For many years, the Northeast United States has been a leader in advancing innovative technologies that reduce emissions and drive economic growth. As state and local governments, regional stakeholders, and private industry look to further their climate efforts in the years ahead, hydrogen offers significant potential to meet a wide range of needs in power generation, transportation, industrial applications, and much more.

To learn more about the potential role for hydrogen in the Northeast, we encourage policymakers and stakeholders to join the Northeast Clean Energy Council’s (NECEC) Emerging Trend Series webinar on September 22nd.

The event will kick off with a welcome by NECEC President Peter Rothstein along with Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director of Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Under Taking, and Melanie Kenderdine, Principal at Energy Futures Initiative. Their introduction to the topic will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Matthew Blieske, Global Hydrogen Product Manager at Shell, Roger Kranenburg, VP Energy Strategy & Policy at Eversource Energy, Lydia Li, Investment Professional at Generate Capital and Katie Dykes, Commissioner at CT DEEP. In a discussion moderated by Alistair Pim, VP Innovation & Partnerships at NECEC, our panelists will explore the increasing feasibility of #hydrogen to be cost competitive with other zero carbon solutions, and what hydrogen solutions are working around the world and what isn’t. To register for the event, Opportunities for Hydrogen in the Northeast, please click here.

A recent report published by McKinsey & Company, Road Map to a US Hydrogen Economy, takes a detailed look into the multitude of ways that hydrogen can both advance America’s economy and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Road Map presents an ambitious case for the United States to champion a hydrogen economy to advance global energy technology leadership while achieving significant reductions in carbon emissions. This report highlights hydrogen’s role as a key vector to overcome the challenges of today, from a need to store and transport massive amounts of renewable energy, to the deployment of zero-emissions transportation options, as well as addressing energy sectors that have traditionally been difficult to decarbonize such as industrial applications, heating, and more.

This report underscores that with the right policy support, the hydrogen economy is capable of generating an estimated $140 billion per year in revenue and can support 700,000 total jobs across the hydrogen value chain by 2030. In addition, by 2050, the greater adoption of hydrogen across a range of applications will help achieve 16% reductions in CO2 emissions, 36% reductions in NOx emissions, and could account for 14% of all energy demand in the United States.

In many ways, the Northeast has been a trailblazer for the hydrogen and fuel cell sector. Home to several of the world’s leading fuel cell and hydrogen generation companies, as well as some of the longest running installations that have proved critical in keeping operations online during severe weather events, the Northeast is no stranger to the benefits of the technology. However, in order for the Northeast to capitalize on the increasing international growth and investment, policymakers in the region need to recognize the great opportunity that an expanded role for hydrogen presents and start acting now.

The report offers a number of recommendations to follow to achieve this. We look forward to learning more on 22 September during NECEC’s Emerging Trend Series event-Opportunities for Hydrogen in the Northeast

Authored by Morry Markowitz, President of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association