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Three Iowa projects would be part of
proposed hydrogen hub
Ideal Energy, based in Des Moines
and Fairfield, is only company in Eastern Iowa
May 04,
2023
By
Erin Jordan
![](images/images_06_06_2023/download.jpg)
Emet Blood (background), Josh Ross and Jon Buzan install solar panels
on the roof of Stuff Etc. on Blairs Ferry Road NE in Cedar Rapids on
Aug. 16, 2016. Ideal Energy Solar was installing the 601-panel array
on the Cedar Rapids store before installing another one on the Stuff
Etc. store in Coralville. Ideal
Energy,
based in Des Moines and Fairfield, plans to create a “hub-and-spoke
network” clean hydrogen fuel dispensing stations for Iowa freight
trucks. (The Gazette)
Three Iowa energy projects — and their
communities — stand to benefit from a proposed green hydrogen hub
seeking $1 billion in federal money.
The Nebraska Public Power District, a publicly owned state utility,
would take the lead in a collaboration among Iowa, Nebraska and
Missouri, but five projects — two in Nebraska and three in Iowa —
would “produce and consume clean hydrogen” as part of the
Mid-Continent Clean Hydrogen Hub, or MCH2.
“MCH2 aims to bring over $4 billion in new economic development to the
region through clean energy manufacturing while creating opportunities
for skilled training and ensuring long-term, well-paying employment,”
according to a summary of the grant application submitted to the U.S.
Department of Energy earlier this month.
The Iowa projects are:
Verbio, a German-owned firm, has a renewable natural gas and ethanol
plant in Nevada that runs on crop residue, including corncobs and
stalks. The plant already is producing renewable hydrogen and is
poised to ramp up, the summary states.
Ideal Energy, based in Des Moines and Fairfield, plans to create a
“hub-and-spoke network” clean hydrogen fuel dispensing stations for
Iowa freight trucks.
Greenfield Nitrogen is building a clean hydrogen and ammonia facility
in Garner, in north-central Iowa.
The largest project of the five is Monolith, located near Hallam, in
eastern Nebraska, which already uses renewable energy to break down
methane into hydrogen and carbon. A new company called Meadowlark in
Gothenburg, Neb., would serve as a “local access source for clean
fertilizer.”
It’s unclear what role Missouri will play in the hydrogen hub. The
state’s name is mentioned only once in the three-page summary written
by the Nebraska Public Power District. The Iowa Economic Development
Authority provided the abstract in response to a Gazette request for
the full application.
Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri are competing against other regional
proposals to share $7 billion available to establish six to 10 green
hydrogen hubs as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Initially, 79 applicants asked the federal government for permission
to apply for the federal funding, Iowa Finance Authority and Economic
Development Authority Director Debi Durham told the Finance Authority
board earlier this month. The Energy Department told 33 of those
applicants to submit a full application, she said.
The agency is expected to make funding decisions by November.
Clean hydrogen is made with water, an electrolyzer and a renewable
power source, such as a wind or solar farm. No greenhouse gas
emissions come from the process.
MCH2 leaders would like to generate 430 metric tons of hydrogen a day.
“Secondly, MCH2 will provide agricultural and transportation
applications from hydrogen including producing clean ammonia and
fertilizers and hydrogen fuels for trucks, rail, and shipping,” the
Nebraska Public Power District reports.
The summary notes the projects align with interstate highway systems
including I-80, I-35, I-70 and I-29.
“The three states in the hub are among the largest agricultural
producers in the USA, creating vast opportunity for both distribution
and transportation-related consumption of hydrogen fuels,” the summary
said.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
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