Hydrogen Hubs and Demonstrating the
October 24, 2022
Hydrogen Energy Value Chain
Martin C. Offutt
Hydrogen hubs are emerging centers of activity involving hydrogen production, transport,
Analyst in Energy Policy
delivery, and end use to provide modern energy services such as mobility, goods movement, heat

for manufacturing processes, and other services. A future economy using hydrogen as an energy
carrier and fuel could offer an alternative method to provide the many modern energy services

associated with fossil fuels. In addition to providing a fuel for transportation—one of the larger
applications envisaged—hydrogen can support industrial processes or building operations or can become part of the energy
infrastructure by storing energy.
Congress, in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, §40315, P.L. 117-58), authorized a program of Regional Clean
Hydrogen Hubs. Congress appropriated $8 billion (Division J, Title III of the IIJA) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
to make awards to support at least four demonstration projects involving networks of clean hydrogen producers and
consumers and the connecting infrastructure. DOE has funded demonstration programs at small and large scale since its
inception in 1977. The essential purpose is to demonstrate technological feasibility. A demonstration project also reduces risk
to subsequent investors as the government assumes the role of first mover to some extent. Hydrogen demonstrations to date
have ranged from single refueling stations to linked activities for realizing value propositions typical of modern energy
services, such as goods movement. To give an example, the Shore-to-Store project at the Port of Los Angeles completed its
initial phase in February 2022 to demonstrate the shore-side movement of goods by zero-emission vehicles.
Consumption of hydrogen is focused in a relatively concentrated set of end-users. Almost all produced hydrogen is consumed
by the petroleum industry or chemical industry either on site or via delivery through dedicated pipelines from large merchant
producers. The hydrogen hubs and the additional supply of hydrogen they will create will likely need to be matched to new
sources of demand.
Hydrogen in its current uses has a dedicated infrastructure, but one that is small compared to other energy commodities, such
as natural gas. For example, hydrogen pipelines comprise 1,600 miles in the United States compared with 300,000 miles of
natural gas transmission pipelines. To service a fleet of numerous and relatively smaller hydrogen refuelin g stations for fuel
cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), for example, will require expanded hydrogen delivery infrastructure , such as additional
pipelines and delivery trucks loaded with liquid or compressed, gaseous hydrogen, or advances in onsite hydrogen
production.
DOE released an initial funding opportunity announcement (FOA) in September 2022. DOE plans to select six to ten hubs
with total funding of up to $6 to $7 billion. DOE is requiring a 50% cost share from nonfederal sources and anticipates
projects to be executed over 8 to 12 years. Based on state legislative activity, press releases, and news articles, it appears that
state governments, many in combination with private sector entities and one or more other states, have announced aspirations
for over twenty hydrogen hubs. Some have stated their non-binding intention to apply for funding for Regional Clean
Hydrogen Hubs. In general, the hubs must “demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of clean
hydrogen” (Section 40314 of IIJA).
DOE’s 2020 Hydrogen Program Plan identified rights-of-way and permitting for hydrogen pipelines as needs and challenges
for hydrogen delivery infrastructure. Key policy issues that Congress may examine include the regulation of pipeline and
other infrastructure siting, including potential federal-state jurisdictional conflicts, and the regulation of pipeline rates and
terms of service.
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Introduction
Hydrogen hubs are emerging centers of activity involving hydrogen production, transport,
delivery and end use to provide energy services, such as mobility, goods movement, and heat for
manufacturing processes.1 Congress, in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, §40315,
P.L. 117-58), authorized a program of Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. Congress appropriated $8
bil ion (IIJA, Division J, Title III) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to make awards to
support at least four demonstration projects involving networks of clean hydrogen producers and
consumers and the connecting infrastructure.2 Congress created a new Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations (OCED) to manage these and other non-hydrogen demonstration projects. DOE’s
Hydrogen and Fuel Cel Technologies Office (HFTO) retains the overal lead role for
coordination of DOE hydrogen programs.
A future economy using hydrogen as an energy carrier3 and fuel could offer an alternative method
to provide the many modern energy services associated with fossil fuels. In addition to providing
a fuel for transportation—one of the larger applications envisaged—hydrogen could support
industrial processes or building operations or become part of the energy infrastructure by storing
energy. Demonstrations of hydrogen technology and value propositions based on hydrogen
continue to emerge, ranging from one-off funded projects to public-private partnerships (P3s)
with regional scope in the United States and abroad. Many such projects investigate uses of
hydrogen as fuel for familiar services such as personal transportation/mobility or industrial heat
for manufacturing. The hydrogen energy value chain spans resource extraction, production,
storage, and final conversion and end use. Although demonstrations have addressed portions of
this value chain, DOE’s statements on the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs envisage the full value
chain, following the prescriptions of the IIJA.
DOE Programs and Demonstrations
DOE Hydrogen Programs
The DOE Hydrogen Program, led by the HFTO within the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) and including several other DOE offices, addresses the development
of applications that use hydrogen in place of other fuels and technologies. The Hydrogen Program
also considers hydrogen in its role as an established chemical feedstock. The Hydrogen Program
includes over 400 projects of research and development (R&D), systems integration,
demonstrations, and initial deployment activities performed by universities, national laboratories,
and industry.4

1 For further discussion of energy services, see A. Grubler et al., Energy Primer, International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, August 2015, pp. 8 -14, at https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/11190/1/
EnergyPrimer_Aug15_HiRes.pdf; M.J. Fell, “ Energy Services: A Conceptual Review,” Energy Research and Social
Science, vol. 27 (May 2017), p. 129–140.
2 For further discussion of DOE’s funding of hydrogen programs, see CRS In Focus IF12163, Department of Energy
Funding for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Program s, by Martin C. Offutt .
3 Energy carriers are substances or physical phenomena such as electricity that have potential energy, which allows
them to perform work or provide heat or light, and that can be transmitted over long distances without substantially
losing their potential energy.
4 Sunita Satyapal, Director, DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, 2022 AMR Plenary Session, June 6,
2022, at https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/hfto-amr-plenary-satyapal-2022-1.pdf.
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Demonstrations
Purpose and Expectations
The essential purpose of demonstrations is to show technological feasibility.5 A demonstration
project receiving government support also reduces risk to subsequent investors as the government
assumes the role of first mover to some extent.6 Inserting a technology into a demonstration
project al ows testing in relative isolation so that any failures have limited consequences and do
not cascade more widely, for example into an energy network such as an electric power grid.7
Demonstration projects have been part of early deployment by sel ing products, such as outputs
from the demonstration project.8 DOE has stated that the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs
authorized in IIJA wil yield insights and validate the claimed benefits (environmental and
otherwise) of the hydrogen economy and wil identify technology needs.9
Hydrogen demonstration projects have addressed portions of the full hydrogen energy value chain
depicted in Figure 1.

5 See, for example, A. Grubler, F. Aguayo, and K. Gallagher, “Chapter 24 —Policies for the Energy T echnology
Innovation System,” in Global Energy Assessment—Toward a Sustainable Future (New York and Laxenburg:
Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 1673; L.R. Cohen and R.G. Noll, The Technology Pork Barrel (Washington,
DC: T he Brookings Institution, 1991), p. 39.
6 D.M. Hart, “Beyond the T echnology Pork Barrel? An Assessment o f the Obama Administration’s Energy
Demonstration Projects,” Energy Policy, vol. 119 (2018), pp. 367-376.
7 Ibid.
8 For discussion of sales of synthetic fuel from a demonstration project, see U.S. Government Accountability Office,
SYNTHETIC FUELS: Status of the Great Plains Coal Gasification Project—August 1, 1985, RCED-86-36, December
1985, p. 19, at https://www.gao.gov/assets/rced-86-36.pdf.
9 T estimony of Sunita Satyapal, Director, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, U.S. Department of Energy,
during U.S. Congress, Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Clean Hydrogen, hearing, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., February
10, 2022.
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Figure 1. Hydrogen Energy Value Chain

Source: CRS.
Notes: Hydrogen may be sourced from numerous primary resources (amber, top left). The hydrogen
production step (red) can occur in ways specific to the resource and is packaged and moved as the energy
carrier (light blue) over long distances (transmission & delivery, light blue) and, as appropriate, converted to
hydrogen and stored near the point of use (e.g., at the scale of a refueling station, light blue). The end-use
technology such as the vehicle fuel cel wil then convert the carrier into useful energy (dark blue) to provide the
energy service (amber, lower right). Depending on the method of hydrogen production, there may be an
additional step involving gas emissions cleanup and capture (green, enclosed in dotted lines) to remove
pol utants. This description is based on hydrogen as the energy carrier. However, the sequence in the figure can
also use other energy carriers as intermediaries where indicated by the asterisks:
(*) energy carrier created in production step (red) could instead be ammonia, electricity, or other.
(**) within the dispensing and storage step (light blue), a non-hydrogen energy carrier would be converted to
hydrogen.

Brief History of Demonstrations
DOE has funded demonstration programs and projects at smal and large scale since its inception
in 1977, many of which have included hydrogen production. Congress authorized these programs
for explicit purposes and provided DOE with both annual and one-time supplemental
appropriations including from the IIJA and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA, P.L. 111-5). The Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs funded in the IIJA continue this sort of
demonstration activity at a conceptual level.
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The Energy Conservation and Production Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-385) established a demonstration
program for buildings energy conservation “to test the feasibility and effectiveness” of financial
assistance for the adoption of energy conservation measures.10 The early DOE demonstrations
ranged in scope and scale from over 30 smal rooftop solar photo-voltaic generation projects to
larger, single demonstrations such as synthetic fuels plants. One such plant, the Great Plains coal
gasification plant, attempted to demonstrate the conversion of coal into raw gas containing
hydrogen and other constituents for synthesis of ammonia and other gases.11
DOE curtailed the number of demonstration plants in the 1980s.12 Nonetheless, later that decade,
nine clean coal demonstrations were established to burn or otherwise use coal in a way that
reduces release of pollutants.13 Later plans for large-scale demonstrations included FutureGen, an
effort proposed by DOE in 2003 to build a coal-fired power plant with hydrogen production and
carbon capture and storage.14 The plant was to be based on coal gasification and was supported by
outlays both from annual appropriations and $1 bil ion awarded from ARRA, with roughly $200
mil ion of the latter being spent. The project was re-conceptualized and then ended in 2015.15
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05, P.L. 109-58) authorized the Next Generation Nuclear
Plant (42 U.S.C. §16021), a prototype plant based on the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems
Initiative (42 U.S.C. §16272), to generate electricity, hydrogen, or both. Congress appropriated
over $500 mil ion for Phase I of the project, including research and development, design
engineering, licensing, and project management.16 DOE decided not to proceed with Phase II in
2011 following a review by its Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee.17
In 2021, the IIJA consolidated demonstration programs under one office, OCED, and
appropriated $21.5 bil ion to support large-scale demonstration projects, including the $8 bil ion
for the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.18

10 12 U.S.C. §1701z-8.
11 National Research Council, Energy Research at DOE: Was It Worth It? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy
Research 1978 to 2000, Washington, DC, 2001, p. 175.
12 National Research Council, Energy Research at DOE: Was It Worth It? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy
Research 1978 to 2000, Washington, DC, 2001.
13 L.R. Cohen and R.G. Noll, The Technology Pork Barrel (Washington, DC: T he Brookings Institution, 1991), p. 31;
National Research Council, Energy Research at DOE: Was It Worth It? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Research
1978 to 2000, Washington, DC, 2001, p. 216.
14 U.S. Department of Energy, “Abraham and Dobriansky Announce ‘FutureGen,’” press release, February 27, 2003, at
https://www.energy.gov/management/february-27-2003-abraham-and-dobriansky-announce-futuregen.
15 Manuel Quinones, “Lawmakers Likely to Scrutinize DOE Closeout of FutureGen Project,” Environment & Energy
Daily, February 4, 2015, at http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1060012838/.
16 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Next Generation Nuclear Plant: A Report to Congress, April
2010, p. 7.
17 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Advanced Reactor Research: DOE Supports Multiple Technologies but
Actions Needed to Ensure a Prototype Is Built, 14-545, June 2014, p. 11.
18 M. Klembara, U.S. Department of Energy, “Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations,” April 15, 2022, at
https://energyresearch.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Klembara-OCED_20220415.pdf.
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The U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation and the Great Plains Coal Gasification
Plant
In 1980, the Energy Security Act (P.L. 96-294) established the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation (SFC). Congress
used $2.8 bil ion of the Energy Security Reserve, established and funded first in fiscal year 1980 by the Interior and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act (P.L. 96-126), to fund the Great Plains coal gasification plant in North
Dakota and the Parachute Creek Oil Shale project in Colorado. Five projects entered the construction phase in
total and were the beneficiaries of loan and price guarantees. Congress abolished the SFC in 1986 (P.L. 99-190)
and rescinded its remaining budget authority, although the projects continued.19
Fol owing the August 1985 loan default at the Great Plains plant, DOE purchased the plant for $1 bil ion in 1986
and sold it to the Basin Electric Power Cooperative in 1988.20 In 2021, Bakken Energy agreed to purchase the
plant and announced it wil partner with Mitsubishi Power Americas to develop the plant into a hydrogen
production facility with carbon capture and storage.21
Status of Hydrogen Hubs
DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Program
DOE launched an initial funding opportunity announcement (FOA) in September 2022.22 DOE
plans to select six to ten Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs with combined total funding of up to $6
to $7 bil ion, with a “preferred maximum” of $1.25 bil ion per hub. DOE states that the balance
of the $8 bil ion appropriated for the hubs in the IIJA may be reserved for additional hubs or other
supporting activities. DOE is requiring a minimum 50% cost share from nonfederal sources and
anticipates projects to be executed over 8 to 12 years.23
When issuing the FOA, DOE said that concept papers wil be due on November 7, 2022, and full
funding applications wil be due by April 7, 2023.24 DOE had conducted initial consultations
including a Request for Information (RFI) on February 16, 2022.25 DOE received more than 120
responses to the RFI comprising over 1,300 pages.26
Based on state legislative activity, press releases, and news articles, it appears that state
governments, many in combination with private sector entities and one or more other states, have

19 M. Holt, Energy Policy: Is the U.S. Ready for the 1990s? Energy Security Laws of the 1970s, Environmental and
Energy Study Conference, U.S. Congress, April 18, 1988, pp. 14 -15.
20 National Energy T echnology Laboratory, Gasifipedia:7.5.1. Great Plains Synfuels Plant, at
https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasification/gasifipedia/great-plains; T . W. Lippman, “ Huge
Synthetic Fuel Plant Now Operating at a Profit,” Washington Post, February 18, 1990.
21 S. Ali, “Bakken Energy Plans North Dakota Hydrogen Hub,” H2 Bulletin, August 17, 2021; Bakken Energy, “Clean
Hydrogen: Bakken Energy Is Currently Focused on the Development of Clean Hydrogen Production, T ransportation,
Storage and Applications,” press release, 2022; J. McPherson, “Companies Aim to Build ‘Clean Hydrogen’ Hub,”
Associated Press, June 4, 2021.
22 U.S. Department of Energy, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Additional Clean Hydrogen Programs (Section 40314):
Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Funding Opportunity Announcement, DE-FOA-0002779, September 22, 2022, at
https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/FileContent.aspx?FileID=e159ff1f-5572-437e-b02d-b68acb461893.
23 Ibid., p. 17.
24 U.S. Department of Energy, “Biden-Harris Administration Announces Historic $7 Billion Funding Opportunity to
Jump-Start America’s Clean Hydrogen Economy,” press release, September 22, 2022, at https://www.energy.gov/
articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-7-billion-funding-opportunity-jump-start.
25 87 Federal Register 8828, February 16, 2022.
26 U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies
Office Funding Opportunities, at https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-office-
funding-opportunities.
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announced interest in over twenty hydrogen hubs and stated their non-binding intention to apply
for funding for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. At least four private al iances have also declared
interest in pursuing the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. Figure 2 depicts states with entities that
appear to have expressed interest in IIJA funding for hydrogen hubs.
CRS found hydrogen hub activities in various stages of planning, with some groups having a
declared geography and others not specifying a location. Groups also are soliciting additional
participants.
Figure 2. Regions, States, and Localities Expressing Interest in Hydrogen Hub
Development
Not al have declared they wil apply for DOE funding

Source: CRS figure based on legislation, press announcements and news articles as of September 19, 2022.
Notes: Multi-state public-private partnerships (P3s, Type 1) are outlined in green, private only (Type 2) in red,
public only (Type 3) in orange. Los Angeles includes one P3 hub and one hub declared by the city council.
Al iances are groups involving governments and/or private entities in more than one state.
Requirements
Congress required the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs must “demonstrate the production,
processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of clean hydrogen.” 27 The IIJA revised Section 813 of
EPAct05 to require the Secretary of Energy to use certain criteria in selecting among proposals
for the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. The DOE describes these criteria as:28

27 42 U.S.C. §16161a.
28 T he criteria are DOE’s paraphrasing of 42 U.S.C. §16161a, quoted from DOE Hydrogen Program, Request for
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 “Feedstock diversity—at least one hub shal demonstrate the production of clean
hydrogen from fossil fuels, one hub from renewable energy, and one hub from
nuclear energy.
 End-use diversity—at least one hub shal demonstrate the end-use of clean
hydrogen in the electric power generation sector, one in the industrial sector, one
in the residential and commercial heating sector, and one in the transportation
sector.
 Geographic diversity—each regional clean hydrogen hub shal be located in a
different region of the United States and shal use energy resources that are
abundant in that region.
 Hubs in natural gas-producing regions—at least two regional clean hydrogen
hubs shal be located in the regions of the United States with the greatest natural
gas resources.
 Employment—DOE shal give priority to regional clean hydrogen hubs that are
likely to create opportunities for skil ed training and long-term employment to
the greatest number of residents in the region.
 Additional Criteria—DOE may take into consideration other criteria that are
necessary or appropriate to carry out the regional clean hydrogen hubs program.”
Experience with Hydrogen Projects
Early Deployment
Industrial processes that use hydrogen already occur at large scale, such as petroleum refining or
production of ammonia to make urea for fertilizer.29 Demonstrations of additional industrial uses
of hydrogen are being developed in cement, ceramics, and glass manufacturing—substituting
hydrogen for operations that currently use other fuels.30
The customer-facing hydrogen technologies now available to retail consumers include hydrogen
refueling stations and fuel cel electric vehicle (FCEV) cars. Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota have
manufactured FCEV cars to buy or lease in North America. There are over 50 public, retail
refueling stations—one in Hawai and the rest in California.31 Car makers had sold over 14,000
light-duty vehicles in the United States, cumulative through September 30, 2022,32 with over
12,000 of these on the road at the end of 2021.33 The sales of FCEV cars is smal compared to
cars of al types sold in the United States, which comprised 3.4 mil ion sales in 2020 alone.34

Inform ation # DE-FOA-0002664.0002: Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Im plem entation Strategy , pp. 4-5, at
https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx?foaId=5d96172f-e9b6-48ff-94ac-5579c3531526.
29 International Energy Agency (IEA), The Future of Hydrogen: Seizing Today’s Opportunities, Paris, June 2019, p. 32.
30 International Energy Agency, Global Hydrogen Review 2021, Paris, October 2021, p. 6.
31 U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Hydrogen Fueling Station Locations, at
https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/hydrogen_locations.html#/find/nearest?fuel=HY.
32; California Fuel Cell Partnership, By the Numbers: FCEV Sales, FCEB, and Hydrogen Station Data , September,
2022, at https://cafcp.org/by_the_numbers.
33 R.C. Samsun et al., “Deployment of Fuel Cell Vehicles and Hydrogen Refueling Station Infrastructure: A Global
Overview and Perspectives,” Energies, vol. 15, no. 4975 (July 7, 2022), p. 5.
34 S.C. Davis and R.G. Boundy, Transportation Energy Data Book, Edition 39, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
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Overal , FCEV cars comprised slightly fewer than 1 in every 20,000 cars in the United States at
the end of 2021.35
DOE has identified other applications in early deployment. These include over 50,000 fork lifts
used for logistical operations—known as material handling equipment (MHE)—and hydrogen
back-up power devices totaling over 500 megawatts (MW) capacity.36 The two applications
together received roughly $40 mil ion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L.
111-5).37
DOE identified several technology cost advantages of hydrogen versus battery-electric MHE,
beginning with lower total cost of ownership38 for the hydrogen version.39 Hydrogen MHE
require refueling less often than battery-electric MHE require recharging, possibly avoiding work
stoppages. DOE has noted that its own funding of purchase of fork lifts has been smal relative to
that of industry. 524 units were purchased according to a DOE-industry cost-sharing arrangement
cost from the ARRA funding noted above and another 189 from DOE annual appropriations.
DOE found that through the end of 2017, a further 21,000 units were in service at the sole
expense of industry with users including large “big box” retail, food suppliers and retailers, car
makers, and freight movers.40 By 2020, DOE estimated there were 35,000 such units,41 and, by
2022, over 50,000.42
Though early in the project execution phase, Advanced Clean Energy Storage, a hydrogen and
energy storage facility, received a DOE loan guarantee in June 2022.43 The guarantee was for a
$504 mil ion loan44 to construct 220 MW of electrolyzers45 in Delta, UT, paired with underground
caverns to store the hydrogen. The estimated storage capacity is 150 gigawatt-hours (GWh). The
off-taker (i.e., end-user) for the stored hydrogen plans to use a hydrogen-capable gas turbine
supplied by project partner Mitsubishi Power Americas to generate electricity.46

ORNL/T M-2020/1770, Oak Ridge, T N, April 2021, p. 3 -9.
35 Samsun et al, p. 23.
36 Sunita Satyapal, Director, DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, 2022 AMR Plenary Session, June 6,
2022, at https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/hfto-amr-plenary-satyapal-2022-1.pdf.
37 U.S. Department of Energy, DOE National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap , September 2022, p. 27, at
https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/clean-hydrogen-strategy-roadmap.pdf.
38 T otal cost of ownership refers to the sum of the initial cost plus any operation and maintenance costs including fuel
consumption over the lifetime of the equipment.
39 DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Early Markets: Fuel Cells for Material Handling
Equipm ent, DOE/EE-0751, February 2014, at https://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/
early_markets_mhe_fact_sheet.pdf.
40 P. Devlin and G. Moreland, Industry Deployed Fuel Cell Powered Lift Trucks, Record # 18002, May 23, 2018, at
https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/18002_industry_deployed_fc_powered_lift_trucks.pdf.
41 U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen Program Plan, DOE/EE-2128, Washington, DC, November 2020, p. 28.
42 Sunita Satyapal, Director, DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, 2022 AMR Plenary Session, June 6,
pp. 5 and 49, 2022, at https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/hfto-amr-plenary-satyapal-2022-1.pdf.
43 U.S. Department of Energy, DOE Announces First Loan Guarantee for a Clean Energy Project in Nearly a Decade,
June 8, 2022, at https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-first-loan-guarantee-clean-energy-project-nearly-
decade.
44 T itle XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, P.L. 109-58, authorizes DOE to issue loan guarantees.
45 An electrolyzer is an electrochemical device, powered by electricity, that decomposes water into hydrogen and
oxygen.
46 Mitsubishi Power Americas, “World’s Largest Renewable Energy Storage Project Announced in Utah,” press
release, May 30, 2019, at https://power.mhi.com/regions/amer/news/190530.html.
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Hydrogen Demonstration Projects
Hydrogen demonstration projects have ranged from single refueling stations to linked activities
for realizing broader value propositions.47 As one example, the Shore-to-Store project at the Port
of Los Angeles, completed its initial phase in February 2022 to demonstrate the shore-side
movement of goods by zero-emission vehicles. Shel Oil Products US built and operated two
hydrogen refueling stations. Kenworth, a truck manufacturer group within vehicle and parts
maker PACCAR, provided 10 vehicles—the hydrogen fuel cel version of its T680, a class 8
tractor, with Toyota’s fuel cel electric system.48 Project partners contributed $41.4 mil ion and
the California Air Resources Board (CARB) contributed $41.1 mil ion.49
The buildings sector includes demonstrations of hydrogen technologies and hydrogen fuel
applications, though there is almost no evidence of retail use of hydrogen.50 A number of
demonstration projects are underway aimed at so-cal ed hydrogen injection into existing natural
gas distribution assets; these include projects in France, the United Kingdom (UK), and elsewhere
and serve one hundred or more dwel ings per project.51
Barriers to Early Deployment
DOE’s informal survey of stakeholders identified a number of perceived barriers to hydrogen
market adoption, including the cost to the end-user of hydrogen technologies; need for sufficient
hydrogen infrastructure; and public awareness and understanding.52 Addressing this perceived
need for sufficient infrastructure, and the cost involved, the California Air Resources Board
modeled a year-by-year build-out of hydrogen refueling stations and estimated that 1,000
refueling stations would be needed for an assumed 1 mil ion FCEVs,53 at an estimated cost of
$1.9 mil ion (in 2016 dollars) per station based on early experience.54
In the RFI DOE published for comment on the hydrogen hubs, they noted that “one key pathway
to achieving large-scale, commercial y viable deployment of clean hydrogen is through matching
the scale up of clean hydrogen supplies with a concomitant and growing regional demand.” DOE
has taken steps to ensure that suppliers and users of hydrogen can connect with one another by

47 However, there is not one agreed-upon data set of all such projects; see, for example, European Commission, Clean
Hydrogen Partnership, Dem o Projects Hub, at https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/get-involved/regions-hub/demo-
projects-hub_en.
48 “Kenworth: Port of Los Angeles Rolls Out Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Freight Demonstration,” Automotive World,
June 7, 2021, at https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/electric-mobility-news-releases/kenworth-port -of-
los-angeles-rolls-out-hydrogen-fuel-cell-electric-freight -demonstration/.
49 “Port of Los Angeles, Partners Launch Zero-Emission Project,” Transport Topics, June 11, 2021.
50 International Energy Agency, Global Hydrogen Review 2021, Paris, October 2021, pp. 90, 97.
51 For information on specific projects, see ENGIE, GRHYD: Rouvelons nos energies: Présentation, at https://grhyd.fr/
presentation/. HyDeploy, “ Pioneering the Safe Use of Blended Hydrogen in Gas Networks to Reduce Carbon
Emissions,” press release, 2022, at https://hydeploy.co.uk/; Jacob Dijkstra, Ameland: Frontrunner in the Energy
Transition, Duurzaam Ameland, Brussels, October 11, 2017, at http://www.pace-energy.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/
10/Jacob-Dijkstra_T he-exemplary-role-of-local-communities-in-the-energy-transition_The-Ameland-island-story.pdf.
52 Sunita Satyapal, Director, DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, 2022 AMR Plenary Session, June 6,
2022, p. 33, at https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/hfto-amr-plenary-satyapal-2022-1.pdf.
53 California Fuel Cell Partnership, The California Fuel Cell Revolution: A Vision for Advancing Economic, Social, and
Environm ental Priorities, July 2018, p. 14, at https://cafcp.org/sites/default/files/CAFCR.pdf.
54 T he estimate is based on vendor quotes for the first 111 stations planned or built. M. Koleva and M. Melaina, DOE
Hydrogen Program Record: Hydrogen Fueling Stations Cost, U.S. Department of Energy, Record 21002, November 2,
2020, at https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/21002-hydrogen-fueling-station-cost.pdf.
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creating an online information resource cal ed Hydrogen Matchmaker.55 DOE does not identify
specific chal enges, but notes that “[t]o be considered for Phase 2 funding, H2Hub projects must
successfully complete al Phase 1 planning activities and analysis.” These activities and analyses
include the availability of hydrogen infrastructure, workforce training, and minimization of
environmental impacts.56
International Experience
Demonstration and early deployment of the hydrogen value chain outside the United States
includes planned and nascent activities similar to Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. A European
Commission (EC)-sponsored project conducts global surveil ance of selected hydrogen activities
in deployment phase that are large in scale, have a clear geographic center, cover multiple steps in
the value chain, and provide supply to multiple end uses—cal ing these “hydrogen val eys.”57 The
hydrogen val eys are a similar idea to the IIJA’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. The EC project
surveys 33 hydrogen val eys worldwide, including two in the United States, in various stages of
planning and initiation.58
The EC-sponsored project identified permitting as the number one policy barrier during a survey
of participants.59 Respondents to the survey noted that local permitting authorities were not
familiar with hydrogen. The survey included 28 locations, though the majority were outside the
United States. These site were either planning (90%) or have implemented (10%) large scale, full
hydrogen value-chain systems with multiple end-uses in a defined geography.
Another study reported on emerging “hydrogen clusters,” not unlike hydrogen hubs, in the
Netherlands, Chile, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In the Netherlands, for example, the study
identified three ports with plans for green and blue hydrogen60 aided by proximity to demand
from existing refineries and ammonia and steel plants. These locations al ow for integration; for
example, the oxygen by-product from electrolysis of water is being repurposed for use in basic
oxygen furnaces for steelmaking.61 The study identified further opportunities for clusters to
include activities at transport hubs and ports.

55 U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, H2 Matchmaker, at
https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/h2-matchmaker.
56 DOE Hydrogen Program, Request for Information # DE-FOA-0002664.0002: Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs
Implementation Strategy, pp. 8-9, at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx?foaId=5d96172f-e9b6-48ff-94ac-
5579c3531526.
57 Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU), Hydrogen Valleys as a Stepping Stone Towards the New
Hydrogen Econom y, Luxembourg, 2021, p. 13, at https://h2v.eu/analysis/reports.
58 Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU), Hydrogen Valleys, at https://h2v.eu/hydrogen-valleys.
59 Uwe Weichenhain et al., Hydrogen Valleys: Insights into the Emerging Hydrogen Econo mies Around the World,
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU), Luxembourg, 2021.
60 Hydrogen produced via electrolyzers is generally referred to as “green hydrogen” if the source of electricity is
renewable. “Blue hydrogen” results when the carbon released from steam reforming of natural gas is captured and
stored (i.e., carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)), either for reuse in another industrial process or
sequestered underground in mines or caverns. Blue hydrogen is sometimes ref erred to as “ carbon neutral” as the
emissions are not dispersed in the atmosphere. See CRS Report R46436, Hydrogen in Electricity’s Future, by Richard
J. Campbell.
61 Energy T ransitions Commission, Making the Hydrogen Economy Possible: Accelerating Clean Hydrogen in an
Electrified Econom y, Version 1.2, April 2021, p. 67.
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Size, Scope, and Scale of Future Hydrogen Hubs
Studies have speculated on the size, scope, and scale of future hydrogen hubs. One study noted
the advantages and economies of co-location of various industries, as this might al ow integration
between energy requirements and chemical byproducts, and suggested this might be a driver for
the formation of hydrogen hubs.62 The study considered four characteristic scenarios for hydrogen
hubs, constructed around the following demand centers: a city; a port; fertilizer manufacture and
petroleum refining; and steelmaking.
Another study surveyed existing and emerging hydrogen hubs in an international context and
determined these and future hubs might evolve from existing facilities or plans for existing
facilities. These hubs are il ustrated in Figure 3. The scale of production increases, left-to-right,
in the figure; the geographic orientation ranges from local to regional to international, left-to-
right. The left-most hub concept, mobility, is envisaged as a public-private partnership, while the
other two hub concepts are envisaged as wholly private sector. The studies do not exhaust al
possibilities.
Other concepts for hydrogen hubs might combine different applications, scales of production, and
off-takers. For example, DOE’s Hydrogen Shot program—which supports making hydrogen
commercial y available at a cost of $1 for 1 kilogram in 1 decade—noted emerging “clusters” in
the United States based on other industries and geographies.63 DOE differentiated the clusters
according to resources; influences such as population, policy, or pollution; and end-uses.
Figure 3. Possible Layouts of Hydrogen Hubs

Source: Adapted from Uwe Weichenhain et al., Hydrogen Val eys: Insights into the Emerging Hydrogen Economies
Around the World, Fuel Cel s and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU), Luxembourg, 2021.

62 Energy T ransitions Commission, Making the Hydrogen Economy Possible: Accelerating Clean Hydrogen in an
Electrified Econom y, Version 1.2, April 2021, p. 67.
63 U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, DOE Update on Hydrogen Shot, RFI
Results, and Sum m ary of Hydrogen Provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, December 9, 2021, at
https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/articles/doe-update-hydrogen-shot-rfi-results-and-summary-hydrogen-
provisions. T he DOE launched Hydrogen Shot in June 2021.
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Notes: Delivery is by truck with hydrogen liquid or pressurized gas, by pipeline, or by ocean-going tanker.
Issues for Congress
Sufficient Off-Takers to Consume Hydrogen
Consumption of hydrogen today is focused in a relatively concentrated set of end-users. Almost
al is consumed by the oil industry or chemical industry either after onsite production or via
delivery through dedicated pipelines from large merchant producers.64 The hydrogen hubs and the
additional supply of hydrogen they aim to create wil need to be matched to new sources of
demand in order to be economical y feasible. DOE specifical y addresses this problem in its
February 2022 RFI and developed Hydrogen Matchmaker to connect hydrogen supplies with
users.65 Global experience with hydrogen hubs underscores the urgency for finding off-takers,
with one EU-funded project identifying it as one of the largest financial barriers to realizing such
projects.66 At a February 2022 hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
Chairman Manchin noted that, if new hydrogen demand were to arise from converting today’s
end-use applications to hydrogen, it would require large investment from both public and private
sectors.67 Congress may wish to monitor the deployment of hydrogen hubs to see if the demand
for the newly created hydrogen supply is sufficient and stable.
Appropriate Regulation of Hydrogen Pipelines
DOE’s 2020 Hydrogen Program Plan identified rights-of-way and permitting for hydrogen
pipelines as two of the chal enges to overcome for hydrogen delivery infrastructure.68 Key policy
issues that Congress may examine include the regulation of pipeline siting, including potential
federal-state jurisdictional conflicts, and the regulation of pipeline rates and terms of service.69
For example, some hydrogen proponents have suggested that Congress establish federal siting
authority for interstate hydrogen pipelines analogous to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission natural gas siting authority under the Natural Gas Act.70 Preempting state authority

64 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, Hydrogen Strategy: Enabling a Low-Carbon Economy,
Washington, DC, July 2020, p. 9, at https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/07/f76/
USDOE_FE_Hydrogen_Strategy_July2020.pdf.
65 U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell T echnologies Office, H2 Matchmaker, at
https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/h2-matchmaker.
66 Uwe Weichenhain et al., Hydrogen Valleys: Insights into the Emerging Hydrogen Economies Around the World ,
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking, Luxembourg, 2021, p. 39.
67 Chairman Manchin’s Opening Statement, during U.S. Congress, Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Clean
Hydrogen, hearing, 117th Cong., 2nd sess., February 10, 2022.
68 U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen Program Plan, DOE/EE-2128, Washington, DC, November 2020, p. 6.
69 Regulation of hydrogen pipeline siting, commercial service, security, and safety is divided among federal agencies
and the states. Federal jurisdiction resides variously with the Surface T ransportation Board (ST B), the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), the T ransportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). For more information see CRS Report R46700, Pipeline Transportation of
Hydrogen: Regulation, Research, and Policy, by Paul W. Parfomak.
70 James Bowe and William Rice, “Building the Hydrogen Sector Will Require New Laws, Regs,” Law360, January 13,
2021.
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in this way could simplify the siting process; however, it would not necessarily ensure such
pipelines would be constructed and might raise concerns from affected states.71
Sufficient Transmission, Distribution, and Delivery Infrastructure
Hydrogen in its current uses has a dedicated infrastructure, but one that is smal compared to
natural gas. Hydrogen pipelines comprise 1,600 miles in the United States compared with
300,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines.72 The layout of these pipelines provides
service to a relatively concentrated set of end-users, with most hydrogen pipelines owned by
merchant hydrogen producers who sel their hydrogen to industry in bulk.73 To service a fleet of
numerous and relatively smal hydrogen refueling stations for FCEVs, for example, wil require a
different hydrogen delivery infrastructure. This might include additional pipelines and delivery
trucks loaded with liquid or compressed hydrogen gas, or onsite hydrogen production from
electricity or natural gas. During the legislative activity on the IIJA, the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure noted, “The committee believes that robust private sector
involvement is necessary to maximize investment in and widespread availability of electric
vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure.” 74 Congress may wish to monitor the build-
out of fueling stations and the network of pipelines and trucks and consider whether federal
financial incentives would correct any shortfal s or whether such costs should be borne by the
private sector.

Author Information

Martin C. Offutt

Analyst in Energy Policy

Acknowledgments
Mari Lee and Calvin DeSouza developed the graphics for the figures. Lena Maman conducted the research
on the state and private-sector interest in Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.

71 For more information see CRS Report R46700, Pipeline Transportation of Hydrogen: Regulation, Research, and
Policy, by Paul W. Parfomak.
72 U.S. Department of T ransportation: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Annual Report Mileage
for Natural Gas Transm ission & Gathering System s, May 2, 2022. Over 90%, by mile of pipeline, are in T exas and
Louisiana with 10 other states having fewer than 35 miles each. U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell
T echnologies Office, Hydrogen Pipelines, at https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-pipelines. Hydrogen
T ools, Hydrogen Pipelines, at https://h2tools.org/hyarc/hydrogen-data/hydrogen-pipelines.
73 International Energy Agency, Global Hydrogen Review, Paris, 2021, at https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-
review-2021, p. 44.
74 U.S. Congress, House Committee on T ransportation and Infrastructure, Investing in a New Vision for the
Transportation in Am erica Act, Report of the Committee on T ransportation and Infrastructure to Accompany H.R.
3684, 117th Cong., 1st sess., June 22, 2021, H.Rept. 117-70 (Washington: GPO, 2021), p. 537.
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