July 11, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

New Hydrogen Fuel Plan Still Tilts Toward Huge Corporations:

Just a few months after pulling back about $12 million in grants to help build fueling stations for the new generation of hydrogen fuel cell cars due to debut by 2017, the California Energy Commission is back with a new grant-issuing proposal that still appears to favor huge international corporations over smaller companies and a modicum of pollution over completely clean air.

There is even the possibility that grants under the new plan could wind up going mostly to the same two multi-billion-dollar companies that had been due to receive last spring’s grants.

Those awards were rescinded last spring after this column exposed how executives of one set of billion-dollar corporations steered the state money toward cronies in other giant companies. Both the old grants and the ones to come involve vehicle license tax money earmarked to help make driving the new, totally non-polluting H2-fueled cars practical when they hit showrooms and roads.

Grants to be awarded before next June 30 could total more than $29 million, a combination of funds coming in during the fiscal year that started July 1 and the money not used last spring.

The problem with the cancelled grants was that the Energy Commission required approval from at least one of the eight automakers that will build H2 cars before any station could be approved for a grant. This was also how tens of millions in previous grants were made under ex-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The two companies that at first won all those grants – German-based Linde Group and Pennsylvania-based Air Products & Chemicals Co. – are members of the semi-private California Fuel Cell Partnership, along with all eight car companies. Those include Toyota, Honda, Nissan, GM, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

With corporate executives from all these firms and commission staffers attending the same meetings and seminars several times yearly, the cronyism and collusion was obvious. The Energy Commission and all companies involved denied there was any, but service station locations proposed by companies other than Linde or Air Products could not get car company approvals for the grants, which in some cases will pay more than half the cost of adding hydrogen pumps to existing gas stations.

The tentative new proposal cuts carmakers out of the process, allowing Energy Commission staff alone to evaluate which station locations are most likely to encourage H2 car sales. It also lists 12 areas around the state as preferred locations, all places that posted significant sales of very early model gas-electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic.

Those two changes make the new Energy Commission plan far cleaner than the old one scrapped last spring.

“The intent is to fund the best…stations in each of the identified areas,” the commission said in a statement.

But there are still potential problems. The new proposal commits just 10 percent of grant money to refueling stations that would produce hydrogen by electrolysis, and be powered by totally renewable sources like wind, geothermal or solar energy.

Hydrogen made this way on site would not have to be trucked to stations like compressed H2 produced using natural gas. Although natural gas emits far fewer greenhouse gases than oil or gasoline, it’s still dirty compared to wind energy and other pure renewables.

So this plan lets the Energy Commission claim it is promoting pollution-free fuel while still giving H2 produced with polluting fossil fuels a large role. Setting aside more of the grant money for hydrogen produced purely from renewables could fix this problem.

The new plan also sets just a 50 kilogram per day minimum for sales by stations the grants might fund. If on-site electrolysis systems produce that little hydrogen, chances are the stations will often run out and have to get supplies shipped in by industrial gas providers. Read: Linde and Air Products.

The new plan also calls for separate 50-page grant applications for each new station considered. That creates a lot of duplicate paperwork for companies aiming to set up multiple stations with identical equipment and business plans. It favors big companies with large staffs over small outfits that hope to grow through supplying the new fuel.

Then there’s the matter of who evaluates applications for the tens of millions of state tax dollars. The commission says only that its staff will do that, but this would be the same staff which wrote the old, cronyistic plan and still hobnobs with car and industrial gas company bigshots at Fuel Cell Partnership functions.

This one could be fixed by putting into the evaluation process a technical committee of academic experts not tied to any company seeking grants.

The bottom line: The new plan is a big improvement over the old one, but unless it is tweaked some more before anyone starts applying for grants, it could end up favoring the same big companies as the old, discredited system.

in Opinion
<>Related Posts

SM.a.r.t.Column: Happy Fourth of July 

July 2, 2025

July 2, 2025

SMart (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) hopes you are enjoying a great 3-day weekend as part of your...

SM.a.r.t Column: Cities That Never Shut Up – The Roaring Cost of Urban Noise

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

In today’s cities, silence isn’t golden—it’s extinct. From sunrise to insomnia, we’re trapped in a nonstop symphony of shrieking car...

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica Needs to See the Light

June 19, 2025

June 19, 2025

How Santa Monica’s Growing Light Pollution Is Eroding Human Health, Safety, and Sanity There was a time when our coastal...

SM.a.r.t Column: California’s Transit Death Spiral: How Housing Mandates Are Backfiring

June 15, 2025

June 15, 2025

California’s ambitious housing mandates were supposed to solve the affordability crisis. Instead, they’re creating a vicious cycle that’s killing public...

SM.a.r.t. Column: A City Dying by a Thousand Cuts

June 5, 2025

June 5, 2025

Santa Monica, once celebrated for its blend of coastal charm and progressive ideals, is slowly bleeding out — not from...

SM.a.r.t Column: Oops!! What Happened? And What Are You Going to Do About It?

May 29, 2025

May 29, 2025

Our Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow (SMa.r.t) articles have, over the past 12 years, collectively presented a critical...

SM.a.r.t Column: Why Santa Monica Might Need a Desalination Plant, and Maybe Even Nuclear Power

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Santa Monica is known for its ocean views, sunny skies, and strong environmental values. But there’s a challenge on the...

SM.a.r.t Column: SMO (So Many Options) Part 3: “Pie in the Sky”

May 17, 2025

May 17, 2025

SMO: Fantasy, Fact, and the Fog of Wishful ThinkingBy someone who read the fine print Every few months, a headline...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Owner Occupancy Protects Against Corporate Over-Development

May 2, 2025

May 2, 2025

This week SMa.r.t. will have as guest columnist Mark Borenstein. Mark is a long-time Santa Monica resident, a retired attorney,...

Opinion: Declaration of Economic State of Emergency in Malibu & Pacific Palisades: A Direct Result of the Devastating Impact of the Palisades Fire

April 27, 2025

April 27, 2025

Malibu and Pacific Palisades Request Emergency Financial Measures By Ramis Sadrieh, Chairperson, Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce    On behalf...

SM.a.r.t Column: The World’s Happiest Cities

April 27, 2025

April 27, 2025

Almost every year, we see new cities, regions, and countries that make the list(s) of our planet’s happiest and healthiest...

SM.a.r.t Column: A City for Everyone

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

Santa Monica dazzles with its ocean views, sunshine, and laid-back charm. But beyond the postcard image lies a more complicated...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part II: Rebuilding Resilient Communities: Policy and Planning After the Fires

April 13, 2025

April 13, 2025

The January 2025 wildfires that devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena left an indelible mark on Los Angeles County. Beyond the...

SM.a.r.t Column: Innovative Materials for Fire-Resistant Rebuilding After the LA Fires

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

In the aftermath of the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, homeowners face the daunting task of rebuilding their lives and...

Opinion: Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath Community Column Regarding a More Accountable Homeless Services System

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025

By Lindsay Horvath, Los Angeles Board of Supervisors This week marks a significant milestone in our fight to end homelessness...