Hydrogen Hubs Plan Met By Fossil Fuels Skepticism, Tax Questions

The seven winners of the $7 billion hydrogen hub program announced Friday may have little time to celebrate as the hard work of building regional industries confronts concerns about locking in fossil fuels.

The much-anticipated program carries the promise of cutting emissions in the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors of the US economy, a key prong in the Biden administration’s push to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Industries such as heavy-duty transportation, steel, aluminum, cement, and fertilizer require massive amounts of energy, and hydrogen can be a suitable replacement for fossil fuels.

But the massive federal program faces pushback from some communities and ...