Page 18 - World Trade Center - 2024

AN EM ERGING HUB FOR THE
Future of Transportation
By Tina Irgang Leaderman
lenges of transportation and
One of the most enduring chal-
logistics is the question of emis-
sions. As climate change accel-
erates, so does the movement towards
finding clean fuel sources.
One of the preeminent solutions in this
space is hydrogen. Recognizing this, the
U.S. Department of Energy launched its
Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program,
which made available a total of $7 billion
for regions around the country to establish
an infrastructure for producing hydrogen
from clean energy sources.
In fall of 2023, the department an-
nounced that it had chosen seven areas as
recipients for the funding — among them
the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, or
MACH2. The MACH2 coalition is a regional
effort that includes parts of Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, with Delaware at its center.
MACH2 has been selected for an award
of up to $750 million to build its hydrogen
infrastructure.
One of the most important players in
building this infrastructure is a new entity
called First State Hydrogen. (“First State” is
a byname for Delaware because its delegates
were the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution.)
The public faces of First State Hydro-
gen are its founder Andrew Cottone — a
well-known entrepreneur and chemist who
for years led specialty chemistry company
Adesis — and VP for Sales & Commerciali-
zation Dora Cheatham, who spearheaded
the successful MACH2 proposal.
First State Hydrogen’s initial goal is to
build a 60-megawatt hydrogen production
facility that will be powered with renewable
energy and will produce 24 metric tons of
hydrogen per day.
“We’ll focus on building one plant first
to work out the kinks, then focus on the
great opportunity that this region has in
the green hydrogen space,” said Cottone.
By late 2026 or early 2027, Cottone
expects the facility to be up and running.
“People are going to think I’m crazy with
that timeline, but that’s the thing about
Delaware — we’re small, but we move
fast,” he said.
A Transformational Moment
Of course, hydrogen is already in use to
some extent. However, all hydrogen is not
created equal. So-called gray hydrogen, for
example, is created using a carbon-intensive
steam methane reforming (SMR) process.
The hydrogen created at the planned
facility in Delaware “will replace that
carbon-intensive hydrogen with green
hydrogen,” Cottone said. “We want to
decarbonize the existing hydrogen econ-
omy. Then, once that green hydrogen
economy grows, we can move into having
hydrogen buses, trucking and shipping.
That’s down the road, but when you look
at the Mid-Atlantic’s position — we are so
close to everything. Because of our prox-
imity to customers and our experience in
chemistry manufacturing at Adesis, we
should be able to come to market in a very
competitive position. We view this as a
transformational moment for Delaware.”
As for Delaware’s transportation indus-
try, the seeds of transformation are already
being sown. SEPTA, the transportation
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authority for Southeastern Pennsylvania —
including Philadelphia — is a subrecipient
of MACH2 funding and is making plans to
convert its fleet to hydrogen fuel.
“They are currently doing a pilot project
with 10 hydrogen buses,” Cheatham said.
“When you look at the weight, the distance
and the refueling time, hydrogen is looking
really good for transportation, compared
to electric.”
Delaware’s public transportation
authority, DART, is similarly exploring the
use of hydrogen buses, she said.
As for commercial transport, the issue
of refueling points remains an obstacle,
Cheatham noted. “But where we do
see movement towards hydrogen is in
warehousing. You have forklifts already
using hydrogen, and we’ve been talking to
the ports to explore the use of hydrogen
vehicles for transportation of materials.”
A Partner for Workforce,
Transportation Future
Also participating in MACH2 is Chesapeake
Utilities Corporation, an energy company
headquartered in Delaware that operates in
the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest.
Chesapeake Utilities is working on
energy efficiency at multiple fronts, but
hydrogen is a major focus. In the hydrogen
hub, “our role involves promoting safety and
workforce development through awareness,
training and education at our state-of-the-
art Safety Town facility in Dover, Delaware,
which will be the region’s hydrogen training
facility for employees, first responders and
the community,” said Brianna Patterson,
the utility’s manager of public relations and
strategic communications.
Furthermore, Chesapeake Utilities is
evaluating the production and delivery
of hydrogen for the transportation sector.
“These efforts will include, in partner-
ship with the hydrogen hub, installing a
fueling station for hydrogen vehicles; and
purchasing hydrogen trailers for delivery of
hydrogen, utilizing our Marlin subsidiary,”
Patterson said.
Chesapeake Utilities’ alternative-fuel
fleet vehicles have already reduced the
company’s annual CO2 emissions by an
average of 1,072 metric tons. Going forward,
that fleet could also include hydrogen-
powered vehicles, Patterson noted.