The EPA and DOE Lobbied for Cleaner Environment
Author Erin Gerhart
Bloom Energy was hired for a sum of 210,000 USD to lobby on behalf of two recently introduced bills. Bloom Energy has been hired for a sum of 390,000 USD this year and approximately 590,000 USD in 2021. The two primary lobbyists are Carlos Garcia and Paul Wilkins. Wilkins has promoted several bills over the past years that focus on energy and nuclear power, superfund, and the environment.
Senate bill 1807, the Clean Hydrogen Production Act, is set to provide tax incentives for the production of clean hydrogen and the investment in such production facilities. It establishes a business-related tax credit for the production of qualified clean hydrogen. Clean being defined as hydrogen produced through a process that achieves a percentage reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions that is no less than fifty percent. Additionally, S. 1807 expands the energy tax credit to include clean hydrogen production facilities.
The second bill being championed is H.R. 3538, the Coordinated Action to Capture Harmful Emissions Act. A succinct two pages, this bill aims to enhance the carbon sequestration credit of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code adjusting for inflation from 1990 to 2020.
The United Sates produces approximately ten million metric tons of hydrogen yearly, compared to the nearly 90 million produced globally. Clean hydrogen is crucial to the DOE’s strategy to achieve President Biden’s goal of a 100% clean energy grid by 2035 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
U.S Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm, stated that clean energy is key to cleaning up American manufacgturing and reducing emissions from carbon-intensive materials. It also produces good paying jobs for American workers. Currently most of the hydrogen produced in the United States comes from natural gas that is treated via steam methane reforming. The newly proposed technique of electrolysis technology allows for clean hydrogen production from water and renewable energy sources.
The Bigger Picture
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates eight billion USD for regional clean hydrogen hubs that will generate jobs to expand the use of clean hydrogen in various sectors. It also include one billion USD for a clean hydrogen electrolysis program to cut the costs of hydrogen produced from clean electricity. Finally, it includes 500 million USD for a clean hydrogen manufacturing and recycling initiative to support strong domestic supply chains and equipment manufacturing.
