Hubs would use natural gas to produce hydrogen and reduce emissions
By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – After more than two years of anticipation, President Joe Biden is set to announce that parts of West Virginia, southeast Ohio, and Pennsylvania will play host to a regional hydrogen hub including a location in nearby Washington.
The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub will be one of seven regional hydrogen hubs to be announced later today by Biden at an infrastructure event in Philadelphia. He will be joined by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Senior Biden administration officials provided a background briefing Thursday in anticipation of Biden’s announcement.
There will be no single location for the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub. Instead, the hub will consist of linked assets – or production nodes — connected between West Virginia, southeast Ohio, and parts of Pennsylvania spread across hundreds of miles.
Announced nodes include West Virginia locations in Belle, Follansbee, North Point Pleasant, Washington (near Parkersburg) and Fairmont; Ohio locations in Ashtabula, Canton and Hopedale; and Pennsylvania locations in Labelle and West Keating Township.
Officials said the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub will be one of the largest of the seven proposed hubs, using natural gas to produce hydrogen in a process called blue hydrogen. The project represents a more than $925 million investment.
