Meeting Washington State's 2030 emissions target will require a broad set of decarbonization measures, including clean fuels. Green electrolytic hydrogen and hydrogen-derived fuels production are key components of Washington's energy transition, leading to one of the earliest opportunities in the country to develop hydrogen supply chains and markets at scale.
The Washington State Department of Commerce commissioned Evolved Energy Research and the Clean Energy Transition Institute to author Green Electrolytic Hydrogen and Renewable fuels: Recommendations for Deployment in Washington, providing guidance on how to support development of hydrogen supply and new markets for hydrogen and hydrogen derived fuels. This included identification of opportunities for hydrogen production, consumption, and transportation in the state as well as challenges to implementation, the risks to Washington of not pursuing particular strategies, recommendations on reform of siting and permitting processes, and environmental justice considerations.
An economy-wide approach is needed to plan for hydrogen and clean fuels growth, electricity, and the integrated operations of those sectors. Evolved used our economy-wide RIO capacity expansion and operations model to explore the tradeoffs between strategies that incorporate clean fuels, load growth, carbon management, electrification opportunities, and new industry. By doing so, we could help future proof policy guidance and manage risk around developing a green hydrogen economy by understanding new supply and demand opportunities, the speed of change needed, and the interconnected cause-and-effect of policy actions taken across different sectors of the economy.
Phases for Advancing Hydrogen, Green Electrolytic Hydrogen and Renewable Fuels Report, P73
