Amazon.com Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. are among the firms that are receiving money from the $7 billion US investment earmarked to establish the nation as a leader in hydrogen fuel according to Bloomberg.
At a ceremony at the Port of Philadelphia, President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm formally unveiled the seven projects — spanning from Pennsylvania to California — that will receive government funding.
The port would use hydrogen from a hub intended for parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey to fuel trucks and other heavy-duty machinery, according to the administration.
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Biden said that the investment will bring in 'good paying jobs' for union workers, as he hailed the move. The union workers pool is important for Biden's reelection campaign. This will also help America address the problem of climate change.
“I made it a goal for our country to get to net-zero emissions from pollutants by 2050. By the way, it’s the only existential threat to humanity, if we don’t do stay below these numbers, the whole world is changing," Biden said.
“Clean hydrogen is going to help us meet this goal. When it comes to charging our cars or powering our homes, all we need is clean electricity," he added.
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As part of its net-zero objective, the Biden administration is supporting hydrogen and the hubs, vast networks of hydrogen producers and consumers spanning numerous states.
An Energy Department analysis states that by 2030, the US may manufacture 10 million metric tons of hydrogen, up from the current level of nearly zero.
The administration has launched an initiative to lower costs, which are one of the major obstacles to the widespread use of hydrogen, by 80 per cent to $1 per kilogram by 2030.
According to the White House, the Pennsylvania center where the news was made will get up to $750 million in funding and leverage existing oil infrastructure to manufacture hydrogen using both nuclear and renewable energy.
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