Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop and adopt hydrogen fuel regulations to ensure that state funding for the production and use of hydrogen fuel contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, criteria air pollutant emissions, and toxic air contaminant emissions, including by requiring that, on a statewide basis, no less than 33.3% of the hydrogen produced for, or dispensed by, fueling stations that receive state funds be made from eligible renewable energy resources.
This bill would require, on and after January 1, 2045, that all hydrogen produced and used in California for the generation of electricity or fueling of vehicles be green hydrogen, as defined, in furtherance of the state’s policy to achieve net zero GHG emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045.
The California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to establish an RPS requiring all retail sellers to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources so that the total kilowatt-hours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieves 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, 33% by December 31, 2020, 44% by December 31, 2024, 52% by December 31, 2027, and 60% by December 31, 2030.
This bill would prohibit green hydrogen used by a generating facility from qualifying as an eligible renewable energy resource for purposes of that requirement unless it satisfies all applicable requirements established by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and meets specified requirements. For all electricity generated using green hydrogen that is credited toward the RPS procurement obligations, the bill would require that sufficient renewable and environmental green attributes, as defined, of green hydrogen production and capture be transferred to the retail seller or local publicly owned electric utility that uses that green hydrogen to ensure that there are zero net emissions associated with the production of electricity from the generating facility using the green hydrogen. The bill would require all sellers and purchasers of green hydrogen to comply with a system for tracking and verifying the use of green hydrogen established by the CEC.
Full bill text and related information.
