Through Congressional action, eight billion dollars is now available for the creation of “hydrogen hubs.” These are networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen. Nationwide, there will be six to ten of these hubs, so the competition is fierce (eight billion dollars will do that).

West Virginia is actively seeking what is called a “blue hydrogen hub.” Blue hydrogen is made by extracting the hydrogen from natural gas. A byproduct of extracting the hydrogen is carbon dioxide. To avoid contributing to climate change, the carbon dioxide is either used for some industrial use of injected deep underground.

The West Virginia Legislature is very enthusiastic about having one of the blue hydrogen hubs in West Virginia. The most recent manifestation of its enthusiasm is a bill recently passed by the Legislature to allow the underground formations under West Virginia’s public lands to be used as a place where the carbon dioxide can be injected.

There is much to be learned about blue hydrogen, both the technology and the policy involved. One tool for doing that is a webinar recently put on by the Environmental Health Project. There is a lot of discussion about the technology and the policy implication of blue hydrogen. Watch it here. More information can be found on the Environmental Health Project’s website.