{"id":24049,"date":"2024-05-15T10:45:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T15:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=24049"},"modified":"2024-05-15T10:45:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T15:45:22","slug":"we-urgently-need-pollution-limits-for-hydrogen-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2024\/05\/15\/we-urgently-need-pollution-limits-for-hydrogen-facilities\/","title":{"rendered":"We urgently need pollution limits for hydrogen facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A hydrogen center in Germany.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency has now finalized a wide array of standards to protect people and the climate from dangerous pollution. Those standards cover some of the largest polluting sectors in the U.S., including oil and gas production, power plants, and cars and trucks.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another source of dangerous pollution that still isn\u2019t subject to air pollution limits. With a projected doubling <\/em>of hydrogen production over the next decade, we need protective standards that will ensure any growth in this industry doesn\u2019t exacerbate public health and environmental harms. Luckily, EPA recently announced<\/a>\u00a0that it plans to do just that (see page 539<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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Hydrogen made with fossil fuels \u2014 sometimes called gray, brown, or blue hydrogen \u2013 comes with inherent pollution risks<\/a> that must be addressed through enforceable standards. Existing facilities using high-polluting methods are located in communities already facing industrial pollution burdens, including California\u2019s South Coast and the Gulf Coast portions of Texas and Louisiana. And projections show up to half of new hydrogen production in the next decade could come from fossil-based methods.<\/p>\n

Incentives like the clean hydrogen production tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act are expected to drive production toward lower polluting methods, including renewable electrolysis, but incentives don\u2019t come with any enforceable pollution limits. What that means is producers can still pollute freely if they\u2019re willing to forego that source of funding.<\/p>\n

Also, even producers who limit their climate pollution and qualify for the credit aren\u2019t subject to any standards for other types of health-harming pollution, like air toxics. EPA pollution standards are therefore critical alongside implementation of tax credits and other incentive-based programs.<\/p>\n

EPA is expected to soon begin gathering the technical information and stakeholder concerns that will serve as a critical foundation for durable regulatory solutions.<\/p>\n

Here are four key considerations:<\/p>\n