H Cycle Receives CalRecycle Approval for Waste to Hydrogen Project

H Cycle, an innovator in renewable hydrogen production, has received confirmation from CalRecycle that H Cycle’s project to convert organic waste to energy qualifies as landfill waste diversion. Known as an “Article 2 Determination,” CalRecycle’s decision recognizes that H Cycle will divert organic waste away from landfills and convert it to renewable hydrogen. The H Cycle project will help meet the requirements of state law to reduce methane emissions from landfills, it will produce renewable hydrogen, and it will create good jobs and other economic benefits in Contra Costa County.

State law, SB 1383, requires local jurisdications to divert 75 percent of organic landfill waste – food and yard waste, nonrecyclable paper, construction debris, etc. – away from landfills to energy, compost, mulch, and other useful products. SB 1383 is a critical part of the state’s overall climate strategy since landfills and other organic waste sources cause 87 percent of California’s methane emissions, one of the most damaging climate pollutants. Methane has caused nearly half of all global warming to date and is expected to cause more than half the warming in the next decade, so climate scientists and governments globally have committed to reduce it and now consider methane reduction the most urgent step to address climate change.

H Cycle’s project in Contra Costa County will also help advance the renewable hydrogen industry. The project is part of the ARCHES consortium, which has been awarded up to $1.2 billion from the Federal Government to develop a renewable hydrogen hub in California. Renewable hydrogen will be essential to decarbonize heavy industries, heavy transportation, and other hard to electrify end uses. Hydrogen can also provide long duration energy storage that is critical when wind and solar power are not available for days or weeks at a time. And the H Cycle project will provide good jobs, benefits for local air quality, and more.

For more information about H Cycle and this project, click here.