The Daily Advertiser released this article stating that Praxair recently announced that they will be building a New Hydrogen Plant in Louisiana where it will be integrated with the firm’s “already extensive Louisiana production network via its Mississippi River Corridor hydrogen pipeline system.”

The exact location has not been decided yet but has plans to start up in 2021 and be among the largest hydrogen producing plants in America.  Praxair is a subsidiary of the Irish-based chemical giant Linde plc.  Once the state-of-the-art design is complete, this project will increase the U.S. Gulf Coast hydrogen capacity to more than 1.7 billion standard cubic feet per day.

Praxair, Inc. is a leading industrial gas company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. Praxair produces, sells and distributes gases and high-performance surface coatings. Their services are making our planet more clean and productive by bringing environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries.

Why do we need hydrogen plants?  What exactly will the plant be used to do?  

Hydrogen production has three basic industrial benefits that makes sense for companies to take advantage of.

1.    The use of hydrogen greatly reduces pollution.

When hydrogen is combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, energy in the form of electricity is produced and the only by-products are water and heat. No other pollution or greenhouse gases are produced.  This electricity can be used for anything, including powering vehicles or as a heat source.

2.    Hydrogen can be produced locally from various sources.

Companies don’t have to outsource for hydrogen.  Hydrogen gas can be produced locally from methane, gas, coal or water.

3.    If hydrogen is produced from water we have a sustainable production system.

Using renewable energy provides a sustainable system that is nonpolluting. Some of the renewable sources used are wind, hydro, and solar energy. The by products of the process are water and heat so the system can be set up as a co-generator, with the waste energy used for heating.

In order to comply with increasingly strict environmental regulations, the demand for clean fuels is growing astronomically.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new rule to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants across the country.  The proposal is called the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule.  It has established guidelines for states to use when developing plans to limit GHGs at their power plants.

“The ACE Rule would restore the rule of law and empower states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide modern, reliable and affordable energy for all Americans,” said Andrew Wheeler, EPA acting administrator.

“EPA has an important role when it comes to addressing the CO2 from our nation’s power plants,” said Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. “The ACE rule would fulfill this role in a manner consistent with the structure of the Clean Air Act while being equally respectful of its bounds.”

According to the EPA, the proposal will work to reduce GHG emissions through four main missions:

1.    ACE will define the “best system of emission reduction” for existing power plants

2.    ACE provides states with a list of “candidate technologies” to utilize

3.    ACE continues to research and provide updates to further encourage efficiency improvements

4.    ACE will give states adequate time and flexibility to develop their plans.

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