Trump admin to preserve billions in hydrogen funds pegged for termination

US is set to retain nearly $5 bn in hydrogen hub funding, and revive carbon capture projects backed by major energy firms, signalling continued support for clean energy despite earlier proposed cuts

By Ari Natter

 

The Trump administration plans to preserve billions of dollars in funding for hydrogen ventures and other projects previously earmarked for termination. 

An Energy Department list that includes proposals backed by oil companies, utilities and others was provided to House Appropriations Committee members and details roughly 2,000 funding awards the agency plans to “retain or modify.” 

 

Included on the 39-page list seen by Bloomberg is almost $5 billion previously awarded by the Biden administration for five so-called hydrogen hubs — broad networks of producers and consumers in Texas, Appalachia, the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest — and backed by companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Exelon Corp. 

 

 

Also revived were a pair of direct-air capture projects that had been selected by the Biden administration to split $1.2 billion: one from Occidental Petroleum Corp. and another from Climeworks AG and Heirloom Carbon Technologies Inc. Those developments are intended to suck planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the air. 

 

Funding for an Indiana cement plant that will incorporate carbon-capture technology and led by the North American subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials AG was reinstated as well, according to the list. 

 

The Energy Department didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

 

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, testifying before a House Appropriations subpanel on Wednesday, noted a review of some 2,200 projects had been completed and that the agency was “keen to move forward” with the majority of them either as-is or subject to modification. 

 

The department initiated a case-by-case review of some $15 billion in grants awarded by the previous administration in May and has since announced plans to cancel billions of projects, including $7.6 billion in Democrat-led states. 

 

The majority of those cuts are moving forward including plans to slash billions in funding for a pair of West coast hydrogen hubs.