Launched in February this year (2022), by GTI Energy, S&P Global Commodity Insights, and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the OHI is a collaboration seeking to help unlock hydrogen’s potential as an important driver of energy transitions.
Read more: New initiative formed to define carbon intensity for hydrogen
The OHI says its mission is to create “objective, credible, peer-reviewed, transparent, and open-sourced tools” that allow participants across the hydrogen value chain to assess the carbon intensity of hydrogen at asset level.
Today (December 13), the collaboration’s industry stakeholders include EQT, National Grid, Shell, ExxonMobil, Dominion Energy, LanzaTech, Equinor, BlackHills Corporation, Nicor Gas, NYSEG, Oklahoma Natural Gas, Duke Energy, DTE, and Southwest Gas Corporation.
Non-profit, academic, and observer partners include Clean Air Task Force, The University of Newcastle Australia, Queen Mary University of London, Columbia University, Stanford University’s Hydrogen Initiative, Breakthrough Energy, Bipartisan Policy Centre, Centre for Houston’s Future, Government of Alberta, Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition, Renewable Hydrogen Alliance, and Operations Technology Development (OTD), Evergreen Climate Innovations, and Hydrogen Forward.
“The new Open Hydrogen Initiative participants announced today will provide crucial marketplace insight to vet the technical protocols and methodologies the initiative will ultimately develop for industry, policymakers, and investors,” said Paula Gant, President and CEO of GTI Energy.
Gant added, “Each founder and stakeholder brings various levels of technical support, R&D perspective, and real-world marketplace insights to close the methodology gap that undermines the commoditisation of hydrogen.”
H2 View understands the development of OHI’s measurement toolkit is underway, with launch of demonstration projects expected to kick off within the next 16 months.
The announcement on new stakeholders follows on from the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US, which looks to provide up to $3/kg in tax credits for the production of low-carbon hydrogen.
With a basic tax credit rate of $0.60/kg, hydrogen manufactured with 0.45-1.5kg of ‘lifecycle emissions’ will only collect 33.4% of the credit, and 25% and 20% for 1.5-2.5kg and 2.5kg respectively, with verification of carbon dioxide levels set to be verified by an ‘unrelated third party’.
Read more: Landmark US Tax and Climate Bill offers tax credits for clean hydrogen production
Alan Hayes, Head of Energy Transition Pricing and Market Data at S&P Global, said, tools like those being developed by the OHI are necessary to determine the carbon footprint of hydrogen.
“The Inflation Reduction Act in the US is just one example of regulators and market participants putting life-cycle carbon emissions at the centre of strategies to support the growth of the hydrogen market,” said Hayes. “Peer-reviewed and transparent open-sourced measurement tools and methodologies are necessary to determine the carbon footprint of hydrogen entering the market.”