Lawmakers Stifle N.M. Governor’s Clean Hydrogen Economy Plan www.governing.com/now/lawmakers-stifle-n-m-governors-clean-h…
After nearly six hours of debate Thursday, the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 6-4 to table House Bill 4 — aimed to make the state a hub of hydrogen production by offering tax incentives to develop the infrastructure to separate the energy source from natural gas…
The process of separating hydrogen from natural gas includes capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground. The remaining hydrogen has a wide range of uses, from powering electric plants to fueling transportation to heating homes.
While the governor’s hydrogen plan has had support from the oil and gas industry, it has met fierce opposition by environmental groups and progressive Democrats who say the use of natural gas would increase fossil fuel production and lead to further emissions of greenhouse gases during a climate crisis.
While the governor’s hydrogen plan has had support from the oil and gas industry, it has met fierce opposition by environmental groups and progressive Democrats who say the use of natural gas would increase fossil fuel production and lead to further emissions of greenhouse gases during a climate crisis.
I love it when the incentives for the supporters are clearly stated: a new customer! more profit!
Seems New Mexico, and the rest of the US desert southwest, and northern Mexico, would be ideal for producing H2 from piped in sea water using solar powered electrolysis, meanwhile capturing and selling the O2, and recovering and selling the minerals that precipitate out as the water is broken down.
But no, can’t do the simple, obvious, thing. Must work to maximize the number of entities who can make a profit off it. So pipe in fresh water for agriculture, crops that can be grown elsewhere, and pipe in hydrocarbon fuels to run H2 production, creating the problem of carbon sequestration.
The process of separating hydrogen from natural gas includes capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground. The remaining hydrogen has a wide range of uses, from powering electric plants to fueling transportation to heating homes.
I might be missing something, but I’m pretty skeptical. For this to be viable, at some point the energy value of the hydrogen has to be somewhat close to the energy value of the natural gas. Otherwise you could just use the natural gas directly. But there is an input energy cost to reform the natural gas to hydrogen, and then there is the cost of disposal. So that will never be the case. And unlike renewables, there is no reason to think the process cost will decrease in any significant way with scale. I don’t see the pathway. And even if you assume you have super cheap renewable power in the future, it would still be cheaper to simply use electrolysis and get the hydrogen from water.
This looks like a proposal to screw the good taxpayers of New Mexico out of their wages and put them in the pockets of oil companies.