The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) includes a Canton, OH location, per Shawn Bennett, energy and resilience division manager at Battelle. The Columbus-based Battelle is leading the Appalachian hydrogen hub, which is referred to as ARCH2 and consists of sites across Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The hub received $30 million in July 2024 for the first phase of their work. The Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) and Enbridge Gas Ohio want to use the electrolysis process to produce hydrogen fuel for SARTA buses on or near the 1600 Gateway Blvd. SE facility.
SARTA's hydrogen fuel cell buses currently are fueled by what is known as gray hydrogen, with no capture of the carbon created during its production in Canada. Electrolysis uses electricity and water to produce hydrogen without emitting carbon and would remove the associated transportation emissions. Hydrogen is a cleaner option than fossil fuels.
The project would include on-site storage and connective infrastructure to refuel SARTA's bus fleet, according to ARCH2 documents.
The Ohio ARCH2 was led by Kirt Conrad, CEO of SARTA and a founding member of OH2. He has successfully been operating a hydrogen fuel cell fleet of 16 buses in the Stark area for the past five years.
The OH2 / ARCH2 effort was supported by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Steve Stivers, President of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO of JobsOhio, and Pat Tiberi, President and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has $1.2 trillion in the bill and has portioned an $8 billion investment in hydrogen hub funding through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
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