The Department of Energy Launches Hydrogen Energy Earthshot
The First Energy Earthshot — Hydrogen Shot — Aims to Reduce the Cost of Clean Hydrogen by 80% to $1/kg in One Decade
Image via energy.gov
By Liam Simmonds
June 7, 2021
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm launched the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) first Energy Earthshot - Hydrogen Shot - to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1/kg-H2 within one decade. The DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative is intended to accelerate development of more affordable, abundant, and reliable clean energy solutions.
“The Energy Earthshots are an all-hands-on-deck call for innovation, collaboration and acceleration of our clean energy economy by tackling the toughest remaining barriers to quickly deploy emerging clean energy technologies at scale,” said Secretary Granholm. “First up: Hydrogen Shot, which sets an ambitious yet achievable cost target to accelerate innovations and spur demand for clean hydrogen. Clean hydrogen is a game changer. It will help decarbonize high-polluting heavy-duty and industrial sectors, while delivering good-paying clean energy jobs and realizing a net-zero economy by 2050.”
There is a growing political and business momentum for the widespread use of hydrogen; industries are beginning to implement clean hydrogen to reduce emissions, but there are still a number of barriers to deploying clean hydrogen technologies at scale. According to the DOE’s Hydrogen Energy Earthshot announcement, Hydrogen Shot’s cost reduction goal of lowering the cost of hydrogen production from renewable sources from about $5/kg-H2 to $1/kg-H2 could enable a five-fold increase in demand by increasing clean hydrogen production from pathways such as renewable energy, nuclear, and thermal conversion.
Coupled with the launch, the DOE’s Hydrogen Program Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting, DOE’s Hydrogen Program issued a Request for Information (RFI) on viable hydrogen demonstration projects, including specific production regions, to help lower the cost of hydrogen, reduce carbon emissions and local air pollution, and create jobs. Topics in the RFI include:
Hydrogen Production, Resources, and Infrastructure
End Users for Hydrogen in the Region, Cost, and Value Proposition
Greenhouse Gas and Pollutant Emissions Reduction Potential
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), Jobs, and Environmental Justice
Science and Innovation Needs and Challenges
Additional Information
SEP’s Hydrogen Practice Area and the first release of our North American Hydrogen Market Model addresses several of the topics in the DOE’s Hydrogen Program RFI by assessing existing hydrogen production, volume and cost of regional energy feedstock resources, and hydrogen distribution infrastructure to provide context for specific production locations for affordable clean hydrogen production as well as gaps in the supply chain driving higher costs of hydrogen for end-user facilities. Additionally, SEP’s model identifies potential hydrogen end-users, screenable by region, est. cost, and value to merchant producers. The model may be used for contextualizing existing hydrogen markets in the U.S., and the integrated ‘Facility Design’ tool is intended to enable producers, distributors, investors, and researchers to model potential hydrogen demonstration projects and their associated markets for identifying ideal locations in the U.S. for clean hydrogen development.
Liam Simmonds is Lead Analyst at SEP and our Hydrogen Practice Area Lead.