Connecticut and the Northeast came up losers Friday in the high-stakes competition for regional hydrogen hubs — part of the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s focus on hydrogen as an important clean energy source to fight climate change. A seven-state consortium led by New York and including Connecticut and the rest of New England except New Hampshire, plus New Jersey, were not among seven hubs selected to share $7 billion. The Biden administration estimates the hubs will catalyze another $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of jobs. The decision is especially disappointing for Connecticut. The state has a decades-long history with hydrogen, a necessary component of its well-known and regarded fuel cell industry. FuelCell Energy is headquartered in Danbury, and there are expertise hubs at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) and the University of Connecticut. Hydrogen in something like a fuel cell is part of a clean electrochemical — not combustion — process that produces electricity and leaves only water and heat behind, no greenhouse gasses. To that end, the Biden administration, governors and legislatures like those in Connecticut have viewed hydrogen not far below solar and wind for how to lower the greenhouse gas emissions.
https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/no-hydrogen-hub-for-ct-and-the-northeast