FAQ

Fossil fuel-free energy produced in the Evergreen State. A limitless renewable resource we can use to decarbonize our state’s economy and transportation sectors.

We call it “evergreen” because it will never emit any CO2 when it’s being made or when it’s being used. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. 

“Not all types of hydrogen are compatible with sustainable, climate-safe energy use or net-zero emissions. Only “green” hydrogen – produced with electricity from renewable sources – fulfills these criteria. Green hydrogen forms a cornerstone of the shift away from fossil fuels. Its uptake will be essential for sectors like aviation, international shipping and heavy industry, where energy intensity is high and emissions are hardest to abate.”-International Renewable Energy Agency Report 

Evergreen hydrogen is the only type of hydrogen energy made from renewable energy and has no planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, blue hydrogen uses a fossil fuel (mainly natural gas) to break apart the atoms in H2O to create hydrogen, and then proposes to store the carbon dioxide emissions underground as carbon capture and storage in order to reduce its carbon footprint.

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1. Wind and solar only works with the wind is blowing and the sun is shining.
2. Hydrogen compliments the variability/inconsistency of these renewable sources.
3. Hydrogen is a backup and can be converted back to electricity to ensure the power supply is resilient.

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According to a McKinsey & Co. report, hydrogen is central to reaching net-zero emissions because it can abate 80 gigatons of CO2 by 2050, including powering heavy duty means of transportation like trucks, cargo ships, and airplanes, and decarbonize the steel and cement industries, which together make up nearly 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

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It’s a misconception to pit green hydrogen vehicles against electric vehicles. Both run on battery electric powered systems. The only difference is hydrogen vehicles power use a fuel cell that turns hydrogen into electricity. The fuel cell sits in the engine as opposed to hooking the battery up to an EV charger. 

The benefits of a fuel cell vehicle are that it already has a range in excess of 400 miles and can be fully refueled in five minutes, similar to a car with an internal combustion engine. And H2 can be stored indefinitely versus batteries that lose a charge over time. 

Hydrogen also has a greater energy density than electricity, making it more suitable to power buses, trucks, cargo ships, and airplanes. 

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Hub plan is targeting roughly $2.00 per gallon of fuel by 2030. Since 2010, the cost of electrolysis (the process used to make green hydrogen) has fallen by 60 percent, from between $10 to$15 per gallon to as low as $4 to $6 today, according to the Path To Hydrogen Report.

Because a fuel cell vehicle can travel up to 2.5x further on a gallon of gas equivalent, green hydrogen is on a path to become cheaper than at your current gas pump.

Fuel cell vehicles from Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai can already exceed 400 miles on a single tank.

While your standard car can’t run on hydrogen, it’s worth noting that oil companies are already using hydrogen in the refining process to make gasoline greener. 

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It takes about the same time it takes to fill up a gasoline powered car, 3-5 minutes. 

People who live near the heaviest concentrations of air pollution in Washington are disproportionately low-income and people of color. By fueling heavy-duty trucks, cargo ships, and airplanes with a renewable fuel instead of diesel, we can reduce incidences of lung diseases and cancers associated with dirty air.

Additionally, green hydrogen in gaseous form can provide a zero-carbon alternative to natural gas heating because it can largely utilize the same infrastructure network – from pipelines to the boilers themselves. Hydrogen-based heating would also become more competitive than heat pumps for older buildings, which incur significant refurbishment costs in upgrading.

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1. Cleaner air from the reduction of heavy polluting diesel fuels
2. A cleaner marine ecosystem from reduced cargo and cruise ship emissions
3. Good paying jobs in the clean energy industry spread across our state
4. Millions in revenue to fund basic services in our state like roads, schools, and hospitals.

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There have been 42 emerging occupations identified and will continue to be expanded as the H2 industry matures. Some of these jobs are Station planning supply chain, station equipment supply chain, construction supply chain, hydrogen supply, station O&M supply chain.

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To be classified as (ever)green, hydrogen can only be produced with non-polluting, greenhouse gas free energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro. Other sorts of hydrogen (blue & gray) use fossil fuels in the production process, but the WGHA believes consumers and end users will choose the only source of hydrogen that’s planet friendly and pollution free.

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Hydrogen is already used by NASA in the space shuttle and by the Department of Defense in unmanned rocket engines, and there are currently 35,000 forklifts and material handling hydrogen vehicles in operation. The alkaline electrolyzers used to make green hydrogen have operated for decades, and water splitting using electrolysis has been used for over 200 years.

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