October 14, 2023
This week, President Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm annouced seven regional clean hydrogen hubs that were selected to receive $7 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen.
“This is big news for California and the country,” California State Senator and 31st Congressional District Candidate Bob Archuleta told Los Cerritos Community News. “I am honored that my resolution got the attention of the Biden Administration. The administration selected California as one of the recipients of its Clean Energy Plan, which includes the development of Hydrogen Fuel to slow climate change. As the Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Hydrogen Energy, I am excited that the HUB in California will receive nearly 1.2 billion. I am also very excited that the HUB will create over 200,000 good union jobs and help the state reach its 2050 climate goals.
State Senator and 31st Congressional candidate Bob Archuleta.
The California Hydrogen Hub, known as the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) will leverage the Golden State’s leadership in clean energy technology to produce hydrogen exclusively from renewable energy and biomass. It will provide a blueprint for decarbonizing public transportation, heavy duty trucking, and port operations—key emissions drivers in the state and sources of air pollution that are among the hardest to decarbonize.
This Hydrogen Hub has committed to requiring Project Labor Agreements for all projects connected to the hub, which will expand opportunities for disadvantaged communities and create an expected 220,000 direct jobs—130,000 in construction jobs and 90,000 permanent jobs.
Hydrogen is widely seen as a promising tool to fight climate change, as long as it can be produced without creating any greenhouse gases. When burned, hydrogen mainly releases water vapor. Yet very little of this so-called clean hydrogen exists today. By awarding the grants, the Biden administration is trying to stand up an entire industry from scratch.
Advancing clean hydrogen is essential to achieving the President’s vision of a strong clean energy economy that strengthens energy security, bolsters domestic manufacturing, creates healthier communities, and delivers new jobs and economic opportunities across the nation. The announcement is part of the third installment of the Investing in America tour, during which President Biden will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to announce the historic investment in manufacturing and jobs.
The seven selected regional clean hydrogen hubs will catalyze more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs – bringing the total public and private investment in hydrogen hubs to nearly $50 billion. Roughly two-thirds of total project investment are associated with green (electrolysis based) production, within the hubs. Several of the hubs were developed in close partnerships with unions, with three requiring project labor agreements (PLAs). In addition to job creation and creating healthier air for communities, the selected hydrogen hubs are committed to robust Community Benefit Plans to ensure local priorities are at the forefront and all communities share in the benefits of the clean energy transition.
Collectively, the hubs aim to produce more than three million metric tons of clean hydrogen per year, thereby achieving nearly one third of the 2030 U.S. clean hydrogen production goal. Together, the seven Hydrogen Hubs will eliminate 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from end uses each year—an amount roughly equivalent to combined annual emissions of over 5.5 million gasoline-powered cars. The nearly $50 billion investment is one of the largest investments in clean manufacturing and jobs in history.
Clean hydrogen can reduce emissions in many sectors of the economy and is especially important for hard-to-decarbonize sectors and industrial processes, such as heavy-duty transportation and chemical, steel, and cement manufacturing. Targeted investments in these areas can help reduce costs, make new breakthroughs, and create jobs for American engineers, manufacturing workers, construction workers, and others.
In the fewer than three years since taking office, President Biden’s leadership to reinvigorate the American economy and tackle the climate crisis has boosted U.S. manufacturing and deployment of cost-cutting clean energy technologies. The President is delivering on his day one promise by positioning the United States to achieve our ambitious goals of onshoring production of clean technologies and creating good-paying union jobs.
