Texas could be the next big producer of green hydrogen, researchers say

(NEW YORK) — Texas has the potential to become a major producer of green hydrogen due to its existing energy infrastructure, according to researchers.

That infrastructure is making Texas a “valuable case study” in decarbonizing states that currently produce a high volume of fossil fuels, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found.

The Lone Star State already has an operational infrastructure for green hydrogen – a clean energy source made through electrolysis, a process that involves splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen without producing harmful carbon emissions – according to Michael McElroy, a professor of environmental studies at Harvard University and author of the study. Green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonize up to 25% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Hydrogen itself could be a really important component to a green transition,” Jessika Trancik, a professor of energy systems for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved with the study, told ABC News.

In addition, Texas has an established demand for hydrogen and already has ample renewable electricity resources, the PNAS study found. For example, Texas is the highest producer of wind power in the U.S., generating 26% of the country’s wind-sourced energy, according to state officials. It also has ample solar resources, according to Trancik.

“Texas is very well situated in terms of its renewable resources,” Trancik said, adding that they’re “very extensive and high quality” and include an existing infrastructure that could easily also incorporate green hydrogen production.

Upon winning the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden vowed to make green hydrogen more accessible as part of his clean energy plan, promising that the U.S. would be able to access green hydrogen at the same cost as conventional hydrogen within a decade.

By 2030, Texas could produce more than 50 million tons of green hydrogen at a cost at about $1.50 per kilogram, the PNAS study found. That low production cost will result from integrating the water electrolysis process with the existing renewable electricity grid, according to the study, and will also enhance grid reliability and “significantly” influence decarbonization in the state.

It would also position Texas to become a major supplier of green hydrogen for both domestic and international needs, the PNAS study found. Hydrogen demand is expected to “grow at a moderate, steady pace” over the next six years and then accelerate significantly, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Additionally, the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable electricity could fall 30% by 2030 due to the declining costs of renewables and the upscaling of hydrogen production, according to the International Energy Agency.

Green hydrogen is forecast to meet global energy needs that will not be easily satisfied by battery, wind or solar power, Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin’s Energy Institute, told ABC News in 2021. Batteries, for example, currently can take up a lot of space and also weigh a lot, making their use an issue for air travel and long-haul trucking. Hydrogen, by contrast, doesn’t include those challenges and also stores better long-term.

In addition, the infrastructure to transport green hydrogen – which needs to pressurized – is already in place, whether it be through pipelines, shipping or trucking, Nemet said. In Texas, a lot of the required infrastructure that will next be built will be for storage, Trancik said.

Hydrogen City, an integrated green hydrogen production hub located in southern Texas near the Port of Corpus Christi, is already producing about 280,000 metric tons of green hydrogen per year. But green hydrogen alone won’t be enough to meet anticipated future green energy demands, according to Trancik.

It will take “different clusters or combinations of technologies” to combat climate change on all fronts, which is where energies like green hydrogen and nuclear come in, Trancik said. “There’s a lot of efforts to try to grow that industry and take it in new, innovative directions.”