As part of ongoing efforts to diversify the region’s energy portfolio, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas will establish a hub for the development, production, and use of hydrogen as a fuel and manufacturing feedstock.
The recently announced partnership will allow the three states to compete for federal funding through the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act of 2021, which will be available to states that produce large amounts of hydrogen. The act mandates the creation of regional clean hydrogen hubs by the US Department of Energy. Hydrogen is used in a variety of manufacturing processes, and it’s becoming more popular as a clean-burning fuel for lowering carbon emissions.
The goal is to promote workforce development, research, training, and collaboration with industry and government entities. Several Louisiana universities will play a key role in the initiative’s success, including the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LSU, and Xavier and Southern universities.
It’s critical work, particularly in Louisiana, where the University continues to play a key role in assisting the state in meeting its 2050 carbon neutrality goal. That means that all carbon dioxide emissions must be counterbalanced by the removal of equal amounts from the atmosphere. Louisiana has also set intermediate goals of 28 percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and 50 percent reductions by 2030.
Researchers at Louisiana’s Energy Institute’s Cleco Alternative Energy Center look into ways to generate electricity using renewable resources. Solar thermal, biomass-fed gasification, and anaerobic digestion are some of the technologies and processes being investigated at the center, and they can all be used to produce hydrogen.
