EDF and Partners Send Formal Letter Sharing Legal and Scientific Concerns About the implementation of the 45V Tax Credit for Hydrogen

(Washington, D.C.) This week Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Clean Air Task Force, EarthJustice, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists sent a letter to the Department of Energy and the Department of the Treasury expressing serious legal and scientific concerns regarding implementation of the 45V clean hydrogen tax credit. DOE’s new implementation approach risks awarding lucrative tax credits to high-polluting hydrogen at the expense of the American people.      

DOE’s recent changes to the 45VH2-GREET model (used to calculate carbon intensity for the 45V clean hydrogen tax credit) were done without public input and contradict the January 2025 45V Implementing Guidance — which was adopted after years of stakeholder input, tens of thousands of public comments and a full regulatory process.  

The scientific concerns outlined in the letter include the use of bespoke "methane rates without an accurate measurement, reporting and verification system in place” therefore risking “significantly undercounting actual emissions.”  

It also notes that, “All changes to the 45VH2-GREET, both past and present, must be adopted through the proper procedures and must conform to the constraints of Section 45V and its implementing regulations.”  

The 45V tax credit was designed to drive investment in genuinely clean hydrogen. Improper changes to the model risk funneling taxpayer dollars to projects that do not deliver meaningful climate benefits. 

The letter calls on DOE to reverse its changes to the GREET model and urges the agency to direct any other policy changes to the notice-and-comment rulemaking process.