Houston has all the ingredients to be a major hub for hydrogen innovation, mayor says

The government is gearing up to dole out billions of dollars in funding to support innovation within hydrogen — and the city of Houston wants a chunk of that cash.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was announced by the The U.S. Department of Energy to seek out opportunities in hydrogen, includes $8 billion to go toward establishing Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. At Greentown Houston’s first anniversary event, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced he’s determined to position the city as one of those hubs.

“Houston and the Gulf Coast are ideally suited to scale up and become a leader in the hydrogen economy,” Mayor Turner says. “We have the knowledge, the workforce, and infrastructure to produce clean hydrogen.”

“The Gulf Coast has the nation’s largest concentration of hydrogen production assets, dedicated hydrogen pipeline infrastructure, and many industrial hydrogen customers,” he continues. “I am confident we have the tools in our toolbox at our disposal right here in Texas — and especially right here in Houston — to lead the global energy transition initiative.”

The city has made other efforts to advance Houston as an energy transition leader, including the Greater Houston Partnership establishing the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, led by Executive Director Jane Stricker.

“We have the right assets, the right infrastructure — all of that exists. This is where all of the big investment decisions get made in the energy industry,” Stricker says on Greentown’s panel that followed Mayor Turner’s address.

She continues, adding that something that should be top of mind for the energy industry and local universities is the workforce.

“If we’re going to create 600,000 jobs in Houston over the next 30 years through this energy transition — and that’s what we need to do — we need to be thinking about what those jobs are,” she says on the panel.

Greentown’s Low-Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator, which kicked off earlier this month, is another ongoing initiative in collaboration with the city to support innovation within hydrogen and low-carbon technologies.

“In Houston, we dream big, and make big things happen,” Mayor Turner says on the future of Houston as a leader in this space. “When we play as a team, we do well.”