The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub has been designed to be able to deploy carbon capture and storage, in order to produce low-carbon hydrogen. This means the funding that has been supplied is very significant and is the first funding to be supplied to a project of this kind.

An initial amount of $30 million worth of funding was awarded to the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This was provided as part of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) Regional Hydrogen Hubs program.

This hub is a huge and significant development for the carbon capture industry, especially as it has been made clear by so many significant parties that carbon capture is essential to the decarbonisation effort. It has even been suggested by the International Energy Agency that it would be ‘impossible’ to reach climate goals without utilising this technique.

Currently ARCH2 has made its plan to use the region’s natural gas resources, plus biomass and clean electricity, in order to produce hydrogen at sites located throughout West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, whilst simultaneously capturing and then permanently storing CO2 emissions deep within geologic formations. Furthermore, ARCH2 plans to us the hydrogen which is produced to aid in the decarbonisation process of the industrial and transportation sectors.

Now that funding for this project has been secured, it has been made clear that the hub’s first phase of development is anticipated to take and estimated thirty-six months. Over this time the project will establish an advisory group and a community benefits steering committee, which together will offer recommendations to the board and will also aim to engaged with the community and labour members, who are already involved in the project.

Appalachian Regional Hubs Manager at Clean Air Task Force (CATF), Sam Bailey, commented, “ARCH2 is the first hub to receive a Phase 1 funding award from OCED that intends to demonstrate large-scale hydrogen production from natural gas paired with carbon capture and storage. To produce truly low-carbon hydrogen, funded projects must use natural gas demonstrated to have the lowest possible upstream emissions, capture CO2 at high rates, and be powered by zero-carbon electricity. CATF will work with other stakeholders to ensure that DOE assesses these project characteristics well to drive continued emissions reductions, especially within the natural gas value chain.” 

Technology & Markets Director at Clean Air Task Force, John Thompson, mentioned, “Carbon capture and storage is a key technology that can enable low-carbon hydrogen production in Appalachia,” said “Department of Energy funded projects in ARCH2 will demonstrate how commercial carbon capture technology, included in project design from the start, can be economic and used to lower the carbon intensity of hydrogen from reformation, the benefits of which could help drive decarbonization efforts well beyond the region.” 

Senior Northeast Regional Policy Manager at CATF, John Carlson, added, “The Regional Hydrogen Hubs program offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate how an Appalachian hydrogen market can advance U.S. decarbonisation goals by supporting hard-to-abate end uses in the region such as steelmaking, heavy transportation, and fertilizer production. We appreciate ARCH2’s commitment to sign memorandums of understanding with relevant labor organizations. We look forward to those MOUs successfully resulting in project labor agreements and ARCH2 demonstrating transparency and two-way engagement with communities as the hubs move into the next phase of deployment.”