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title=Strategy 1: Target Strategic, High-Impact Uses of Clean Hydrogen
While hydrogen's versatility enables it to be used in numerous applications, government agencies will focus on use of clean hydrogen for decarbonizing segments such as in industry and heavy-duty transportation that are difficult to electrify as well as early markets where agencies such as the Departments of Defense and those procuring stationary power or commercial vehicle fleets can provide opportunities for early hydrogen offtake. Processes that use fossil fuels as a chemical feedstock or in the generation of high-temperature heat or long-duration, dispatchable power will require clean fuels, such as hydrogen, to decarbonize. For instance, ammonia and methanol manufacturing account for the majority of global GHG emissions from chemicals, and both sectors rely on natural gas as a feedstock.75 These processes can be decarbonized by over 90 percent if they use clean hydrogen.76,77 Steelmaking accounts for about 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions,78 and relies on coke and natural gas to reduce iron ore. Transitioning to clean hydrogen as a reductant can reduce emissions by 40-70 percent.79
Over half of emissions from industry today are due to the direct combustion of fossil fuels to produce heat and power for industrial processes.80 While lower grades of heat generation are typically feasible to electrify, about 30 percent of heat used in industry is at temperatures above 300℃ and would likely require clean fuels to decarbonize.81 Furnaces that burn pure hydrogen or blends of hydrogen with natural gas are key options in these applications.
As the power grid is decarbonized, long-duration energy storage technologies will become essential to enable growth in using clean electricity across sectors. The use of hydrogen in fuel cells or low-NOx turbines is a leading option to enable multi-day storage and, dispatchable power generation to the grid. In scenarios with high electrification rates, more clean hydrogen and other clean fuels may be needed to provide reliable, firm, dispatchable power generation when integrating variable renewable
energy into the grid. Co-firing with hydrogen at existing and new power plants can help cut emissions from the power sector.
In transportation, hydrogen has a strong value proposition in the trucking sector, particularly for fleets with heavy-duty vehicles, long-distance (>500 mile) routes, or multi-shift operations that require rapid refueling. Hydrogen is also an essential feedstock for producing liquid fuels that will be necessary for large-scale energy applications, such as aviation, rail, and marine fuels. In the near-term, clean hydrogen can displace conventional hydrogen in petroleum refining for conventional transportation. In the mid- to long-term, hydrogen can be used to produce biofuels from biomass (to increase the yield of fuel produced from a given feedstock and pathway, and to refine the fuel's properties) and power-to-liquid fuels that can displace petroleum, particularly in offroad markets, discussed further below.

title=Hydrogen Production and Use in the United States
Clean hydrogen can be produced through various pathways, including water-splitting using renewable or nuclear power, from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage, and biomass or waste feedstocks. Other pathways in earlier stages of development include thermochemical, biological, and photoelectrochemical processes. The emissions intensity of each of these pathways depends on key variables, such as carbon capture, methane leak rates or fugitive emissions, and the use of clean electricity.
Industry produces about 10 MMT of hydrogen per year in the United States,7 compared to roughly 94 MMT per year globally,40 mostly for the petroleum refining, ammonia, and the chemical industry. Some of that hydrogen is produced and used at the same facility, so the total hydrogen consumption can be modestly higher.7 Figure 6 shows the allocation of hydrogen use across sectors in 2021. Today, U.S. hydrogen production generates about 100 MMT of greenhouse gas (tonnes of CO2-equivalent) per year on a well-to-gate basis.41
Hydrogen consumption in the U.S. by end use, 2021
2%
8%
to power 1.2 million households for a week. Outside of petroleum and fertilizer production, hydrogen use is now making its way into other end-use applications. These include more than 50,000 fuel cell forklifts,4 nearly 50 open retail hydrogen fueling stations, over 80 fuel cell buses, more than 15,000 fuel cell vehicles, and over 500 megawatts (MW) of fuel cells for stationary and backup power (e.g., for telecommunications), as detailed in Figure 7.

...

title=Hydrogen Production and Use in the United States
sectionHeading=>500 MW
sectionHeading=Electrolyzers
~80-150 Fuel Cell Buses
35%
Refining
Ammonia and methanol

Metals
Other
Source: IHS Markit, 2021
Figure 6: Consumption of hydrogen in the United States by end-use in 2021 42
To support these industries, the United States currently has approximately 1,600 miles of dedicated hydrogen pipeline43 and three geological caverns, including the world's largest, which can store 350 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of thermal energy44 or enough
~50
H2 Retail Stations
>16,000 Fuel Cell Cars
Figure 7: Examples of hydrogen and fuel cell technology deployments in the United States.

 | |Industrial feedstocks |Transportation |Power generation & energy storage |Buildings and hydrogen blending|
|--|--|--|--|--|
 |Existing demands at limited current scales |· Oil refining · Ammonia · Methanol |· Forklifts and other material-handling equipment |· Distributed generation: primary and backup power |· Low percentage hydrogen blending in limited regions|
 |Existing demands at limited current scales |· Oil refining · Ammonia · Methanol |· Buses · Light-duty vehicles |· Renewable grid integration with storage and other ancillary services ||
 |Existing demands at limited current scales |· Other (e.g. food, chemicals) |· Buses · Light-duty vehicles |· Renewable grid integration with storage and other ancillary services ||
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Steel and cement manufacturing |· Medium- and heavy- duty vehicles |· Long-duration energy storage |· Mid to high percentage hydrogen blending in certain regions with limited|
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Industrial heat |· Rail |· Hydrogen low NOx combustion |· Mid to high percentage hydrogen blending in certain regions with limited|
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Bio/synthetic fuels using hydrogen |· Maritime |· Hydrogen low NOx combustion |alternatives|
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Bio/synthetic fuels using hydrogen |· Aviation |· Direct/reversible fuel cells |· Building or district|
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Bio/synthetic fuels using hydrogen |· Offroad equipment (mining, construction, agriculture) |· Direct/reversible fuel cells |heating, including|
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Bio/synthetic fuels using hydrogen |· Offroad equipment (mining, construction, agriculture) |· Nuclear/hydrogen hybrids |fuel cells and combined heat and|
 |Emerging demands and potential new opportunities |· Bio/synthetic fuels using hydrogen | |· Fossil/waste/biomass hydrogen hybrids with CCUS |power, for hard to electrify or limited options|

...

title=Opportunities for Clean Hydrogen to Support Net-
sectionHeading=Zero
As shown in Figure 9, today's commercial availability of hydrogen technologies is limited. New applications for clean hydrogen in the coming decade, however, could include several opportunities, including heavy- duty transportation, the production of liquid fuels for marine and aviation applications, steelmaking, and glass manufacturing. It will be important to prioritize hydrogen deployment where other high-efficiency and low-cost options, such as electrification, are less likely to occur. As additional energy technologies advance and the entire energy system decarbonizes, new demands for hydrogen may emerge, including long-duration energy storage to enable a carbon pollution-free electric grid or stationary heat and power generation, including combined heat and power using fuel cells and other low- or zero- emission technologies.
Over time, the growth of clean hydrogen supply across these sectors may also spur the deployment of large-scale distribution infrastructure that connects regions of low-cost supply with large-scale demand. In all cases, forming regional networks will depend on understanding optimal geographic regions where hydrogen may be most advantageous from an overall emissions, resilience, resources, and sustainability perspective. If regional networks prioritize shared, open-access infrastructure they can help to reduce the delivered cost of hydrogen by lowering transport and storage costs. Government agencies will solicit input and feedback from communities impacted by legacy fossil infrastructure and climate change. Further elaboration of stakeholder engagement processes and actions for advancing energy and environmental justice is in Section C.

45 U.S. Department of Energy, "DOE Announces First Loan Guarantee for a Clean Energy Project in Nearly a Decade," U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, June 2022. https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-first-loan-guarantee-clean-energy-project-nearly- decade.
46 Air Products "Landmark U.S. $4.5 Billion Louisiana Clean Energy Complex," Air Products, Allentown, PA. https://www.airproducts.com/campaigns/la-blue-hydrogen-project.
47 Air Products "Air Products and AES Announce Plans to Invest Approximately $4 Billion to Build First Mega-scale Green Hydrogen Production Facility in Texas," Air Products, Allentown, PA. https://www.airproducts.com/company/news-center/2022/12/1208-air- products-and-aes-to-invest-to-build-first-mega-scale-green-hydrogen-facility-in-texas
48 Genesee County Economic Development Center "Plug Power is Building the Green Hydrogen Ecosystem at STAMP!," Genessee County Economic Development Center, Batavia, NY. https://www.gcedc.com/wnystamp/projectgateway
49 V. Arjona, "Electrolyzer Installations in the United States" U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, June 2023. https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/23003-electrolyzer-installations-united-states.pdf
50 Additional chemicals not listed in the Figure, ordered by consumption rate for hydrogen in the US, include: oxo chemicals, hydrogenated vegetable oil, aniline, caprolactam, cyclohexane, hydrogen peroxide, adipic acid, toluene diisocyanate, hydrochloric acid, and 1,4 butanediol.
51 U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, "H2 Matchmaker," U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

title=Phases of Clean Hydrogen Development
sectionHeading=First Wave
Applications of clean hydrogen in the first wave will be jumpstarted by existing markets that have few alternatives to clean hydrogen for decarbonization
and where there is access to hydrogen and compatible end uses. This includes existing refining and ammonia production plants. Industrial clusters that co-locate large scale production with end-use for such applications can help drive down costs and create the infrastructure that could be leveraged for other markets in subsequent phases.
· Forklifts and other material handling equipment in warehouses, ports, and other industrial sites have high utilization, predictable refueling locations and a need for fast refueling. The U.S. Government has already catalyzed this niche application in the United States, enabling thousands of systems in the market and a nascent infrastructure.
· Refineries represent the largest hydrogen market today and have no alternative for cracking heavy crude oil and for desulfurization. Switching to the use of clean hydrogen will create demand in the near term and immediately reduce emissions.
· Transit buses could be an attractive use case, particularly in regions that require long-distance operation and high uptimes and for transit agencies with large bus fleets where individual

Flagship projects in industry and energy storage are also putting the United States on the global map in terms of hydrogen deployment. The Intermountain Power Project being built in Utah will include 840 MW of power generation using blends of natural gas and hydrogen produced via electrolysis.45 In Louisiana, the Clean Energy Complex will use methane reforming with CCS at a 95 percent capture rate to supply clean hydrogen to regional markets and to export globally. This project will also be the world's largest carbon capture for sequestration operation, sequestering more than 5 MMT of CO2 per year.46 In Texas, Air Products and AES are teaming up to build a hydrogen production plant producing over 200 metric tons of hydrogen per day by electrolysis powered by 1.4 GW of renewable wind and solar electricity. The hydrogen from this project will serve growing demand for zero-carbon fuels.47 As another example, in New York, Plug Power is building a clean hydrogen plant which will use a 120 MW electrolyzer to produce approximately 45 metric tons of hydrogen per day using hydropower. The hydrogen produced

will replace fossil fuels in applications such as heavy- duty trucks and forklifts.48
Several states and regions across the Nation are actively pursuing clean hydrogen projects, ranging from production through end-use. The pace of new project announcements is accelerating. The values shown in Figure 8 reflect a snapshot of projects announced or operational by (a) December 2022 and (b) May 2023 based on publicly available information and DOE-funded project data. Securing long-term, credit-worthy offtake contracts will help ensure the significant pipeline of production announcements reaches final investment decision. If all announced projects proceed through to final investment, construction, and commissioning by 2030, these projects would create clean hydrogen supply of 12 MMT/year, surpassing the DOE goal. However, many of the projects await a final investment decision. Securing long-term, credit-worthy offtake contracts will help ensure the significant pipeline of production announcements reaches final investment decision.


O

sectionHeading=Second Wave
Applications in the second wave include use cases where clean hydrogen offers a growing economic value proposition, supported by commitments by industry and policy momentum. This phase includes a broader range of transportation use cases and widens to include greater use of industrial fuel and feedstock. A few examples of additional applications beyond those in the first wave include:
· Medium-duty trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells should become increasingly available at scale as heavy-duty transport leads the way in expanding hydrogen distribution and refueling infrastructure.
· Regional ferries powered by fuel cells, which could transport people or goods over short distances, are likely to become cost-competitive
with internal combustion engines as hydrogen and fuel cell costs decline.
· Certain industrial chemical production, such as in the plastics industry, requires high- temperature heat that is difficult to achieve with electricity, or rely on hydrogen feedstock from fossil sources today. These sectors could be decarbonized using clean hydrogen for heat generation, and as a feedstock.
· Steel production can decarbonize with clean hydrogen when applied to iron ore-based steel production that requires carbon-free reductants and high temperatures, where electrolytic production would not yet be viable.
· Energy storage & power generation can transition to gas turbines fueled with mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas for near-term emission reductions in fossil assets. Pure hydrogen can also be used as technologies become available that produce low nitrogen oxides. Fuel cells can also be used as a power conversion technology. Clean hydrogen can play a key role in seasonal storage to decarbonize the grid and reduce fossil-based generation.
· Aviation can transition to sustainable fuels that are produced using clean hydrogen and biomass and waste feedstocks, contributing to the Biden- Harris Administration goal of 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel.114 The production of clean hydrogen at scale will also lay the groundwork to produce power-to-liquids in the longer term. Industry feedback suggest certain market segments could additionally use hydrogen directly, though cryogenic storage may be required due to energy density requirements.

scales and distribution/storage costs fall, more nascent and distributed clean hydrogen use cases will offer attractive return on investment.
Policymakers worldwide recognize the need to complement electrification strategies with fuels like clean hydrogen. Numerous studies show the
potential role of clean hydrogen in global energy systems, though estimates vary significantly, as shown in Figure 4. Countries that have identified hydrogen as part of their decarbonization strategy also see hydrogen's role as enabling energy security and resilience.
50%
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, Ambitious, 2019 (EU)
40%
*Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, Business-as- Usual, 2019 (EU)
Energy Transitions Commission 2021 (Global)
30%
Hydrogen use as percentage of final energy demand
20%
O
10%
.
0%
Transport
Industry
. Mckinsey & Hydrogen Council Hydrogen Insights 2021 (Global)

+ International Energy Agency Net Zero Energy 2021 (Global)
O
Bloomberg New Energy Outlook Sept 2021 (Global)
X
OInternational Renewable Energy Agency 2021 (Global)
Buildings
Total Energy
Total Energy includes transport, industry, buildings, and power sector
Figure 4: The range of hydrogen's role in final energy use according to global and regional estimates shows a wide range of applications in each sector. 39
The actions laid out in this roadmap will bolster rigorous analytical models and frameworks and foster global collaboration to determine the best use of hydrogen and maximize impact.
Based on several models and analyses for the United States, Figure 5 lays out the opportunity for hydrogen, increasing clean hydrogen production from nearly zero today to 10 MMT per year by 2030, 20 MMT per year by 2040, and 50 MMT per year by 2050. Although clearly ambitious, these goals are achievable and are based on demand scenarios assuming cost competitiveness for hydrogen use in specific sectors such as industrial applications, heavy-duty transportation, and long- duration energy storage. By achieving a 5-fold increase in hydrogen production and utilization by 2050, total GHG emissions in the United States could
decrease by approximately 10 percent relative to 2005 levels when all hydrogen is cleanly produced.
As analyses continue to be refined and optimized, government agencies will continue to assess the cleanest, most sustainable pathways for hydrogen production through end-use, with particular emphasis on place-based and regional benefits.

[1] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=31
[2] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=16
[3] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=19
[4] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=87
[5] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=75
[6] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=17
[7] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=76
[8] https://cdn.climatepolicyradar.org/navigator/USA/2023/u-s-national-clean-hydrogen-strategy-and-roadmap_0a6aea326e22907bc1f043d65604a7ee.pdf#page=15