In the southern Ohio hamlet of Piketon, a hydrogen-fueled power plant is being planned to replace the hazardous Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, which is collaborating with Ohio University and the Texas business Newpoint Gas on the project, expects that it will provide sustainable energy and replace some of the jobs lost when the uranium enrichment plant closed in 2001.
According to the organization, the Texas gas company has signed a letter of intent to purchase the land owned by the economic development agency.
According to Newpoint Gas CEO Wiley Rhodes, the plant would generate 300 megawatts of power, employ at least 500 people, and provide the hydrogen required to make carbon-intensive goods like cement and ammonia.
He said Newpoint Gas plans to get hydrogen from natural gas and hopes to have the facility operational by the beginning of 2027. He mentioned that several aspects had still to be ironed out.
The cost-effectiveness of hydrogen electricity has been questioned by economists and environmentalists. According to critics, the money needed to obtain hydrogen would be better spent on solar and wind power.
“It’s doable,” Rhodes replied, “but it has to be done on a massive scale.”
The plant would be sustainable because of the electricity generation and the hydrogen sold to manufacturers, he added.
After an examination, the Piketon factory was shut down due to years of poor safety measures. The complex provided the raw ingredients for nuclear weapons, and cancer rates in the surrounding areas are still higher than normal.
The land was taken over by the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative from the federal government, and the Ohio EPA had to verify that it was safe before approving the transfer, according to Kevin Shoemaker, the organization’s in-house lawyer.
Early this week, community organizations representing Piketon locals expressed support for the initiative.
“We as a community have long supported reindustrialization initiatives,” said Jennifer Chandler, president of the Scioto Valley-Piketon Area Council of Governments and a councilwoman for the municipality of Piketon.
“Of course, we’re always worried about what a project means in terms of emissions or wastewater discharges, and we want to know what hazards come with the methods that will be used,” Chandler said.
In the fight against climate change, hydrogen power is a contentious tool. While hydrogen produces no emissions, it is most typically obtained from planet-warming natural gas via carbon capture, which some critics believe adds to global warming and perpetuates the use of fossil fuels.
According to a study published last year by academics at Stanford and Cornell universities, hydrogen power creates 20% higher emissions than fossil fuels due to the high energy required to extract hydrogen.
Hydrogen proponents disagree with the study’s conclusions. The Midwest Hydrogen Alliance, a group of industries, colleges, and government agencies, said the study exaggerated the likelihood of methane leakage and undervalued the efficacy of carbon capture. The researchers from Stanford and Cornell have defended their findings.
The projected hydrogen facility will be “as green as feasible,” according to Rhodes.
He pointed out that the hydrogen capture technique is decades old.
“They’re all tried and true procedures that can be introduced and maintained with confidence,” Rhodes added.
