SGH2 Energy Global Corporation’s carbon-negative H₂ production facility recently cleared its final hurdle when the City of Lancaster Planning Commission approved the company’s use permit (CUP) and environmental impact statement (CEQA). This approval greenlights the full investment decision and engineering, procurement and construction phase of the project.

“This is a major milestone for SGH2, the City of Lancaster and the world,” said SGH2 CEO, Dr. Robert T. Do. “Not only are we producing more H₂ with a larger negative carbon footprint than other proposed green H₂ projects, but we have now cleared a steep hurdle that no other large-scale green H₂ company has achieved.”

“Our facility has a low environmental footprint with minimal polluting emissions or effluents and meets all California’s strict state and local environmental and safety standards. All the carbon-negative clean H₂ we produce has long-term off-take agreements and will supply H₂ refueling stations in the Los Angeles metropolitan areas while simultaneously supporting the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) and the Air Resources Board’s goal of decarbonizing our heavy mobility footprint,” Do said.

“Lancaster is proud to be home to this ground-breaking project,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris. “SGH2 is a proven innovator in green H₂ technology and now has the green light to begin engineering and construction. We are excited to see this cutting-edge project break ground in the U.S.’s first H₂ city.”

The plant will feature SGH2’s pioneering Solena Plasma Enhanced Gasification technology, which converts rejected recycled mixed-paper waste to clean H₂ that is carbon negative. This conversion process reduces carbon emissions by two-to-three times more than green H₂ produced using electrolysis and renewable energy.

SGH2’s clean H₂ will be cheaper than H₂ produced from natural gas, which comprises the majority of H₂ used in the world. The SGH2 Lancaster plant will produce up to 12,000 kg/d of clean H₂, and 4.5-MM kg/y from the conversion of 42,000 tpy of rejected recycled mixed-paper waste. The H₂ produced at the Lancaster facility will be capable of fueling more than 2,000 fuel cell electric cars or 350 fuel cell buses or trucks per day.

With the CEQA and CUP approvals in hand, the SGH2 Lancaster plant will be eligible to receive its $3-MM grant awarded by the CEC to support H₂ mobility in the state. SGH2’s H₂ also meets the requirements in Section 45V of the Inflation Reduction Act clean H₂ production tax credit, which provides up to $3/kg of renewable H₂.

SGH2 Energy Global Corporation is part of the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), California’s public-private effort to create a sustainable statewide clean H₂ hub. Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a funding opportunity announcement, making $8 B in funding available for 6-10 H₂ hub proposals. ARCHES received an official encouragement from the DOE to submit a full application, which is due on April 7, 2023.