The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has revealed its intention to invest up to $100 million over five years in two new DOE National Laboratory-led consortia to advance hydrogen and fuel cell technologies research and development (R&D). This funding is subject to appropriations.
“Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies have the potential to enable resiliency, energy security and economic growth across multiple sectors,” says Mark W. Menezes, undersecretary of energy.
“Through these ambitious new initiatives, the Trump administration continues its commitment to all-of-the-above energy solutions, providing a wide variety of clean energy options for both power generation and transportation,” he adds.
One consortium will conduct R&D to achieve large-scale, affordable electrolyzers, which use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and can be powered by various energy sources, including natural gas, nuclear and renewables. This R&D will complement and help support large industry deployment by enabling more durable, efficient and low-cost electrolyzers.
The other consortium will conduct R&D to accelerate the development of fuel cells for heavy-duty vehicle applications, including long-haul trucks. This initiative will set a five-year goal to prove the ability to have a fully competitive heavy-duty fuel cell truck that can meet all of the durability, cost and performance requirements of the trucking industry.
The two consortia will leverage expertise and equipment at DOE’s National Labs and support DOE’s H2@Scale vision for large-scale, affordable hydrogen production, storage, distribution and utilization across multiple applications, energy storage and metals manufacturing.
H2@Scale is led by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE’s) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office.
