DOE Selects Seven Hydrogen Hubs Amid Criticism Over Fossil Fuel Use and Lack of Funding for Disadvantaged Communities.

The Department of Energy has selected seven hydrogen hubs that plan to use fossil fuels as a feedstock for hydrogen production. Environmental organizations and think tanks criticized the selection, citing the lack of funding for many projects that would benefit historically disadvantaged populations. The majority of the hubs will use a variety of hydrogen production strategies instead of excluding methods that generate carbon emissions. The selection of several hubs in the Midwest at the exclusion of the Northeast and Southeast surprised Frank Wolak, president and CEO of the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association, who concluded that the DOE did not select any applicants from the southeastern and northeastern U.S. regions. Funding for the hubs is not yet final and will be contingent on a negotiation period that is expected to take months before planning and construction begins. Several of the selected hubs, such as California and the Gulf Coast hub centered in Texas, were reasonably obvious shoe-ins, but other selections were more interesting.