The Department of Energy released what it is calling the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, a framework intended to speed up the production, processing, delivery, storage, and use of clean hydrogen.
DOE said that clean hydrogen could play a “vital future role” in reducing emissions from some of the most energy-intensive sectors of the economy, including industrial and chemical processes and heavy-duty transportation.
It said that clean hydrogen also can support the expansion of variable renewable power by providing a means for long-duration energy storage and offers flexibility and multiple revenue streams for all types of clean power generation—including renewables, advanced nuclear, and other innovative technologies.
The Strategy and Roadmap document stems from language in section 40314 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The roadmap provides a snapshot of hydrogen production, transport, storage, and use in the United States today and a vision for how clean hydrogen could contribute to national decarbonization goals across multiple sectors in the future. It examines future demand scenarios, with opportunities for the domestic production of 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of clean hydrogen annually by 2030, 20 MMT annually by 2040, and 50 MMT annually by 2050.
DOE launched the Hydrogen Energy Earthshot in June 2021 in a bid to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1/kg in a decade.
The Strategy and Roadmap identifies three strategies intended to ensure that clean hydrogen is developed and adopted as an effective decarbonization tool. These include:
Targeting strategic, high-impact uses for clean hydrogen, which is expected to ensure that clean hydrogen will be used in the highest benefit applications, where limited alternatives exist (such as the industrial sector, heavy-duty transportation, and long-duration energy storage to enable a clean grid);
Reducing the cost of clean hydrogen by catalyzing innovation and scale, stimulating private sector investments, and developing the clean hydrogen supply chain; and
Focusing on regional networks with large-scale clean hydrogen production and end-use in close proximity, enabling maximum benefit from infrastructure investment, driving scale, and facilitating market liftoff while leveraging place-based opportunities for equity, inclusion, and environmental justice.
A draft of the roadmap was released for public comment in September. The final version released June 5 reflected comments from across the Biden administration; stakeholders in industry, academia, and the non-profit sector; as well as state, local, and Tribal governments.
It also incorporates findings from DOE’s March 2023 report, Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Clean Hydrogen. The Strategy and Roadmap is expected to be updated at least every three years.
Major investments made by the 2021 federal infrastructure law are expected by DOE to accelerate progress toward the Hydrogen Shot and stimulate new markets for clean hydrogen. Investments and initiatives include $1 billion for a Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program, $500 million for Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling, $8 billion for Regional Clean Hydrogen , and a Clean Hydrogen Production Standard.
