authored by Nathaniel Horadam

This past December, the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) shared our vision for a regional clean hydrogen hub in Georgia, and illustrated the growing ecosystem of companies investing in Georgia's hydrogen industry. As states around the country have started assembling regional coalitions to compete for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, CTE has been working to ensure Georgia's world-class transportation and energy assets will play a central role in a Southeast hub proposal.

On April 29, CTE Executive Director Dan Raudebaugh participated in a hydrogen roundtable at the Georgia Institute of Technology with US Senator Jon Ossoff and other hydrogen stakeholders in Georgia to take stock of the state's strengths and potential, and the role they might play in this upcoming DOE program. CTE supported Senator Ossoff's staff in organizing the event and shaping its agenda, and shared our experience leading more than 35 hydrogen vehicle and infrastructure projects over the past two decades.

Many of these projects have included CTE member organizations in the room with us, including Plug Power and Hyundai. Other longtime CTE partners such as UPS, Georgia Power, MARTA, and the City of Atlanta also joined to share their interest and potential role in a regional hydrogen hub. Rarely do we have such a direct opportunity to simultaneously advance our home state's economic development objectives and support our membership. While CTE has been approached to support transportation aspects on multiple proposals, and will do so, we want to ensure Georgia cements its position at the forefront of this emerging and innovative industry.

We are thrilled to be working with Senator Ossoff and his staff, CTE members, and other critical stakeholders to advance Georgia's hydrogen industry, which has tremendous potential to reduce transportation emissions and create good-paying jobs for our local economy.