NREL GIS Data: United States Hydrogen Potential From Renewable Resources

Estimate the potential for producing hydrogen from key renewable resources (onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, and biomass) by county for the United States. This study was conducted to estimate the potential for producing hydrogen from key renewable resources (onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, and biomass) by county in the United States and to create maps that allow the reader to easily visualize the results. To accomplish this objective, the authors analyzed renewable resource data both statistically and graphically utilizing a state-of-the-art Geographic Information System (GIS), a computer-based information system used to create and visualize geographic information.

Land-use and environmental exclusions were applied to represent the most viable resources across the country. While wind, solar, and biomass are considered major renewable resources, other renewable energy resources could also be used for hydrogen production, thus contributing to hydrogen development locally and regionally. These additional resources include offshore wind, concentrating solar power, geothermal, hydropower, photoelectrochemical, and photobiological resources.

This study found that approximately 1 billion metric tons of hydrogen could be produced annually from wind, solar, and biomass resources in the United States. The greatest potential for producing hydrogen from these key renewable resources is in the Great Plains region. In addition, this research suggests that renewable hydrogen has the potential to displace gasoline consumption in most states if and when a number of technical and scientific barriers can be overcome.

## License Info
This GIS data was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory ("NREL"), which is operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE"). The user is granted the right, without any fee or cost, to use, copy, modify, alter, enhance and distribute this data for any purpose whatsoever, provided that this entire notice appears in all copies of the data. Further, the user of this data agrees to credit NREL in any publications or software that incorporate or use the data.

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