What is MACH2?
The Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (known as MACH2) is a proposed hydrogen gas production enterprise made up of an interconnected web of processing facilities, pipelines, and other infrastructure spread across southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. MACH2’s organizers plan to use the hydrogen gas in industry as well as for bus transportation and for heating and appliances in people’s homes.
MACH2 would make hydrogen gas
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There is very little naturally-occuring hydrogen gas on Earth, so it must be manufactured to get enough for fuel. Hydrogen gas (symbol: H2) is the smallest molecule in the Universe: it is odorless, colorless, and extremely light, lighter than any other substance. Hydrogen gas quickly floats away in the Earth’s atmosphere. But there’s lots of hydrogen bound up with other elements, like with oxygen in water or with carbon from living things. To make hydrogen gas for fuel, hydrogen must be extracted from either water (H2O) or fossil fuels, typically methane (CH4). When it is extracted from water, oxygen is the byproduct. When it is extracted from methane, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the byproduct. Then, when hydrogen gas is burned as a fuel in air, it combines with oxygen to make water. It is this feature of hydrogen—producing water when burned—that makes people call it a ‘clean’ fuel. But burning hydrogen gas in air causes nitrous oxides (NOx) to form, which is both a greenhouse gas, a component of smog, and toxic to people’s health. But the big problems arise when making hydrogen gas in the first place.
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Hydrogen gas can be extracted from water or from fossil fuels. Currently, about 95% of hydrogen gas is extracted from fossil fuels, like coal or methane gas (also called fracked gas, fossil gas, natural gas, or LNG), producing carbon dioxide (CO2) as a byproduct. (Eliminating CO2 emissions is the whole point of decarbonizing the economy, which this process wouldn’t do.) Hydrogen gas can be made from water using electricity by a process called electrolysis. Currently only a tiny fraction of the electricity used for electrolysis comes from non-fossil fuel energy sources, like nuclear, solar or wind. It is currently about five times more expensive to make hydrogen gas using electricity than by extraction from methane. Hydrogen hubs like MACH2 propose to use a variety of methods to produce hydrogen, including electrolysis using nuclear, solar, wind, or fossil fuel electricity, as well as by extraction from methane from biogas (sewage gas) or from methane (fracked gas, natural gas or LNG).
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Hydrogen gas can be burned to release energy for a variety of purposes, such as energy generation and high-heat industrial purposes. It could also be used in hydrogen fuel cells to power motors. When hydrogen is burned, it combines with oxygen to form water. But it also causes the formation of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are greenhouse gasses and pollutants. So, hydrogen gas is ‘clean’ only when it is being used in fuel cells, not when it is burned, and not while it is made using fossil fuels. In a decarbonized economy, there may be some benefit for using hydrogen gas made from truly green energy for certain industrial purposes like steel making. However, other uses, such as in public transportation and consumer uses, such as home heating and cooking, are being promoted by the industry despite being of questionable value and safety.
The plans for building MACH2
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The decision to build seven hydrogen hubs around the country was made by the US Federal Government through laws passed by Congress (the Infrastructure Act and the IRA) and signed by President Biden in 2021 and 2022. The Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) oversees the projects, giving out grants worth billions of dollars. The Department of Treasury issues tax credits, also worth up to billions of dollars. The MACH2 organization is currently a non-profit consortium of businesses who hope to receive those federal funds and tax benefits. The project also involves educational institutions in the area and the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania as sponsors.The project hasn’t been fully funded yet, but the ball is rolling, despite the fact that the plans haven’t been fully fleshed out. Nor has the public been fully informed of what will be built or which communities will be directly impacted.
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The MACH2 organizers made their application to the Federal Government available, and in it there’s a map of many of the sites of planned and existing facilities, as well as descriptions of what MACH2 will entail. In a nutshell, MACH2 consists of about 20 projects throughout the Delaware River Basin, from Trenton to Wilmington. But the exact sites are constantly changing. They claim that the projects under MACH2 will make hydrogen from non-fossil fuel energy sources. But many of the locations of projects are where fossil fuel infrastructure already exists.
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We the public have been told very little about MACH2. What we have been told has been vague and misleading. The communities that would be impacted by MACH2 have been kept out of the process, despite the Office of Clean Energy Demonstration’s requirement that they be engaged. The MACH2 leadership has said that “when MACH2 starts breaking ground on individual projects, community outreach will absolutely be held well in advance at locations that are appropriate for these specific projects.” Community engagement at the “shovel ready” point is too late.
Construction of MACH2 so far
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Our region is already a major hub for fossil fuel processing and distribution with many pipelines moving natural gas (methane/fossil gas/fracked gas/LNG) from the western counties to the Delaware River Basin. The map of the proposed MACH2 hub shows the hydrogen facilities overlapping with existing fossil fuel facilities. As part of the preparation for MACH2, some of these pipelines are being retrofitted for both hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation. Fossil fuel companies that have facilities around our region also are players in the MACH2 hydrogen hub, including Sunoco and Enbridge.
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Many methane pipelines from western counties to the Delaware River Valley are being retrofitted and modified to accommodate their carrying hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide (CO2). The clear intent is to produce hydrogen gas from fossil fuels and capture some of the CO2 byproduct, and pipe the CO2 back through communities to the gas fields to extract more fossil fuels. They may try to store some of that captured CO2 underground, which is currently not feasible at the scale required. If enough of that captured CO2 were to leak out, it could suffocate animal life in a wide area. The only reason our region has been chosen to build a hydrogen hub is to make use of the extensive fossil fuel infrastructure already available. Eventually, that infrastructure would have to be shut down and mothballed if we were to finally switch to renewables and end our reliance on fossil fuels. Using it for hydrogen production prolongs its profitability.
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The MACH2 hydrogen hub is still partly in the planning phase even as its proponents are seeking approvals, funds, and partners. One behind-the-scenes effort is to secure more end-users: convincing potential buyers of hydrogen gas to get on board, like SEPTA and the Philadelphia Eagles, who are already testing hydrogen gas use. Without enough buyers, the hydrogen hubs won’t have a long-term future. Other projects that are already underway are getting workers ready for the buildout for a big hydrogen infrastructure. Getting workers and their unions to buy into this project is key, as they are vital for selling it to the public, even though many of the workers will come from outside our region and will leave when the project is done.