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Regional Assessment of Hydrogen Production and Use in the Intermountain West United States

Author

Listed:
  • Prashant Sharan

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Lucky E. Yerimah

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Manvendra Dubey

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Harshul Thakkar

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Mohamed Mehana

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Troy Semelsberger

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Michael Heidlage

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Rajinder Singh

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bikini Atoll Road, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

Abstract

Given the large natural gas (NG) reserves of the Intermountain West (I-WEST) region in the USA, it can emerge as a leader in hydrogen (H 2 ) production. Currently, H 2 production via steam methane reforming (SMR) of NG releases carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and the natural gas infrastructure has fugitive NG and H 2 losses during production, conversion and transportation. Integrated carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a promising approach for producing hydrogen and CO 2 from the SMR process for industrial uses including power, chemicals and fuels. However, the NG losses and regional water availability can be limiting factors for H 2 production. H 2 production assessments are often made at the global scale and neglect regional factors such as abundant gas and limited water in the I-WEST. We demonstrate that a regional SMR process unit sitting near NG wells offers opportunities to significantly reduce fugitive NG losses. We show that regional H 2 production by SMR has a lower emissions profile than widespread natural gas combustion in the I-WEST and reduces the H 2 production cost as well. Replacing the I-WEST transportation sector with H 2 fuel cell vehicles and using 100% H 2 -powered electricity can provide substantial reductions in water consumption and fuel costs. This is better than blending H 2 with NG which is more expensive. The captured CO 2 can be effectively used for enhanced oil recovery in I-WEST. Finally, the potential of utilizing produced, brackish and treated impaired water sources is assessed to meet the water needs for H 2 production in the I-WEST.

Suggested Citation

  • Prashant Sharan & Lucky E. Yerimah & Manvendra Dubey & Harshul Thakkar & Mohamed Mehana & Troy Semelsberger & Michael Heidlage & Rajinder Singh, 2026. "Regional Assessment of Hydrogen Production and Use in the Intermountain West United States," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-30, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jcltec:v:8:y:2026:i:3:p:77-:d:1945727
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