The long-delayed rules around the federal government’s Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (PTC), also known as 45V, have been the subject of heated debate (and lobbying) since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022. While some industry groups argued for looser guidelines around the PTC that would allow the low-carbon hydrogen industry to grow quickly, others called for a stricter set of rules from the start, arguing that an approach that was too lax would lead to an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at how those newly published rules rely on the so-called “three pillars” of clean hydrogen, how they prioritize production of green hydrogen at the expense of its blue and pink varieties, and explain the rules around temporal matching and why it might be hard to hit the administration’s 2028 target date for implementation.
RBN’s U.S. Gulf Coast Hydrogen Infrastructure Map lays out the pipelines and merchant hydrogen plants that make up the gulf coast market, providing an unprecedented snapshot of the region’s hydrogen infrastructure network.
The guidelines around the PTC were widely expected to be announced by August 2023, but as summer turned into fall, and fall into winter, it was clear that the debates over 45V were continuing inside the Biden administration. The rules were finally rolled out on December 22. (They closely followed a leaked draft of the guidelines, which we discussed in the December 6 edition of our Hydrogen Billboard report.) Publication of the proposed rulemaking began a 60-day comment period. The industry now has until February 26 to comment on this set of proposed rules before the issuance of a “final” rule which may not come out until several weeks later.
The implementation of those rules is important, as the Biden administration has made clean hydrogen a major element in its decarbonization plans, with the federal government’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) initiative intended to accelerate the process. As we noted in The Contenders, the Department of Energy (DOE) opened up $7 billion in funding in September 2022 for the development of several regional hubs. After sifting through dozens of concept papers and months of deliberation, the DOE in October 2023 picked seven hub projects intended to help meet the Biden administration’s targets of producing 10 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of clean hydrogen by 2030, 20 MMtpa by 2040, and 50 MMtpa by 2050.
Figure 1. Breakdown of 45 V Tax Credit. Source: Treasury Department
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About the song
“Gimme Three Steps” was written by Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins and appears as the third cut on side one of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album, Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd. The song was written about an incident that happened to singer Ronnie Van Zant at a bar in Jacksonville, FL, called The Pastime. Ironically, “Gimme Three Steps” failed to chart when it was released as a single in November 1973; it has since become one of the band's most popular songs. On a side note, mega-selling Los Angeles band Poison played this song regularly as a part of their set in LA clubs before being signed to their first record deal. Personnel on the record were: Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (lead guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Ed King (bass), Billy Powell (keyboards), and Bob Burns (drums).
Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd was recorded between March and May of 1973 at Studio One in Doraville, GA, with Al Kooper producing. Most of the songs on the album had been played and tested live for some time and were rehearsed to perfection at the band’s rehearsal space: Hell House, a non-air-conditioned cabin with a tin roof outside of Jacksonville, FL. They liked the spot because they could play loudly at all hours with no neighbors or police within earshot. Hell House has since burned to the ground and the land on which it sat is now a gated residential subdivision with street names that pay homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd song titles. The album was released in August 1973 and went to #27 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It has been certified 2X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Two singles were released from the LP.
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville. The band’s roots go back to 1964, performing under a variety of names, with different personnel, before deciding on the moniker Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. The name came from Leonard Skinner, a high school gym coach in Jacksonville who hated rock and roll and long-haired guys who played it. They have released 14 studio albums, 14 live albums, 23 compilation albums and 30 singles. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. More than two dozen band members have passed through their ranks since their formation. The last original member, Gary Rossington, passed away in March 2023 at the age of 71. Rossington hand-picked Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, Black Star Riders) to be his replacement. Cane, along with Johnny Van Zant, Rickey Medlocke, Michael Cartellone, Mark Matejka, Peter Keys and Keith Christopher, continue to record and tour as Lynyrd Skynyrd. After touring the U.S. on the mega-successful Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with ZZ Top, the band began their Celebrating 50 Years of Lynyrd Skynyrd Tour in December 2023. The tour resumes in March 2025.
