S. Treasury Department recently released proposed rules for clean hydrogen subsidies included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The guidelines, which cover the distribution of tens of billions of dollars of tax credits, surprised many with their commitment to hydrogen produced with clean energy, not fossil fuels. So far, only two of seven hydrogen “hubs” approved by the administration use only renewable energy, with a majority using natural gas.

Brendan Gibbons

January 18, 2024

The U.S. dominated the global oil and gas industry in 2023 despite pledges about clean energy

Overall, 2023 was a year of opposing trends in the U.S. oil and gas industry under a Biden Administration that both launched unprecedented policies to speed the transition to cleaner energy and also opened the door for record-setting fossil fuel production. Last year, the country became the world’s largest producer of oil and maintained its status as the top producer of natural gas, while also becoming the world’s largest gas exporter.

Brendan Gibbons

August 15, 2023

In eastern Ohio, environmental justice fight brews over a tires-to-energy plant

A debate over a proposal to convert waste tires to energy is generating a stir in Youngstown, a former steel hub that's still recovering after the decline of the steel industry in the 1970s. The proposal is one of at least 32 new chemical recycling plants proposed across the U.S. that would convert waste products such as tires and plastics into fuel or ingredients for manufacturing new plastics, chemicals, or other products. Almost two thirds of the residents around the Youngstown project are people of color or lower income.

Brendan Gibbons

June 8, 2023

Biden Administration may spend billions funding 'clean' hydrogen made with fossil fuels

Some hydrogen energy advocates envision a future where factories will split water molecules into clean hydrogen fuel. But half of the proposed hydrogen production sites currently under consideration for $8 billion in federal funding could use fossil fuels to make their hydrogen fuel, raising doubts about how “clean” the fuel would really be.

Courtney Bernhardt

October 25, 2022

Is hydrogen fuel worse for the climate than coal? It all depends on how it’s made

Hydrogen fuel can be produced by using only water as a basic ingredient and energy from wind and solar. In theory, when it is made this way, hydrogen is a clean fuel -- although a very expensive one -- that emits no carbon dioxide when burned, only water. But most hydrogen fuel today is not so clean, because it is produced using natural gas or coal. Companies are planning to build or expand at least 29 of these kinds of fossil-fuel hydrogen plants across the U.S., and one recent study concluded this kind of fuel is worse for the climate than coal or oil.