When will the hydrogen economy be ready for Alaska…and vice versa?

As the world undergoes significant changes in energy generation, delivery and consumption, Alaskans are adapting to an evolving energy landscape while also endeavoring to bring down comparatively high home heating and utility costs. While the state remains disconnected from the primary grid networks in the contiguous United States, Alaska still stands to benefit from technologies that are either developing or ubiquitous in the Lower 48 and elsewhere in the world. One of these technology areas that has exploded onto the energy scene in the last two decades is hydrogen. 

The lightest, and most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen has seen a history in energy that ranges from rudimentary fuel cells in the early 19th century to the primary fuel source for NASA’s rockets (literally “rocket fuel”). Today, widespread interest in hydrogen stems from an abundance of potential applications and its role in many roadmaps for a global energy transition. These range from serving as a fuel source for clean aviation and road transportation, to decarbonizing energy-intensive industries, such as steel and ammonia. Pick an energy end-use and there’s a good chance someone somewhere has identified a way for hydrogen to fit the bill. Still, that doesn’t mean that hydrogen is the right choice for all applications, and it’s worth bearing in mind some of the practical constraints that accompany the technology. 

First, despite the high number of potential hydrogen applications, a majority of hydrogen today is used in a few sectors, including fertilizer production, oil refining, and the chemical industry. Furthermore, nearly 98% of the hydrogen produced globally is derived from fossil fuel sources, which negates many of the benefits in energy reliability and emissions reductions in the absence of effective carbon capture. We have the option today to produce “green hydrogen” by using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis, a process which is itself emission-free, but the costs to both produce this hydrogen, as well as store and transport it, remain higher than conventional fossil-based means. Recent interest has focused on geologic hydrogen in the subsurface, but additional assessments need to be done to determine where reliable reservoirs exist. Finally, the fact remains that despite a plethora of announced clean hydrogen projects, hydrogen is a flammable and finicky gas that necessitates robust safety measures and frequently requires high pressurization or liquefaction when being stored. 

So where does this leave us? When and where is hydrogen worth the investment? That answer will largely depend on opportunity cost in any given application. For example, hydrogen is an attractive candidate for “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors  like heavy industry and long-haul transport because it is an energy-dense molecule (four times the energy per mass compared to gasoline) that can be transported and stored wherever it is needed. Without a clear path to reduce emissions via electrification in these areas, hydrogen becomes an attractive alternative. 

Additionally, hydrogen is one of the few solutions for long-duration storage (weeks to months) of renewable power, a desirable quality in a place like Alaska that has an abundance of solar energy in the summer months with much less potential in the winter. Converting some of that extra summer sunshine to hydrogen allows you to store energy in the molecular bonds themselves, which can later be recovered by consuming hydrogen in a turbine or a fuel cell when the energy is needed. Beyond solar, the Alaska Hydrogen Opportunities Report shows that just a fraction of the natural resource energy potential in the state could far exceed the demand of the rest of the country. Even a small share of that energy potential from wind, solar, geothermal and marine energy could not only benefit Alaskans, but could form the basis for a formidable export market. But in order to harness that potential, which spans vast geographic areas, long-term storage is necessary. With hydrogen, as long as the storage volume is sufficient, you can store as much of that energy for as long as you need. 

Finally, hydrogen is versatile. It can be stored and consumed directly in its pure atomic form, or it can be converted into “derivatives” such as ammonia, methanol, jet fuel and other e-fuels. It can also be blended with natural gas in proportions up to around 20% by volume. Derivatives would be a valuable asset to support any future export markets, and blending, while not a solution to the impending gas shortage in Cook Inlet, could help mitigate some of the near-term issues of imported natural gas. 

On an energy basis, these aspects of hydrogen technology match up well with the needs of Alaska. It checks all of the boxes for an up and coming technology as an energy carrier that can be stored for long periods of time, converted into more convenient forms that are compatible with our infrastructure, and produced in-state. A reliable and mature state hydrogen economy could support industry operations, energy supply on the Railbelt and even rural communities looking to reduce their reliance on imported fuel. So where are the hydrogen storage tanks and pipelines? 

The answer in the short-term is that while hydrogen is not a new technology in and of itself, it is new for Alaska. For all of the global interest, the rest of the world continues to feel growing pains in developing a hydrogen economy, with investors and offtakers unsure of where the hydrogen train is going. Still, the United States, European Union and China continue to push for hydrogen deployments; the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Hubs represent an investment of $7 billion to support hydrogen operations around the country. A key expectation from these projects is that costs will fall with scale-up, particularly as storage and distribution of hydrogen becomes more readily available. 

Alaska stands to benefit from these developments, and a future Alaska hydrogen economy could become a highly attractive partner for offtakers in the U.S. and around the world. To that end, there are steps that can be taken now to enable those future pathways, without putting all of our eggs in the hydrogen basket. 

For example, identifying and developing codes and standards for hydrogen production and use remains an ongoing challenge. Coordinating an Alaska-specific set of standards, in addition to exploring how projects might align with current tax credits, can help lay the groundwork for future projects. Identifying alignment with current Alaska infrastructure and workforce is also a good way to assess future potential. Given the state’s vast experience in the fossil industry, oil and gas experts are likely to be a vital resource in designing systems that handle compressed, flammable gas, especially when operating in cold and harsh environments. Finally, learning by doing remains one of our best opportunities to get in the hydrogen game. Developing pilot projects not only enables a relatively low-risk opportunity to trial test the items mentioned above, it provides proof of experience for future proposed projects that may require buy-in from outside partners. These efforts are additionally supported by assessments that are already underway, to model the feasibility and economics of hydrogen around the state, as well as to determine where hydrogen might naturally exist in geologic formations. 

In short, being in the planning stages is not a bad place to sit as major projects are slated to break ground in other parts of the country and the world. However, carrying out that planning with a sense of urgency and building government and industry partnerships now could pave the way for Alaska to not only benefit from, but also take the lead on future hydrogen projects that enter the far north. 

For more information about hydrogen in Alaska, see the Alaska Hydrogen Opportunities Report and consider joining the Alaska Hydrogen Working Group, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Arctic Energy Office and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.