What is a hydrogen hub? Explaining the projects Biden announced in Philly on Friday

A clean hydrogen hub project based in the Philadelphia area will receive part of $7 billion in federal funding intended to accelerate hydrogen as a clean energy source, President Joe Biden announced during an appearance in the city on Friday.

Known as the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, or MACH2, the project would be made up of 17 sites in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South Jersey. It is one of two hubs with Pennsylvania footprints. The other, the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, or ARCH2, is based in West Virginia and includes parts of Western Pennsylvania and will involve reclaiming abandoned mines and helping to manufacture advanced batteries.

In all, there were 23 finalists for the hydrogen fuel program, according to the Associated Press.

Here is what you need to know:

In 2021, Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which tasked the Department of Energy with establishing six to 10 “clean hydrogen hubs” with $7 billion in federal funding that is expected to attract $40 billion in private funds. The hubs are designed to create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local infrastructure that will increase the availability of hydrogen as a fuel source.

The effort is part of the Biden administration’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and a 100% clean electrical grid by 2035. With the hubs, the goal is to move away from fossil fuels like coal and oil, and toward hydrogen, which burns cleaner, as a fuel source.

Last year, about 80 applicants sent concept papers to the Department of Energy seeking to participate. The department selected 33 groups to move forward, with MACH2 among them.

Hydrogen can be produced in several ways, and it is referred to on a color spectrum based on what is used to make it.

Gray hydrogen, for example, is made using natural gas in a process that uses steam to break apart methane molecules to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This is the most common form of hydrogen fuel available, according to the World Economic Forum.

Blue hydrogen is produced in a similar way, but the carbon dioxide generated during the process is captured and stored, resulting in comparatively lower emissions. Though, as the forum points out, about 10% to 20% of the carbon created isn’t captured during the process.

Green hydrogen, meanwhile, is made through a process that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms. Because it uses electricity, renewable energy like wind and solar power can be used in the process.

Pink hydrogen is made via a similar process, but uses nuclear energy as the power source.

The increased focus on hydrogen as a fuel source has been met with skepticism by some environmental groups. According to the Associated Press, hydrogen is a clean-burning fuel, but it can take lots of energy to create, and may have an overall larger carbon footprint than other fuels if it is made using coal or natural gas.

Other groups have said that the hydrogen hub project plans have lacked transparency. Soni Grant, of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, told the AP that hydrogen and carbon capture processes “will only increase oil and gas extraction at a time when the climate emergency demands the opposite.”

“Hydrogen is another bait and switch from an administration that continues to break its promises to aggressively tackle climate change,” Grant said.

MACH2 would connect hydrogen producers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, including Southern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Delaware.

“This hub alone is going to produce 100,000 tons of hydrogen per year,” Biden said.

In Philadelphia, Biden said a partnership with Philadelphia Gas Works would provide hydrogen to power trucks and heavy-duty equipment. The site of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery, he said, would also be used.

And in Western Pennsylvania, ”the same communities that were once thriving coal mining and power plant towns will now be the center of our new clean energy economy,” Biden said, referring to the plan for the manufacture of advanced batteries.

MACH2 will create 20,800 direct jobs and receive up to $750 million in funding, according to the White House.

MACH2 organizers initially requested $900 million in funding. According to an abstract of the project, the hub will work to create primarily green and pink hydrogen to “fuel the local energy economy while mitigating emissions.”

However, the abstract noted, MACH2 would “employ steam methane reforming with carbon capture,” which creates blue hydrogen, “during early phases of development” as green hydrogen production assets are “built and upgraded.” That would allow the hub to “accelerate the production, distribution, and use” of clean hydrogen.

Staff writers Jesse Bunch and Frank Kummer contributed to this article.