As per ESG Today, the recent announcement follows a low-carbon hydrogen strategy presented in June 2023 by the Biden Administration, to focus on the production and deployment of green hydrogen in areas such as intensive industries. US officials aim to produce up to 10 million tons of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030, as well as up to 50 million tons by mid-century.

The US currently produces around 10 million tons of hydrogen per year, with the total worldwide production being 94 million tons, although most of the capacity comes from fossil fuels. In the US, the production of the 10 million tons of clean hydrogen is associated with a carbon footprint of 100 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, generated from the processing of natural gas and methane.

On the other hand, producing clean hydrogen will require important investments in a larger infrastructure, such as electrolysis, transport and storage.

The recent funding made available by the DOE includes 316 million USD to support 52 projects across 24 states, specialized in low-cost and high-capacity electrolyzer technology production and 150 million USD to manufacture the required fuel cell assemblies.

Additionally, 82 and 81 million USD will be spent on the development of the necessary supply chains for hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers.

DOE officials say that the 52 projects could enable the production of fuel cells with a total capacity of 14 GW per year, enough to power around 15% of the medium and heavy-duty trucks sold every year.