One of the most enduring challenges of transportation and logistics is the question of emissions. As climate change accelerates, so does the movement towards finding clean fuel sources.
One of the preeminent solutions in this space is hydrogen. Recognizing this, the U.S. Department of Energy launched its Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, which made available a total of $7 billion for regions around the country to establish an infrastructure for producing hydrogen from clean energy sources.
In fall of 2023, the department announced that it had chosen seven areas as recipients for the funding — among them the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, or MACH2. The MACH2 coalition is a regional effort that includes parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with Delaware at its center. MACH2 has been selected for an award of up to $750 million to build its hydrogen infrastructure.
One of the most important players in building this infrastructure is a new entity called First State Hydrogen. (“First State” is a byname for Delaware because its delegates were the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution.)
The public faces of First State Hydrogen are its founder Andrew Cottone — a well-known entrepreneur and chemist who for years led specialty chemistry company Adesis — and VP for Sales & Commercialization Dora Cheatham, who spearheaded the successful MACH2 proposal.
First State Hydrogen’s initial goal is to build a 60-megawatt hydrogen production facility that will be powered with renewable energy and will produce 24 metric tons of hydrogen per day.
“We’ll focus on building one plant first to work out the kinks, then focus on the great opportunity that this region has in the green hydrogen space,” said Cottone. As for the exact location of the plant, it was still in flux at the time of the interview, but “we have it narrowed down to a few different spots and should have it finalized by early Q4.”
By late 2026 or early 2027, Cottone expects the facility to be up and running. “People are going to think I’m crazy with that timeline, but that’s the thing about Delaware — we’re small, but we move fast,” he said.
A Transformational Moment
Of course, hydrogen is already in use to some extent. However, all hydrogen is not created equal. So-called gray hydrogen, for example, is created using a carbon-intensive steam methane reforming (SMR) process.
The hydrogen created at the planned facility in Delaware “will replace that carbon-intensive hydrogen with green hydrogen,” Cottone said. “We want to decarbonize the existing hydrogen economy. Then, once that green hydrogen economy grows, we can move into having hydrogen buses, trucking and shipping. That’s down the road, but when you look at the Mid-Atlantic’s position — we are so close to everything. Because of our proximity to customers and our experience in chemistry manufacturing at Adesis, we should be able to come to market in a very competitive position. We view this as a transformational moment for Delaware.”
As for Delaware’s transportation industry, the seeds of transformation are already being sown. SEPTA, the transportation authority for Southeastern Pennsylvania — including Philadelphia — is a subrecipient of MACH2 funding and is making plans to convert its fleet to hydrogen fuel.
“They are currently doing a pilot project with 10 hydrogen buses,” Cheatham said. “When you look at the weight, the distance and the refueling time, hydrogen is looking really good for transportation, compared to electric.”
Delaware’s public transportation authority, DART, is similarly exploring the use of hydrogen buses, she said.
As for commercial transport, the issue of refueling points remains an obstacle, Cheatham noted. “But where we do see movement towards hydrogen is in warehousing. You have forklifts already using hydrogen, and we’ve been talking to the ports to explore the use of hydrogen vehicles for transportation of materials.”
A Partner for Workforce, Transportation Future
Also participating in MACH2 is Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, an energy company headquartered in Delaware that operates in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest.
Chesapeake Utilities is working on energy efficiency at multiple fronts, but hydrogen is a major focus. In the hydrogen hub, “our role involves promoting safety and workforce development through awareness, training and education at our state-of-the-art Safety Town facility in Dover, Delaware, which will be the region’s hydrogen training facility for employees, first responders and the community,” said Brianna Patterson, the utility’s manager of public relations and strategic communications.
Furthermore, Chesapeake Utilities is evaluating the production and delivery of hydrogen for the transportation sector. “These efforts will include, in partnership with the hydrogen hub, installing a fueling station for hydrogen vehicles; and purchasing hydrogen trailers for delivery of hydrogen, utilizing our Marlin subsidiary,” Patterson said.
Chesapeake Utilities’ alternative-fuel fleet vehicles have already reduced the company’s annual CO2 emissions by an average of 1,072. Going forward, that fleet could also include hydrogen-powered vehicles, Patterson noted.
Bloom Energy: Hydrogen Electrolyzers Made in Delaware
Another important player in Delaware’s hydrogen landscape is Bloom Energy, a California-based company that manufactures and markets solid-oxide fuel cells.
Bloom Energy also makes electrolyzers, which are essential to the creation of green hydrogen at facilities such as the one being planned by First State Hydrogen.
“Our solid-oxide electrolyzer has been named by the federal government as the most efficient electrolyzer in the world,” said Aman Joshi, chief commercial officer at Bloom Energy. “That matters because one of the biggest costs of producing green hydrogen is going to be electricity. You need renewable energy coming in, and then the efficiency is in how much of that electricity gets converted into hydrogen. Bloom’s electrolyzers are between 30 to 40% more efficient than others.”
What’s more, both Bloom’s electrolyzers and the fuel cells the company makes for storing hydrogen are produced in Delaware. Production of the electrolyzer at Bloom’s Newark, Delaware facility began as recently as 2023, said Tyrone Jones, director of policy and public affairs at Bloom. “As we ramp up our production volume, we will continue to manufacture electrolyzers here in Delaware.”
In fact, Joshi said, there’s a very real chance that Bloom Energy will be Delaware’s fastest-growing employer in the decade to come — all thanks to hydrogen.
Both domestically and abroad, Bloom Energy is poised to be a technology partner for hydrogen hubs such as the one proposed by MACH2 and now being implemented by First State Hydrogen. “Think of us as an equipment provider who’s just waiting for the project developer to get us their contract paperwork,” Joshi said. “What we tell our customers is, we are your perfect partner for the decarbonization journey.”
Q&A: Troy D. Mix of the University of Delaware on the ‘Complex Web’ of Delaware’s Infrastructure
As associate director of the Institute for Public Administration at the University of Delaware’s Biden School of Public Policy & Administration, Troy Mix is a key connector in the complex web of Delaware’s logistics and transportation infrastructure. The most important and visible way in which he serves that function: coordinating the annual Delmarva Freight Summit each June as well as a Delaware Winter Freight Meeting each December.
In the following Q&A, Mix discusses how those meetings serve as an opportunity for planning and partnerships to continuously improve Delaware’s logistics and transportation infrastructure.
Who are the major participants in the Delmarva Freight Summit and what function does it serve for logistics and planning in Delaware?
I’m with the Institute for Public Administration in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration and one of our roles is to partner with various public service entities across the state. We’ve had a longstanding partnership with the Delaware Department of Transportation, and one of their roles is to develop, update and implement the state’s freight plan. They do that in coordination with MPOs [metropolitan planning organizations].
One of my roles is to work with these organizations to coordinate monthly working group meetings where the major transportation players come together to advance freight planning activity. We’ll often invite guest speakers from the industry to join us and make sure we are advancing plans that make sense for Delaware.
Twice a year, we have larger public stakeholder events — the Winter Freight Meeting and the Freight Summit, which typically attract about 75 people, including a broader set of transportation planners, economic developers, representatives from the agricultural community and from major installations like the port and airports.
What we try to do at these meetings is raise awareness of different freight programs and planning activities while keeping up to date on freight industry trends. We also try to get feedback on plans we are developing and what the industry’s and the community’s priorities are.
What are some of the most important priorities you are currently working to address?
Truck parking has been a big issue in recent years. It is an issue that gets attention locally — constituents might call and say there are trucks parked in their community. That feedback filters to the transportation planners so we can research solutions.
On issues like this, we particularly look to hear from the industry because transportation planners are not the ones moving goods. It is important to hear about what the needs are. So we have heard from truckers, both long-haul and more local in the agricultural community. At the end of the day, we hope the folks from the public sector connect with folks from the private sector and partnerships happen to make Delaware more hospitable and competitive for freight and logistics activities. Solutions do not come overnight, but it has been really rewarding to see truck parking plans proceed to serious public-private discussions over the last several months.
Congestion is an ongoing issue that is being worked on as well. It is one of those things that will never be solved to anyone’s complete satisfaction. Companies change how they do business over time, and it affects the trucks or rail cars that you see in the community. Consumer habits also shift, and our desire for things like next-day deliveries and grocery drop-offs certainly impacts neighborhood freight traffic. Planning needs to balance community quality-of-life concerns with the necessities of commerce. For example, there has been significant planning around the Port of Wilmington focused on being more mindful of community concerns as trucks are entering and exiting the port. As planning for a new container port moves forward, we want to make sure those investments are efficient and continue to be mindful of community concerns.
What about emissions, especially with a hydrogen infrastructure evolving across Delaware thanks to the MACH2 hub?
I would say that sustainability is a theme that we have looked at over the years. There is definitely a role for a lot of alternative fuels in freight and goods movement. If you pay attention to UPS trucks, some of them are powered by propane or other alternative fuels. On this note, Chesapeake Utilities has been a big player in our activities. They are regular attendees of our meetings and typically host our winter meeting.
Chesapeake Utilities’ presence in Delaware allows for some experiments with alternative fuels. For example, waste management trucks go on a predetermined route, so can we have them fuel up at a limited number of natural gas stations along that route?
There is a lot of work happening in Delaware on making hydrogen affordably and distributing it. Where Delaware is well situated is that we are small and there are many opportunities to coordinate, but we also have an outsized representation of industry leaders, so we are a great test bed for everything from electrolysis to distributing hydrogen and making a use case for industry.
Are there any other modes of transportation that need to be mention when it comes to the movement of goods across Delaware?
High-value, relatively light goods like pharmaceuticals often move by air, so Delaware’s airports play a critical role in goods movement. Airports like the Delaware Coastal Airport are also freight hubs because they are co-located with business and industrial parks that depend on a reliable flow of goods.
Rail continues to be critical for freight and goods movement in the region. Carload Express operates the Delmarva Central Railroad, and the state has really benefited from their careful attention to service and infrastructure improvements. They have been big players in updating the community on what their goals and capabilities are and we have seen real conversation at our summits that have led to economic development action. The Delmarva Corrugated plant in Dover is one example: one of the things that made that project possible was the ability to connect it to freight rail and have a rail line go right up to their facility.
Learn more about the Delmarva Freight Summit and Winter Freight Meeting and view presentations given by guest speakers at www.wilmapco.org/delmarva.
