The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has announced funding for six cutting-edge projects to develop advanced hydrogen technology. The $9.3 million investment aims to make clean hydrogen a more available and affordable fuel source for electricity generation, industrial decarbonization, and transportation.
Hydrogen from Waste: A Sustainable Solution The projects will focus on advancing hydrogen systems that convert various waste feedstocks, such as biomass, plastics, and household garbage, into clean energy. This approach not only reduces waste sent to landfills but also creates local economic opportunities by establishing new waste-to-energy plants in communities.
Reducing Carbon Footprint and Costs Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, emphasized the importance of this initiative: “By investing in projects that advance the use of waste feedstocks and integrating hydrogen-based systems with carbon capture, we are helping reduce the carbon footprint and costs to produce clean hydrogen.”
Low-Carbon Pathways for Hydrogen Production Clean hydrogen can be produced through low-carbon pathways using diverse domestic resources, including natural gas with carbon capture and storage, nuclear energy, renewable energy sources like wind and solar, and biomass through biological and gasification processes.
Selected Projects and Their Contributions The selected projects will advance the performance, reliability, and flexibility of existing and novel methods for producing, transporting, storing, and using hydrogen. Here are the project highlights:
- GTI Energy (Des Plaines, Illinois) will demonstrate a gasifier feed control system for clean hydrogen production from biomass and waste feedstocks.
- Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) will showcase a system producing clean hydrogen from biomass, waste plastics, and legacy coal waste feedstocks.
- Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, New Jersey) will develop an AI-powered wireless sensor system to enhance gasification-based systems utilizing mixed solid feedstocks for hydrogen production.
- The University of Connecticut (Storrs, Connecticut) will develop new sensors to improve the efficiency of solid waste and biomass feedstock-based gasifiers for hydrogen production.
- Baker Hughes (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) will integrate technologies to demonstrate a hydrogen-blended natural gas turbine system coupled with carbon capture.
- Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, California) will develop a model to assess the net-zero capability and performance of gas turbine combined cycle plants operated with hydrogen fuel blending and carbon capture.
Supporting DOE’s Hydrogen Shot Initiative:
These projects support the DOE’s Hydrogen Shot initiative, which aims to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per kilogram in one decade, fostering new, clean hydrogen pathways in the United States.
The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the selected projects, contributing to the nation’s efforts toward a sustainable, low-carbon future.
