Dan Esposito
@danespo14.bsky.social
530 followers 250 following 23 posts
Manager, Fuels & Chemicals Program, @energyinnovation.org | Focus: smart policy design for hydrogen, carbon capture, biomass, and e-fuels | Opinions my own | Denver 🏔️
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danespo14.bsky.social
🚨NEW: We published a paper titled Hydrogen Policy's Narrow Path: Delusions & Solutions. It's dense with information but organized for readability, including a series of standalone 2-page overviews covering 12 potential hydrogen end uses.
energyinnovation.org/publication/...
A graphic titled "Hydrogen's competitive prospects for decarbonization by end-use sector." It arranges a series of potential hydrogen end uses by prospect score. "Excellent" includes refining and ammonia. "Good" includes primary steel, aviation (long-haul), marine shipping (long-haul), and petrochemicals. "Uncertain" includes seasonal electricity storage and aviation (short-haul). "Poor" includes heavy-duty vehicles, industrial process heat, and marine shipping (short-haul). "Terrible" includes day-to-day power generation, light-duty vehicles, and buildings.
danespo14.bsky.social
How do we allow (not to mention fund & suppress criticism of) such slaughter--and similar atrocities over the last 20 months and beyond? We all need to speak out more--to save innocent lives and stop the theft of our souls. From Omar El Akkad in "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This"
There is an impulse in moments like this to appeal to self-interest. To say: These horrors you are allowing to happen, they will come to your doorstep one day; to repeat the famous phrase about who they came for first and who they'll come for next. But this appeal cannot, in matter of fact, work. If the people well served by a system that condones such butchery ever truly believed the same butchery could one day be inflicted on them, they'd tear the system down tomorrow. And anyway, by the time such a thing happens, the rest of us will already be dead.
No, there is no terrible thing coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing is happening to you *now*. You are being asked to kill off a part of you that would otherwise scream in opposition to injustice. You are being asked to dismantle the machinery of a functioning conscience. Who cares if diplomatic expediency prefers you shrug away the sight of dismembered children? Who cares if great distance from the bloodstained middle allows obliviousness. Forget pity, forget even the dead if you must, but at least fight against the theft of your soul.
--From "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" by Omar El Akkad
Reposted by Dan Esposito
sarabaldwin.bsky.social
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is actually One Big Expensive Bill that, if passed as is, will do major damage to the U.S. economy, harm workers and families, and put the U.S. in the backseat when it comes to global competitiveness. The team at @energyinnovation.org modeled it, here's what we found:
Reposted by Dan Esposito
waiterich.bsky.social
New research from my colleagues out today looking at the environmental and social impacts of food crop-based biofuels in the US, where we now use >30% of the corn supply and >40% of the soybean oil supply (on tens of millions of acres of prime cropland) to produce only ~6% of US transport fuel. 🧪
Increased Biofuel Production in the US Midwest May Harm Farmers and the Climate
The expansion of biofuel production as an alternative fuel source not only raises questions about sustainability, but about economic inequities among Midwestern small farmers.
www.wri.org
danespo14.bsky.social
I wrote about why we started our new Fuels & Chemicals program--encompassing hydrogen, biofuels, carbon capture, and their derivatives--at @energyinnovation.org, and why the timing felt right to do so. Check out the full Substack post:

thepowerline.substack.com/p/clean-fuel...
“Clean” Fuels Policy is a Mess. It’s Time to Get Things on Track.
Our new Fuels & Chemicals program will align hydrogen, biofuels, and carbon capture policy with climate realities
thepowerline.substack.com
danespo14.bsky.social
It also stresses that regulators can make smarter decisions on these issues by widening their aperture of awareness to consider -- and coordinate with other agencies and authorities on -- other issues affecting hydrogen's growth that may fall outside of their direct decision-making power.
danespo14.bsky.social
The roadmap pulls together insights from a collaborative process involving two global workshops and hundreds of comments from energy regulators from around the world. It identifies, organizes, and offers question and priority sets for key issue areas that fall within energy regulators' purview.
This map highlights 28 countries around the world from which we had energy regulator participants in our workshops. These countries include Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czechia, Dominica, Estonia, France, Germany, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Peru, Portugal, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay.
danespo14.bsky.social
The hydrogen hype cycle has confused the industry's growth trajectory--with implications for electric and gas utilities. @oboylemm.bsky.social and I worked with the Regulatory Energy Transition Accelerator on a new @energyinnovation.org hydrogen regulation paper:
energyinnovation.org/report/regul...
A graphic titled "Hydrogen Regulatory Overview." It includes two concentric circles. The inner circle is orange with the sub-title "issues in energy regulators' purview." It includes four bubbles labeled "electricity systems," "natural gas systems," "hydrogen infrastructure," and "pipeline and appliance safety," each with illustrative icons. The outer circle is blue with the sub-title "other issues affecting hydrogen's growth." It includes four bubbles labeled "government policy goals," "emissions accounting schemes," "local air pollution," and "water consumption," again with each having its own illustrative icon. An Energy Innovation watermark logo is included in the bottom-left corner.
Reposted by Dan Esposito
Reposted by Dan Esposito
sarabaldwin.bsky.social
Happy Earth Day!! 🌍 Consider how remarkable this planet is. Among all the planets, we live on this one. This is our home. Our beautiful, brilliant orb and all its life forms are worth protecting, preserving, conserving, regenerating, restoring, and replenishing. www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/happy-e...
Happy Earth Day from NOAA Satellites
NOAA satellites have been monitoring Earth’s weather and environment since 1970, which also happened to be the year the first official Earth Day took place!
www.nesdis.noaa.gov
Reposted by Dan Esposito
brendan.bsky.social
🚨 The largest federal program helping low income households pay their energy bills no longer has any staff.
Reposted by Dan Esposito
janrosenow.bsky.social
📣 BREAKING: The UK Climate Change Committee now says there’s no role for hydrogen in building heating.

That’s study #61 on my list showing little to no role for hydrogen in heating—up from 54 in my meta-review from Dec 2023: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Dan Esposito
jeffrissman.bsky.social
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Technology Innovation Advisory Committee (ITIAC) released our first report containing recommendations on how DOE can accelerate a transition to clean, competitive U.S. #manufacturing. Check it out at: www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...
www.energy.gov
danespo14.bsky.social
Want a deeper dive into what made it into the final 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit rules? In a new blog, we share six insights on the electrolytic hydrogen side, covering pros/cons for emissions integrity, investment risk, and industry viability:

energyinnovation.org/expert-voice...
What To Know About Final 45V Tax Credit Rules For Electrolytic Hydrogen: A Win For Consumers, Industry, And Climate • Energy Innovation
Treasury's final ruling on 45V tax credits for hydrogen provides a compromise for all sides and creates green guidelines.
energyinnovation.org
danespo14.bsky.social
NEW: The U.S. Treasury's final 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit rules are out. In my new @latitudemedia.bsky.social op-ed, I argue these rules are a remarkable compromise that can spur a domestic clean hydrogen industry--but stakeholders must unite:

www.latitudemedia.com/news/clean-h...
Clean hydrogen rules can catalyze growth — if industry unites behind them
The final 45V rules provide much-needed business certainty. Seeking late changes would only bring uncertainty and years of delay.
www.latitudemedia.com
Reposted by Dan Esposito
emilypont.bsky.social
It's the moment you've been waiting for... a new 2,000 words (ok its a bit more) from me on the 45V hydrogen tax credit. Except this time we have final rules!
"3 Pillars" are still in...sort of. Path for existing nuclear, w/ 200 mw cap per reactor. More details inside ⤵️ heatmap.news/climate/fina...
There’s Something for (Almost) Everyone in the Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules
The Biden administration is hoping they’ll be a starting gun for the industry. The industry may or may not be fully satisfied.
heatmap.news
Reposted by Dan Esposito
energyinnovation.org
🤔Curious about what our Reports #Wrapped2024 looks like?
energyinnovation.org/research-res...
Reposted by Dan Esposito
energyinnovation.org
New to @bsky.app and want to follow our experts? Here's a starter pack
go.bsky.app/8E1BeV5
danespo14.bsky.social
The paper includes two sets of policy recommendations: tools to boost hydrogen's uptake in high-value uses, and measures to minimize risks of H2's low-value uses. This thread is too long already, so I'll cover these another time. For now, read them here:
energyinnovation.org/publication/...
Hydrogen Policy's Narrow Path: Delusions And Solutions - Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology
Hydrogen policy that isn't carefully designed can reverse, delay, or raise emission reduction costs while failing environmental justice goals, potentially dooming the hydrogen industry.
energyinnovation.org
danespo14.bsky.social
Key Finding 6: Hydrogen's uptake in high-value uses will require targeted demand-side policies. Supply-side subsidies alone will not ensure this outcome (and may make better alternatives for low-value uses look worse). Policymakers need to intervene.
danespo14.bsky.social
Key Finding 5: In the U.S., hydrogen's market potential for high-value uses exceeds clean H2 production goals--so any H2 flowing to low-value uses cuts into decarbonizing high-value sectors on the needed timeline. (Efficiency, biofuels can help cut H2 demand in high-value uses.)
danespo14.bsky.social
Key Finding 4 (cont.): This figure shows using clean electricity to displace fossil fuel power almost always does more to reduce GHGs than using it to electrolyze H2 for use in any downstream application. H2 is important, but it must not reverse progress on cleaning the grid.
danespo14.bsky.social
Key Finding 4 (cont.): This figure shows the net climate pollution impact from hydrogen production and use. Blue bars = GHGs avoided from H2 use. Turquoise dashed line = GHGs emitted from electrolytic H2 production that fails to meet certain guardrails (the "three pillars").