INSTITUTION PROFILE / HYDROGEN ENERGY
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
The federal department that funds hydrogen R&D and demonstrations, sets the national strategy and supplies the emissions model. The 45V tax credit belongs to the Treasury
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds hydrogen research, development and demonstration, compiles the national hydrogen strategy and technical targets, and supplies 45VH2-GREET, the model that calculates emissions from hydrogen production. The rules and administration of the 45V production tax credit, however, belong to the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). DOE does not set the credit. DOE reorganised in November 2025 and January 2026, and the unit that carries out hydrogen R&D moved from the old Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office to the Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO). This profile looks at one question only: how much influence DOE actually has over hydrogen energy. It contains no advice on handling hydrogen or on business decisions.
What this article covers
- The U.S. Department of Energy in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does for hydrogen energy
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- Who it works with
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. The U.S. Department of Energy in 30 seconds
FULL NAMEU.S. Department of Energy (DOE)The Secretary of Energy is Chris Wright (DOE announcement of 20 November 2025)
COUNTRY AND TYPEUnited States, federal departmentA Cabinet-level department. The hydrogen tax credit is handled by a different department, the Treasury
ESTABLISHED1977DOE's history page says it has existed since 1977; its lineage runs back to the wartime atomic programme
STAFFAbout 15,000, plus over 100,000 contractorsApproximate federal and contractor workforce in DOE's fiscal year 2025 Agency Financial Report. We could not find a figure for hydrogen staff
HYDROGEN R&D BUDGET$160 million in fiscal year 2026Sum of the budget lines of the former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (our calculation). The fiscal year 2027 request shows these lines as "-" (no funds)
ROLE IN HYDROGEN ENERGYR&D, strategy, demonstration grants, a calculation modelThe national hydrogen strategy, technical targets, the hydrogen hubs and 45VH2-GREET. It does not set tax amounts or regulation
TAX DIVISION OF LABOUR45V belongs to the Treasury and IRSDOE provides the emissions model, and the Treasury has adopted it
REACHThe U.S. federal budget, and firms claiming 45V in the U.S.It does not reach other countries' rules or taxes. It is a different system from the EU's definition of RFNBOs
The one thing to grasp first
U.S. hydrogen policy works through a division of labour: Congress sets laws and budgets, DOE carries out R&D, demonstrations and the calculation model, and the Treasury and IRS administer the tax credit Sourced. The Treasury and IRS published the final 45V regulation on 10 January 2025 (90 FR 2224), and the IRS asks claimants who use a provisional emissions rate to attach documentation from DOE giving an emissions value. DOE itself says the 45VH2-GREET model "has been adopted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury". And Public Law 119-21 of 4 July 2025 moved the construction-start deadline for eligible facilities from 1 January 2033 to 1 January 2028. So even if DOE's budget or policy shifts, the 45V requirements are set by the Treasury and Congress. DOE's hydrogen organisation was also reorganised in 2025 and 2026, and the fiscal year 2027 budget request carries no budget lines for the former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Not yet confirmed.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, none of the institutions that appear in hydrogen coverage produces hydrogen. What separates them is the route by which they influence the industry, and that gives four types. DOE is mainly the "Funding" type, and it enters the "Policy & regulation" type only through strategy, targets and a calculation model. Tax and regulation of hydrogen itself are not DOE's job.
3. What it does for hydrogen energy
DOE's involvement in hydrogen falls into three parts: R&D and strategy, grants for demonstrations, and a calculation model for the tax credit Sourced.
R&D and strategy: structure and targets
| Item | What the primary sources say | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Reorganisation | DOE announced a reorganisation on 20 November 2025. That month it set up the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI), which took over programmes from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and others; on 28 January 2026 CMEI was realigned into three pillars. Hydrogen and fuel cell R&D now sits with the Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO), which merges it with bioenergy (director: Valerie Sarisky-Reed). The older Hydrogen Program site (hydrogen.energy.gov) still describes the former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) inside EERE | Sourced |
| Research areas | AFFO's hydrogen and fuel cell areas are production, infrastructure (transport, storage, dispensing), fuel cells, systems integration and demonstration, and analysis, codes and standards. For fuel cells it names fuel-flexible designs for data centres and links with nuclear power. DOE says U.S. hydrogen production is about 10 million tonnes a year today, mostly for petroleum refining and ammonia | Sourced |
| National hydrogen strategy and roadmap | June 2023. Required by section 40314 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), and to be updated at least every three years. A Hydrogen Interagency Task Force of federal agencies (mandated by section 806 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005) coordinates delivery | Sourced |
| Technical targets (2024 Multi-Year Program Plan) | Hydrogen production cost of $2 per kilogram by 2026 and $1 per kilogram by 2031. Electrolyser system cost of $250 per kilowatt (low-temperature) and $500 per kilowatt (high-temperature) by 2026. Dispensed hydrogen for heavy-duty vehicles at $7 per kilogram by 2028. Fuel cell systems for heavy-duty transport at $80 per kilowatt by 2030. DOE's page describes this plan in the past tense and says a new AFFO plan is "coming soon" | Sourced Not yet confirmed |
| Hydrogen Shot | The goal announced by DOE in June 2021 of cutting clean hydrogen production cost to "$1 per 1 kilogram in 1 decade". It also appears in DOE's December 2024 water electrolysis assessment. The older programme site still links to it, but the linked page could not be found on 5 October 2026, and we could not confirm whether it is still treated as a current goal | Sourced |
| Research consortia | AFFO funds consortia led by national laboratories: H2NEW (water electrolysis), HydroGEN (water-splitting materials), ElectroCat (catalysts free of platinum group metals), H-Mat (hydrogen compatibility of metals and polymers), HyMARC (hydrogen storage materials), M2FCT (fuel cells), HyBlend (hydrogen blending in natural gas pipelines) and R2R (roll-to-roll manufacturing of hydrogen technologies) | Sourced |
| Safety, codes and standards | DOE works on practices and procedures for the safe handling of hydrogen, identifies gaps in standards development, helps create and adopt model building codes and equipment standards, and provides technical input to harmonise international standards. The standards themselves are written by standards bodies; DOE's role is support | Sourced |
| R&D budget | In DOE's fiscal year 2027 Congressional Justification, the former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office lines total $160 million as enacted for fiscal year 2026 (fuel cells $35.5 million, hydrogen technologies $74 million, systems development and integration $49 million, data, modelling and analysis $1.5 million). The fiscal year 2027 request shows these lines as "-". For AFFO as a whole, including bioenergy, enacted fiscal year 2026 funding is $405 million against a fiscal year 2027 request of $10 million | Sourced Not yet confirmed |
* The $160 million is the sum of four lines and is our calculation. The fiscal year 2027 figures are the President's budget request, not an appropriation passed by Congress, and we could not find out how the request ended up. Amounts are in U.S. dollars as published, with no conversion.
Demonstration grants: the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs)
| Item | What the primary sources say | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The programme | The hydrogen hub programme under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law totals up to $8 billion, of which up to $7 billion is for six to ten Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs. It was run by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), which was folded into CMEI in November 2025 | Sourced |
| Selection | DOE announced seven selections for award negotiations in October 2023. On 20 November 2024 it announced the Gulf Coast hub (HyVelocity, up to $1.2 billion) and the Midwest hub (MachH2, up to $1 billion), and that announcement says three hubs had been awarded earlier. On 17 January 2025 the last two, Heartland (up to $925 million) and Mid-Atlantic (up to $750 million), received first-phase funding. Awards are phased, and phase 1 covers planning, design and community engagement | Sourced |
| What has happened since | On 1 October 2025 DOE announced the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects. That announcement does not name individual projects. DOE's own hydrogen hub page still describes the programme as it was under the previous administration. We could not confirm the current status of each hub from DOE's published documents (press reports say some hubs were cut, but this article uses primary sources only and does not rely on them) | Not yet confirmed |
Tax credit division of labour: who decides what under 45V
| Item | Who does it | What the primary sources say | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creating the credit and its deadline | Congress | Created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Section 70511 of Public Law 119-21 (4 July 2025) changed the construction-start deadline for eligible facilities from 1 January 2033 to 1 January 2028. The credit has four tiers by carbon intensity, up to $3 per kilogram, for 10 years (DOE's description) | Sourced |
| Rules and administration | Treasury and IRS | The final regulation "Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen and Energy Credit" was published on 10 January 2025 (90 FR 2224). It covers how lifecycle emissions rates are determined, provisional emissions rate petitions, verification and electricity requirements. The credit is claimed on Form 7210 or Form 3468 | Sourced |
| Emissions calculation model | DOE (a hydrogen version of the GREET models first developed by Argonne National Laboratory) | 45VH2-GREET is designed to evaluate hydrogen production processes and has been adopted by the Treasury. An update on 22 May 2025 let producers enter their own facility's methane-loss data instead of national averages | Sourced |
| Provisional emissions rates | DOE issues the emissions documentation; the IRS receives the claim | A claimant who petitions for or uses a provisional emissions rate attaches a copy of the documentation from DOE giving an emissions value to the form | Sourced |
A materials engineer's view: DOE's funded research leans toward materials
The topics of AFFO's consortia read like a materials list: catalysts (ElectroCat, free of platinum group metals), water-splitting materials (HydroGEN), hydrogen storage materials (HyMARC), hydrogen compatibility of metals and polymers (H-Mat), materials compatibility for blending hydrogen into natural gas pipelines (HyBlend), and high-throughput manufacturing of membranes and electrodes (R2R) Sourced. For a materials supplier, a DOE consortium can serve as a shared evaluation platform. But with no hydrogen budget lines in the fiscal year 2027 request, how these activities continue depends on appropriations Not yet confirmed. For the technical background, see our explainers on PEM water electrolysis, alkaline water electrolysis, platinum group metals and catalysts, hydrogen pipelines and high-pressure hydrogen tanks.
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What DOE has | What it does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers: funding | The power to fund hydrogen R&D and demonstrations and to steer research through national laboratories and consortia, within the budget Congress provides | The power to set the budget itself (Congress decides). Even after an award is made, budget requests and policy changes can affect whether it continues |
| Powers: policy and targets | Drafting the national hydrogen strategy and technical targets, taking part in coordination among agencies, supplying 45VH2-GREET, and issuing emissions documentation for provisional rates | Setting the requirements or rules of the tax credit (the Treasury, IRS and Congress do that). Rules that ban or permit producing, moving or using hydrogen |
| Powers: standards and safety | Developing safe-handling practices, supporting standards bodies, and providing information (H2Tools) | The power to write private-sector standards or building codes themselves |
| Geography | The United States. Grants go mainly to U.S. firms and institutions, and 45VH2-GREET is used by businesses claiming 45V in the U.S. | Other countries' rules or taxes, or ship fuels (the domain of the International Maritime Organization) |
| Scale | About 15,000 federal employees and over 100,000 contractors across DOE. The hydrogen R&D budget lines total $160 million for fiscal year 2026 | We could not find the current hub budgets, hydrogen staff numbers or DOE's total hydrogen spending |
Reading the numbers: a presidential budget request is not an enacted budget
The statement that "no hydrogen budget lines are included" for fiscal year 2027 comes from the budget request that DOE sent to Congress. Congress decides appropriations, so the request may not become law Not yet confirmed. The same document also lists fiscal year 2025 enacted amounts, but because the reorganisation changed which programmes sit in which line, this article does not use them for year-on-year comparison. Some official DOE pages (the hydrogen hubs, Hydrogen Shot and the older programme site) still carry pre-reorganisation text, so the current position has to be checked against newer announcements and budget documents.
5. Who it works with
DOE sits between Congress, which sets laws and budgets, the Treasury and IRS, which administer the tax credit, and the national laboratories and consortia, which carry out research. The diagram below shows only institutional relationships that the primary sources document. This article does not cover the companies taking part in each hub or award.
| Body | Relationship to DOE (primary sources) |
|---|---|
| Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | Published the final 45V regulation and administer the claim forms. They have adopted 45VH2-GREET |
| Argonne National Laboratory | The laboratory that first developed the GREET model suite in 1994 (DOE's description). 45VH2-GREET is the hydrogen version |
| National laboratory consortia | H2NEW, HydroGEN, ElectroCat, H-Mat, HyMARC, M2FCT, HyBlend and R2R, supported with funds from AFFO |
| Hydrogen Interagency Task Force | A forum where federal agencies coordinate delivery of the national hydrogen strategy. Listed member agencies include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, the Interior, Labor and State |
| Hub lead organisations | Gulf Coast (HyVelocity), Midwest (MachH2), Heartland (led by the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center) and Mid-Atlantic (MACH2), among others. We could not confirm the current status of their awards |
Our technology explainers on hydrogen colours and carbon intensity, PEM water electrolysis, alkaline water electrolysis, the cost of producing hydrogen and hydrogen pipelines cover the technology and metrics behind DOE's targets and the 45V credit. Our company profiles cover firms, such as electrolyser makers, that are affected by U.S. policy.
6. Outlook
| What can be read from the sources | Primary evidence | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The fiscal year 2027 hydrogen R&D budget is zero in the President's request, but the enacted amount is set by Congress in appropriations law | DOE's Congressional Justification shows the four former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office lines as "-". We could not find how Congress decided | Not yet confirmed |
| AFFO's new Multi-Year Program Plan may revise the technical targets | DOE's page says a new plan is "coming soon". Whether the 2024 targets (such as $1 per kilogram by 2031) carry over is unclear | Not yet confirmed |
| 45V applies only to facilities whose construction begins before 1 January 2028 | Section 45V(c)(3)(C) as amended by section 70511 of Public Law 119-21 | Sourced |
| As the 45V construction-start deadline nears, investment decisions for U.S. hydrogen production may bunch up ahead of it | The deadline above (1 January 2028). We did not check any individual project's construction plans | Inference |
| What happens next to each hydrogen hub's award | DOE announced the termination of many awards on 1 October 2025, but we could not confirm from DOE's published documents how each hub was treated | Not yet confirmed |
| DOE's hydrogen activity may lean toward particular uses such as fuel cells for data centres, chemicals and fertiliser | The priorities AFFO's page lists (fuel-flexible fuel cells, fertiliser from hydrogen, chemicals), and the absence of hydrogen lines in the fiscal year 2027 request | Inference |
7. Glossary
- 45V
- Section 45V of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, the clean hydrogen production tax credit: four tiers by carbon intensity, up to $3 per kilogram, for 10 years. The Treasury and IRS write and administer the rules.
- 45VH2-GREET
- DOE's model for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from hydrogen production. A hydrogen version of Argonne National Laboratory's GREET models, adopted by the Treasury.
- Provisional emissions rate
- A provisional emissions value that a producer petitions for, for hydrogen whose rate has not yet been set. DOE documentation is attached to the IRS form.
- Fiscal year
- The U.S. federal fiscal year starts on 1 October. Fiscal year 2027 runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.
- Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP)
- A DOE office's plan setting out its goals and approach to R&D. For hydrogen and fuel cells the May 2024 edition is the latest, and a new one is in preparation.
- Hydrogen hub (H2Hub)
- A cluster of hydrogen producers, users and infrastructure in one region. A demonstration programme that DOE funds in phases.
- Public Law
- A law passed by Congress and signed by the President. "119-21" is the 21st law of the 119th Congress.
8. References
- DOE (Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office) Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (merger with the former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, research areas, director). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-office
- DOE Hydrogen (U.S. hydrogen production and demand). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/hydrogen
- DOE Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American Energy (20 November 2025; the Secretary's comment). https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-organizational-realignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash
- DOE (CMEI) Energy Department Announces Realignment of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Programs (28 January 2026). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/articles/energy-department-announces-realignment-critical-minerals-and-energy-innovation
- DOE FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (the November 2025 reorganisation and AFFO's budget lines). https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-2-cmei
- DOE (AFFO) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Multi-Year Program Plan (technical targets of the May 2024 edition; a new plan is "coming soon"). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-multi-year-program-plan
- DOE (AFFO) AFFO Consortia (hydrogen-related consortia). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/affo-consortia
- DOE (AFFO) Safety, Codes and Standards. https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/safety-codes-and-standards
- DOE (Hydrogen Program) Hydrogen Program (the programme site that still carries the former structure). https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/
- DOE (Hydrogen Program) U.S. National Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap (June 2023; section 40314 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; updates every three years). https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/library/roadmaps-vision/clean-hydrogen-strategy-roadmap
- DOE (Hydrogen Program) Hydrogen Interagency Task Force (section 806 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; member agencies). https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/interagency
- DOE Hydrogen Shot: Water Electrolysis Technology Assessment (December 2024; refers to the June 2021 announcement of the Hydrogen Shot). https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/hydrogen-shot-water-electrolysis-technology-assessment.pdf
- DOE Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (programme overview: up to $8 billion in total, up to $7 billion for the H2Hubs). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs-0
- DOE (OCED) Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs National Briefing (16 October 2023; seven projects selected). https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/H2Hubs_National_Briefing_0.pdf
- DOE Biden-Harris Administration Announces Awards for Up to $2.2 Billion for Two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (20 November 2024; Gulf Coast and Midwest). https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-awards-22-billion-two-regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs
- DOE (OCED) OCED Awards Final Two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (17 January 2025; Heartland and Mid-Atlantic). https://www.energy.gov/cmei/oced/articles/oced-awards-final-two-regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs-establish-critical-energy
- DOE Energy Department Announces Termination of 223 Projects, Saving Over $7.5 Billion (1 October 2025). https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-termination-223-projects-saving-over-75-billion
- DOE Energy Department Removes Barriers for American Energy Producers, Unleashing Investment in Domestic Hydrogen (22 May 2025; the 45VH2-GREET update and its adoption by the Treasury). https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/energy-department-removes-barriers-american-energy-producers-unleashing-investment
- DOE Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (45V) Resources (3 January 2025; up to $3 per kilogram, 10 years, four tiers). https://www.energy.gov/articles/clean-hydrogen-production-tax-credit-45v-resources
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Clean hydrogen production credit (claim forms and the attachment of DOE documentation). https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/clean-hydrogen-production-credit
- Treasury and IRS (Federal Register) Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen and Energy Credit (final regulation, 10 January 2025, 90 FR 2224). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/10/2024-31513/credit-for-production-of-clean-hydrogen-and-energy-credit
- U.S. Congress (Government Publishing Office) Public Law 119-21 (4 July 2025). Section 70511 replaces "January 1, 2033" with "January 1, 2028" in section 45V(c)(3)(C). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/html/PLAW-119publ21.htm
- DOE FY 2025 Agency Financial Report (about 15 thousand federal employees, over 100 thousand contractors, 17 national laboratories). https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-12/fy-2025-doe-agency-financial-report.pdf
- DOE History (existence since 1977). https://www.energy.gov/lm/history
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Secretary of Energy (Chris Wright) and the 20 November 2025 reorganisation | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-organizational-realignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash |
| The establishment of CMEI (November 2025), its realignment on 28 January 2026, and the structure of the budget request | Sourced | Reference 4 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/articles/energy-department-announces-realignment-critical-minerals-and-energy-innovation Reference 5 https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-2-cmei |
| Hydrogen and fuel cell R&D moving to AFFO, its research areas and director | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-office |
| U.S. hydrogen production of about 10 million tonnes a year and its main demand (refining, ammonia) | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/hydrogen |
| The former Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office lines: $160 million enacted for fiscal year 2026, no lines in the fiscal year 2027 request, and AFFO's $405 million versus $10 million | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-2-cmei |
| The 2024 Multi-Year Program Plan targets, and that a new plan is "coming soon" | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/hydrogen-and-fuel-cell-technologies-multi-year-program-plan |
| The Hydrogen Shot (announced June 2021) | Sourced | Reference 12 https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/hydrogen-shot-water-electrolysis-technology-assessment.pdf |
| The national hydrogen strategy and roadmap (June 2023), updates every three years, section 40314 | Sourced | Reference 10 https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/library/roadmaps-vision/clean-hydrogen-strategy-roadmap |
| The Hydrogen Interagency Task Force basis (Energy Policy Act of 2005, section 806) and member agencies | Sourced | Reference 11 https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/interagency |
| The consortia: H2NEW, HydroGEN, ElectroCat, H-Mat, HyMARC, M2FCT, HyBlend and R2R | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/affo-consortia |
| DOE's safety, codes and standards work | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/safety-codes-and-standards |
| The older programme site still carrying the former structure | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/ |
| The hub programme (up to $8 billion in total, up to $7 billion for the H2Hubs) | Sourced | Reference 13 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs-0 |
| Seven projects selected in October 2023 | Sourced | Reference 14 https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/H2Hubs_National_Briefing_0.pdf |
| The 20 November 2024 awards to the Gulf Coast and Midwest hubs, and that three hubs had been awarded earlier | Sourced | Reference 15 https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-awards-22-billion-two-regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs |
| The 17 January 2025 first-phase awards to the Heartland and Mid-Atlantic hubs | Sourced | Reference 16 https://www.energy.gov/cmei/oced/articles/oced-awards-final-two-regional-clean-hydrogen-hubs-establish-critical-energy |
| The 1 October 2025 announcement terminating 321 awards (223 projects), with no project names | Sourced | Reference 17 https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-termination-223-projects-saving-over-75-billion |
| The 22 May 2025 update to 45VH2-GREET, its adoption by the Treasury, and its origin at Argonne National Laboratory | Sourced | Reference 18 https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/energy-department-removes-barriers-american-energy-producers-unleashing-investment |
| The 45V credit: up to $3 per kilogram, 10 years, four tiers | Sourced | Reference 19 https://www.energy.gov/articles/clean-hydrogen-production-tax-credit-45v-resources |
| Attaching DOE documentation for provisional emissions rates; the claim forms | Sourced | Reference 20 https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/clean-hydrogen-production-credit |
| The Treasury and IRS final regulation (10 January 2025, 90 FR 2224) | Sourced | Reference 21 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/10/2024-31513/credit-for-production-of-clean-hydrogen-and-energy-credit |
| The change of the 45V construction-start deadline from 1 January 2033 to 1 January 2028 (Public Law 119-21, section 70511) | Sourced | Reference 22 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/html/PLAW-119publ21.htm |
| About 15,000 federal employees and over 100,000 contractors | Sourced | Reference 23 https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-12/fy-2025-doe-agency-financial-report.pdf |
| Existence since 1977 | Sourced | Reference 24 https://www.energy.gov/lm/history |
| The four types of institution and the arrangement of Fig. 2 | Our calculation | Our own classification |
| The $160 million total of four budget lines | Our calculation | Our own sum of the four lines in reference 5 (35,500 + 74,000 + 49,000 + 1,500, in thousands of dollars) |
| What happened to the fiscal year 2027 hydrogen budget | Not yet confirmed | Reference 5 is the President's budget request. We could not find the outcome in Congress, and this article does not guess |
| The current status of each hydrogen hub, hydrogen staff numbers and total hydrogen spending | Not yet confirmed | Not found in DOE's published documents. This article does not use press reports |
| Whether the Hydrogen Shot is still treated as a current goal | Not yet confirmed | The linked page could not be found and AFFO's new plan is not yet published; this article does not guess |
| The two points marked as inference in section 6, and the inference in the materials engineer's view | Inference | This article's reading of references 1, 5, 6 and 22 |
Last updated 5 October 2026 / Troy Technical
Figures and dates come from the official pages and documents of DOE, the Treasury and IRS, and the U.S. Congress (Government Publishing Office). Items marked "Inference" are this article's reading of the primary information. This is an explanation of policy, not advice on any business or on handling hydrogen.