Federal energy regulators have picked Michigan as the location for a new clean hydrogen hub which it is hoped will serve as the center of a regional supply chain for the clean fuel. The hope is the hub will create a market for fueling trucks and heavy-duty vehicles with the emissionless gas, which produces only water vapor after use.
In a development which holds the promise of creating over 12,000 construction jobs, and 1,500 permanent jobs, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, also known as MachH2, is poised to bring the region $1 billion in federal funding.
In a statement Friday, Whitmer said, “Manufacturing is a fundamental part of the Midwest region’s identity and economic prosperity. Today’s announcement will allow us to stay true to this heritage while advancing innovation to remain globally competitive in the ongoing transition to clean energy.”
The project aims to create a new hydrogen production facility in Ypsilanti, and update and expand an existing facility in Flint. The plants would generate clean hydrogen fuel to power heavy-duty vehicles and manufacturing processes throughout several Midwestern states.
MachH2 will also help state officials to create a new hydrogen truck stop in Detroit, which would support heavy-duty international traffic at the Gordi Howe International Bridge.
The US Department of Energy will be supplying the federal funding from funds allocated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which had set aside $8 billion for the construction of clean hydrogen hubs throughout the country.
Hydrogen fuel is produced by using electricity to split water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The energy is considered carbon-free only if the electricity used is produced by a generation method which uses a non-fossil fuel energy source, such as solar or wind.
Greenhouse gases produced by transportation are a major factor in climate change. 29% of all US carbon emissions in 2021 came from transportation, according to data from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Analysts believe that if the diesel fuel presently used in the trucking sector could be replaced with a non-carbon fuel source, it could reduce as much as 1,300 kilotons per year of carbon dioxide from the United State’s carbon emissions. That would be an equivalent amount to removing 280,000 passenger vehicles powered by gasoline from the road for one year.
