We advocate for harnessing renewable electricity to produce climate-neutral fuels. The Renewable Hydrogen Alliance’s mission is to promote using renewable energy to produce hydrogen and other climate neutral fuels to replace fossil fuel consumption.
As more and more renewable energy sources like wind, solar, tidal and geothermal power are used to produce electricity in the Northwest region, operating the electricity system becomes more challenging. This is because renewable energy is unpredictable and isn’t always available when you need it, or, there is more renewable energy available than needed (like lots of wind in the middle of the night when most people are asleep and not using a lot of electricity). This valuable, zero carbon power essentially gets wasted and as we add more low-cost renewable energy to the power grid, there will be more “wasted” or curtailed power. The effects are already being felt in Europe where “electrolyzer” technologies are already soaking up the surplus renewable energy to produce hydrogen and other non-fossil fuels. Economies of scale realized from these deployments are causing electrolyzer costs to fall precipitously. As the availability of low-value surplus energy goes up and electrolyzer costs go down, using electricity to extract hydrogen will become cost competitive with fossil-based hydrogen.
In order to use this excess renewable energy more efficiently and maintain its economic value, it can be used to extract hydrogen (and oxygen) from water in a relatively simple process called electrolysis, a technology that was discovered over 200 years ago.
The legislative victory that set the NW on its path to a renewable hydrogen economy. WA Governor Inslee signing SB 5588 authorizing public utility districts to manufacture and sell renewable hydrogen. Founder and former RHA Executive Director Ken Dragoon looking on at right in front row, April 17, 2019.
RHA is a non-profit, 501(c)(6) policy advocacy trade association with an ambitious scope that relies on members’ continued support. RHA leadership works closely with our volunteer Board of Directors to guide and facilitate the organization’s growth and sustainability.
We have several committees where members can share and increase their knowledge in areas of interest, meet and connect with other industry leaders, inform and direct RHA’s advocacy efforts, and increase and effectively demonstrate the value of membership to employers and to share knowledge.
The RHA Technical Committee explores engineering and technological opportunities and challenges relating to producing, storing, transporting, and utilizing climate-neutral fuels to replace fossil fuel use. Topics covered include hydrogen blending, pipeline materials and R&D, electrolyzer technology, compression technology, and fuel cell advancements.
The RHA Policy Committee explores policy and regulatory challenges and changes needed related to advancing and growing the renewable hydrogen economy. Its Washington and Oregon subcommittees establish and pursue RHA’s legislative agendas in those legislatures with member input. RHA has established six policy principles that guide our engagement in policy and regulatory activities on behalf of our members:
The RHA Commercial Development Committee explores opportunities, contractual issues and business practices that are necessary for wide-scale deployment of renewable hydrogen production, distribution and end-use. Topics covered include offshore wind and hydrogen development, electrolyzer installations, hydrogen production and fueling station projects, and fuel cell vehicle deployments.
