The US Department of Energy’s $7 billion hydrogen hub funding initiative has received initial concept papers from Alaska and Hawaii as the newest states to submit them.

According to a plan made by Alaska’s public Gasline Development Corporation, an Alaskan hub with carbon capture and sequestration technology is expected to create more than 600 t/d of hydrogen from the natural gas feedstock. Hub would eventually be able to increase its capacity to 1,600 t/d, greatly exceeding the DOE’s minimal output requirements of 50-100 t/d.

The DoE funding would provide $850 million in finance for the Alaskan hub, while the private sector would provide another $3.75 billion, supported by offtake agreements between the US and Asia.

This week, a hub plan was also filed by the Hawaii State Energy Office and its collaborators, Hawai’I Gas.