On September 5, 2023, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), in collaboration with the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), held the first in in a series of public workshops to initiate the development of a comprehensive report on hydrogen as called for in Senate Bill (SB) 1075.
SB 1075 mandates that a comprehensive report on hydrogen be posted to CARB’s website by June 1, 2024 and cover the deployment, development, and use of hydrogen across all sectors as a key part of achieving California’s climate, air quality, and energy goals.
Last year, the CARB approved the
2022 Scoping Plan Update, which articulates the proposed cost-effective and technologically feasible path to
achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by
85% below 1990 levels. Displacing fossil fuel with
renewable hydrogen emerged as a key energy transition action in the 2022 Scoping Plan Update. Specifically, renewable hydrogen produced through
electrolysis or from
biomethane was identified as an alternative to fossil fuels in the transportation, buildings, industry, and electricity sectors.
To meet 2045 Carbon Neutrality California will need the following changes relative to 2022 levels:
- 1700x the hydrogen supply
- >2x the current electricity generation in the state
- 4x existing wind and solar generating capacity
- 94% reduction in liquid petroleum use
- 86% reduction in total fossil fuel
- 66% decrease in methane emissions from agriculture
- 6x increase in electric appliances in residences
- 10% reduction in wildfires
Hydrogen industry impacts
Hydrogen from zero-carbon electricity and biomass gasification with carbon capture and storage will be crucial. CARB estimates an additional 10 GW of off-grid solar will be required to accomplish the requisite hydrogen production.
Hydrogen demand will be largely driven by non-combustion (fuel cell) uses in the transportation sector, especially heavy-duty vehicles. Smaller uses will include pipeline blending with natural gas for use in buildings and manufacturing; and hydrogen combustion turbines for resource adequacy.
National and state action completed so far to accomplish these targets include the following:
- $9.5 Billion in federal funding available nationwide for clean hydrogen development and $3/kg tax credits for clean hydrogen production.
- SoCalGas, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), and Southwest Gas are pursuing pilot projects; safety concerns arise when hydrogen blending with natural gas exceeds ~5%.
- “Angeles Link” is SoCalGas’s proposal to develop a green hydrogen energy pipeline transportation system from unspecified hydrogen production sources to hard to electrify industries and heavy-duty transportation in the Los Angeles (LA) Basin.
Trinity has hydrogen and carbon neutrality expertise and staff ready to assist your organization. Please reach out to Trinity’s
Sacramento or
Oakland offices for support.
