Seeking big energy grant

OAK HARBOR — Northern Ohio could become a national center for the production of hydrogen as a clean energy fuel if the area can snag a big grant from the Biden administration. The grant effort, a collaboration between Ohio and Michigan, seeks to create a Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Hub, using the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ottawa County to produce the hydrogen. But the local effort must compete against applications all over the country. The U.S. Department of Energy is supposed to announce winners later this year. The Biden administration's bipartisan infrastructure bill had $7 billion to create six to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs in the U.S. Ohio and Michigan officials have been working for months on the Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Hub proposal. According to an article at Resources.org, each winner could receive up to $1.25 billion. The local effort to nab a grant is being led by two local U.S. House members, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, and U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green. They took the lead on writing a letter from local U.S. House members to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor, asking for her support for the Great Lakes Hub proposal. The hub would serve Ohio, Michigan and parts of Pennsylvania and Indiana, Kaptur and Latta said. "It is important for the (Department of Energy) to support a hydrogen hub in this region of the Midwest to address carbon emission reduction targets and create opportunities for meaningful engagement of our citizens in a hub that is destined to grow and connect with other hubs anchoring the nation's hydrogen economy," Kaptur and Latta wrote in their letter, which was signed by other lawmakers from both parties from Ohio and Michigan. The local proposal apparently has made the first cut. There were 79 preliminary applications turned in to the Department of Energy, and the federal agency then encouraged 33 of the applicants, including the Great Lakes proposal, to submit a full application. The Biden administration stated its hydrogen development program is a key to achieving President Biden's goal of a 100 % clean electrical grid by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. "Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of domestic resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind," explains a website provided by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office in the U.S. Department of Energy. "These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for transportation and electricity generation applications. It can be used in cars, in houses, for portable power, and in many more applications," the website states. "Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used to store, move, and deliver energy produced from other sources." Fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen to produce energy. The local grant proposal deserves support because it uses "carbon-free nuclear power" to produce hydrogen, Kaptur and Latta said. In a separate but related announcement, Kaptur announced on May 22 that the University of Toledo has received $1.25 million for a project to use solar energy to produce hydrogen. The announcement helps show the possibility of the area becoming a hub for hydrogen production, although it is separate from the grant competition, said Ben Kamens, Kaptur's press secretary. "I would say it's a good sign of local willingness and expertise to work on new technologies in this space but unrelated in how the decision-making process on the Hydrogen Hub proposal will be awarded by DOE," Kamens said.