Earth Protect Blog

By Noelle Phillips

The Denver Post

Colorado will join three other Rocky Mountain states to apply for federal money to create a hydrogen hub that would help Colorado meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 28 years.

Gov. Jared Polis joined the governors of New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to announce their plans to create the regional hydrogen hub and to compete for the $8 billion set aside for such projects in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to open applications for the money in May.

Last year, the Polis administration created a plan to find ways that clean hydrogen could help the state meet its climate goals by transforming, storing and using hydrogen as an alternative fuel. The state’s greenhouse gas reduction plan calls for a 50% decrease in emissions by 2030 and a 90% reduction by 2050.

“In Colorado it’s building on our road map where hydrogen plays an enormous role,” Polis said in an interview with The Denver Post about the four-state agreement.

Each state’s governor will appoint three people to serve on a consortium that will bring together people from government agencies, academia and the private sector to coordinate and pursue the federal money, Polis said.

Already the Great Plains Institute has identified Denver as a potential hydrogen hub, citing a high number of industries that would benefit from tax credits through reducing harmful emissions. The city also has two hydrogen-producing facilities that are within the city’s central corridor of industrial activity and fossil fuel use, according to the Great Plains Institute’s Atlas of Carbon and Hydrogen Hubs for United States Decarbonization.

In developing a hydrogen hub, Colorado would push for its use as a fuel for medium to heavy vehicles, use it to replace fossil fuels for electricity production and research how it can be used in high-temperature industrial processes. Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or @Noelle_Phillips