FEATURE: Hydrogen firms rally around US reconciliation bill provisions as it heads to Senate

Companies up and down the hydrogen value chain are rooting for eight long-term provisions within the US Build Back Better Act that they say would accelerate the US hydrogen economy to maturity.

A central feature of the bill would spend more than $500 billion on measures aimed at transitioning the economy away from fossil fuel reliance, and investments in the hydrogen economy make up a sizable portion of that total.

The eight spending items, which direct money towards hydrogen production and the development of fuel cell electric vehicles, account for about $40 billion in spending over the next decade, according to cost estimates published by the Congressional Budget Office.

The spending would “spur further investment and deployment of low and zero-carbon hydrogen across the US economy if enacted,” a coalition of hydrogen companies called Hydrogen Forward said in a Nov. 19 statement. “This long-term commitment provides industry additional certainty to plan projects and ensure financial viability as cost reductions are achieved through scaling-up hydrogen production and deployment. We are hopeful the Senate will maintain this commitment to hydrogen and enact additional support for the US hydrogen industry.”

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