Hydrogen Tech World October 2024 | Page 34

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Creating a new standard in LH 2 refueling operations

It ’ s a fact of life in industrial processing that , in order to accomplish ‘ good ’ things , you sometimes have to work with potentially ‘ bad ’ things . Such is the case with liquid hydrogen , or LH 2
. As the industrial world continues to look for new ways to move away from the use of traditional fossil fuels to power vehicles and industrial processes , a number of alternatives have begun to rise to the forefront . This quest to expand the energy pool with ‘ green ’ clean-energy alternatives is largely driven by Environmental , Social , and Governance ( ESG ) initiatives aimed at reducing the high carbon footprint , greenhouse gas emissions , and ozone depletion potential associated with fossil fuel usage – factors many argue are at the forefront of global climate change .
By Felipe Machado , Senior Director of Hydrogen & Cryogenics , OPW Clean Energy Solutions
While propane and liquid natural gas have traditionally been the most popular among the new wave of clean-energy fuels – with Europe , China , and India at the forefront of their use – hydrogen has begun to gain additional attention and traction as another promising alternative . In fact , in 2021 , the U . S . Department of Energy announced the creation of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program , offering $ 7 billion in grants to companies interested in developing more hydrogen liquefaction plants , with many traditional oil-and-gas producers showing interest in expanding their horizons into the LH 2 universe . By late 2023 , seven hub projects were selected for funding through the program , with plans to create a network of new liquefaction facilities that will eventually span the country , from the Mid-Atlantic to the Pacific Northwest , and the Gulf Coast to the Upper Midwest .
Additionally , besides all the controversies surrounding the electric vehicle ( EV ) market , electrification alone cannot achieve zero emissions due to its interconnectivity with the grid and battery-technology limitations .
The simple truth is that a clean-energy future is coming , but it can only be realized once the infrastructure is in place to make the use of alternative fuels both economically viable and unquestionably safe to dispense . This article will focus on the challenges inherent in the dispensing of LH 2 and how they must be overcome before the fuel can assume a prominent place in the
34 Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 18 | October 2024