Over three days of public hearings on the U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed guidance on implementation of the Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Credit, a diverse group of voices, including the Waste Gas Capture Initiative (WGCI) and its members, delivered testimony to encourage the Treasury to consider necessary policy implementation factors to ensure the successful inclusion of fugitive methane, including coal mine methane (CMM), under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Including fugitive methane as a clean hydrogen production pathway is a crucial first step to ensure CMM capture systems are effectively deployed, diversifying U.S. clean energy production, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and creating jobs in the process. Read the WGCI’s prepared testimony here.

Read what multiple groups had to say on this important issue:

Mihaly Wekler, VP, Business Development & Operations, Anew Climate

• “The first productive use requirement as proposed is restrictive to the point that it may prove impossible to achieve methane abatement under the program. Size matters. A typical blue hydrogen project would need dozens of new low carbon gas projects that need to be brought online in lockstep with the online date of the hydrogen facility. Trying to do this in the same calendar year is akin to midair fueling. Similarly, once a verified carbon intensity is established for a low carbon gas facility under the program, its carbon intensity must stay the same for the entire duration of the program to avoid potentially project-killing risks. The first productive use requirements as proposed does not take into account fundamental differences between low carbon gases and electricity in that operational expenses of keeping RNG or a fugitive methane project online are significantly higher than most clean electricity technologies, making the concept of additionality different for low carbon gases than it is for electricity. The application of an online date requirement that crudely disqualifies certain production sources is not viable.”

Brent Bobstein, VP, Sustainable Development, CNX

• “The life cycle assessment tool, the GREET model, has been around since the ’90s and it has recognized emissions avoidance accounting for that entire duration of its existence. The life cycle assessment should be a scientific process. It should be an objective, rigorous review of facts. That analysis has been performed by many of the agencies that I mentioned earlier. They’ve studied what is the business as usual or counterfactual scenario that would happen without incentives. Without 45V, this problem will get worse, not better. And so those agencies, after a thorough and rigorous evaluation and peer-reviewed studies, have established a 100 percent methane avoidance credit is justified. And that’s what was included in the GREET R&D 2023 model. Unfortunately, the 45VH2-GREET model did not include that pathway. It did exist in the R&D model with a conversion to hydrogen, but it was not implemented in the 45VH2 pathway. There shouldn’t be a subjective difference in policy that ignores the climate benefits of capturing this methane. This isn’t a nice thing to have; it is a must have for coal mine methane emissions that are going unaddressed, forgotten by all federal policy. This is a solution that offers pollution reduction for coal mine methane to productive use projects that are closing, not opening. This solution offers economic justification to change the course for global coal mine methane emissions that are getting worse, not better. This offers a sustainable framework for Appalachia, our home. It is an impoverished area hardest hit by the energy transition. This offers that area a lifeline.”

Shawn Bennett, Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2)

• “The proposed rules could lead to a loss of $6 billion in private investment by the key ARCH2 partners in the region and negatively impact 10,000 jobs in the early stages of hydrogen construction and reaching almost 3,200 jobs towards the end of the project. Equally important, the ability to affordably transition to a clean hydrogen economy for the region and the nation will be muted. We view implementing the proposed rules as hurting the evolution of the hydrogen economy by penalizing an embryonic industry requiring a low-cost feedstock such as natural gas that is abundant in the ARCH2 region. We believe that the 45VH2-GREET model lacks the maturity and flexibility to adapt to a current shale gas production approach that lowers the upstream carbon intensity considerably versus the rigid approach based on outdated leak rates from former oil producing region combined with other penalty inducing differences that are currently in the 45VH2-GREET model.”

Michael Moore, Executive Director, WGCI

• “Fugitive methane capture and potential hydrogen production applications can stimulate economic growth and create thousands of good-paying jobs, especially in regions that have experienced economic decline due to the clean energy transition. By supporting the development of robust fugitive methane capture and clean hydrogen production industries in the U.S., we can foster innovation and job creation while propelling the nation toward a sustainable, low-carbon future. Encouraging and incentivizing the capture and beneficial use of mine methane can create much-needed jobs and expand economic activity, including in some of the most socioeconomically challenged communities in the U.S.”

About the WGCI

The WGCI represents leading American energy industry partners, NGOs, and experts who are committed to recognizing the economic benefits and environmental impact of a strong mine methane capture industry. Visit wastegascapture.com and follow @WGCInitiative on X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn for more information.

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