SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Recent Mexico state lawmakers will consider public incentives geared toward attracting investments in hydrogen production and distribution as a possible recent source of commercial employment and another for vehicles and factories that depend on climate-warming fossil fuels, because the legislature convenes next week.
Democratic state Rep. Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup, the lead House budget negotiator, said Wednesday she is going to introduce a bill in coming weeks geared toward setting aside money for public-private partnerships for hydrogen projects.
Recent Mexico has teamed up with Wyoming, Utah and Colorado to vie for a slice of federal funds put aside to support regional hydrogen hubs that will step up hydrogen production and distribution. State cabinet secretaries provided an update to a legislative panel Wednesday on the state Capitol.
Lundstrom says her initiative is geared toward giving Recent Mexico a competitive edge in its bid to draw federal and personal investments.
“State government would put money right into a pot that will be used at the side of private sector projects for buildout,” Lundstrom said. “We see (hydrogen) as a bridge fuel to fulfill our renewable energy standards.”
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An identical proposal from Lundstrom last 12 months stalled amid withering criticism from environmentalists who’re wary of the impacts of manufacturing hydrogen from natural gas, a process that creates greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide. They are saying hydrogen production can delay dependence on fossil fuels and worry about plans to store carbon pollution underground.
Democratic state State Rep. Nathan Small of Las Cruces and state environmental regulators emphasized that recent federal laws gives preference to cleaner methods of hydrogen projects. He said federal hydrogen production incentives will vastly overshadow anything Recent Mexico can contribute.
Climate laws signed last 12 months by President Joe Biden offers a tax credit intended to make clean hydrogen more competitive. The 2021 federal infrastructure law included $8 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the regional hubs.
Legislators are desperately searching for brand spanking new sources of employment as Recent Mexico reels from the recent retirement of coal-fired power plants, amid efforts to fight climate change by requiring more carbon-free sources of electricity.
Hydrogen could theoretically reduce greenhouse emissions and air pollution, depending on the way it’s obtained.
Most commercially produced hydrogen within the U.S. comes from natural gas, which emits greenhouse pollutants carbon dioxide and methane.
Hydrogen also will be derived using electric currents from wind, solar or other signifies that produce few if any emissions contributing to global warming. Such “clean hydrogen” releases only water as a byproduct when utilized in a fuel cell.
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