Shawn Bennet to Present Latest ARCH2 Information at the Appalachian Hydrogen and Carbon Capture Conference VI

PENN VALLEY, PA, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- With a Phase I award negotiated with the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Appalachian Regional Clean Energy Hydrogen Hub proponents finally can take a deep breath.

Now ARCH2 program managers and its 11 development partners begin the real work on Phase I of a four-phase process that will span more than a decade and result in billions of dollars of investment.

The feds have promised ARCH2 $925 million, $30 million of which has been released as the Phase I award to get the project moving. This is part of the DOE hydrogen hubs effort with total of seven Hydrogen hubs located nationwide.

With such a massive project, involving its partners’ projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, there are a number of questions about ARCH2 at ground level: to integrate the project to become a function hub of interconnected pieces. Questions such as where the underground storage facility will be secured, how will the hydrogen be transported, what each of its partners’ projects specifically entails, etc.

One of the key points upon which the federal funding is based is community outreach, is practically written into ARCH2’s DNA.

Shawn Bennett, Energy and Resilience Division Manager at Battelle, the project’s point company, said no company associated with ARCH2 will forget how important community outreach is.

“We have to make sure we do a great job in community outreach,” Bennett said. “We need to educate everyone who may be impacted by the project on its benefits. Front-line engagement is key – meeting people where they are.”

Bennett is a key presenter at Appalachian Hydrogen & Carbon Capture Conference VI, to be held Nov. 7, at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Southpointe, south of Pittsburgh. The one-day conference is organized by the H2-CCS Network and Shale Directories.

“Bennett’s presentation will provide our attendees with the latest, best information about what is happening with DOE’s Hydrogen program and ARCH2” commented Tom Gellrich, President & CEO H2-CCS Network.

The benefits Bennett referred to are massive. They include:

• Environmental: Produce clean hydrogen to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as manufacturing and transportation.

• Economic: Create thousands of new jobs and train local workers for tomorrow’s energy jobs.

• Social: Ensure 40% of the overall program benefits flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Even with a top-notch education program on the benefits of the hub and what its partner projects will bring to the region in terms of economic benefit, reduced emissions and jobs, they will be more than a bit of inertia that will pushback change, according to Bennett.

“Our competition for this project in the Appalachian Basin is the status quo,” he said.

Looking to the upcoming Presidential election, Bennett admits as most do that knowing the direction the next administration will take involving a basic overhaul of the country’s energy direction can be difficult.

“Both sides (Republicans and Democrats) have been supportive of moving toward Hydrogen,” Bennett said. “We believe there will be support for the hubs under (Kamala) Harris or (Donald) Trump.”

Joe Barone
Shale Directories
+1 6107641232
jbarone@shaledirectories.com