Director's Message:

Happy new year! I hope you had some quality downtime over the holiday break. This time of year is especially optimized for taking time off as it is understood that your colleagues will respond *later*.

As we trickle back into the work routine, it is worth noting that this will not be a normal year (not that the last few years were normal either, but it felt like we were heading in that direction towards 'normal'!). From the current events and geopolitical trends, this year suggests a very interesting and pivotal year. With so much uncertainty, how do you effectively plan for the future? The answer almost seems like it's kicking the can down the road, but it makes sense - invest in talent - invest in future leaders [1, 2]. These people will observe, integrate, and grow with the company to later help manage the downstream disruptions. It's not the short term patch that some people might be looking for, but it's the right solution for the longer term.

Where do you find these future leaders? Networking and talking to lots of people. They will stand out as good communicators. Overwhelmed by the problems you see everywhere? Come visit us here in Chicago! It's a beautiful city (even in the winter!). We have multiple events on campus throughout the year and can schedule you for a seminar talk between these events as well. Several people I've talked to recently have mentioned that their visits to campus and conversations with the students and faculty always leave them energized with significant hope for the future.

Some of the recent developments include (see links below):

• new winners for the Postdoc/PhD student program, Communications Skills for Industry Positions program, which aims to hone communications skills for new scientists and pair them with industry mentors on how to talk with different audiences

• Inverse vaccines - what are they and why is a recent development so impactful?

• What happens when you can precisely replace one carbon atom with a nitrogen atom in a molecule?

• We hear a lot of electric vehicles but what about Hydrogen? Learn about how UChicago is playing a role in the development of hydrogen infrastructure

• Recruiting Quantum Engineers? Come to the Quantum Recruiting Forum on April 11, 2024

References:

1. Christopher Myers, 7 Time-Tested Leadership Principles to Thrive in Uncertain Times
2. Bill Heath and Antonios Christidis, Invest in people to best manage through disruptions

UChicago/Argonne and PME technological strengths

Speaking of Science: Communications program helps PME students connect lab work to industry

Seven Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering graduate students and postdocs had made their pitches, presented their research, outlined their designs for new products, life-saving techniques and future innovations.

Now came the hard part: waiting.

“It’s like I’m in court,” joked Cheng Ji, a PhD candidate researching quantum platform technology in the Guha Lab. “I’m just sitting there waiting for the judges.”

“I felt a little stressed before the presentation, but it’s good practice for us,” added Lifeng Chen, a fellow PME PhD candidate researching materials in the Rowan Group.

“It is very important to learn to communicate with different types of individuals."

-- MEng student Alex Taslakjian

Next-gen tech gets a boost from giant lattice liquid crystals

Artificial Chameleons. Color-changing gas sensors. Kindles that display images in color.

These futuristic technologies could be possible with blue phase liquid crystals, materials in which millions of molecules self-assemble into lattices so large (~ 100 nm) that they reflect visible light.

For years, two research groups at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) — led by Juan de Pablo, Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering, and Paul Nealey, Brady W. Dougan Professor of Molecular Engineering — have made key advances in studying blue phases on computers and then using those computational insights to assemble them perfectly in the lab.

In a Science Advances review paper, scientists and engineers from both groups survey the landscape and present the latest chemical, material, and theoretical developments in the field, with the hopes of spurring further interest in these next-generation materials.

Developing better ways of diagnosing disease at the intersection of disciplines

Growing up in a family of engineers, Susan Okrah often felt as if she didn't have any other choice but to become an engineer herself. 

While both her parents and her grandfather are electrical engineers, she said, "I knew I wasn't going to become an electrical engineer." She considered a career in medicine, but when she took chemistry in high school, she was hooked. "It was really easy for me to pick it up, and then I realized there was so much you could do with a chemical engineering degree," she said. 

During summer research experiences at universities across the country, she studied everything from synchronization to bacterial flows to pluripotent stem cells. She wasn't sure how these varied interests could translate into the next step, but at an academic conference, she heard about the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME). 

"I'm a chemical engineer interested in biomedical engineering and materials science; I chose UChicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering so that I could pursue my diverse interests," she said.

Designing the next generation of vaccines

Vaccines are designed to alert our immune system to an outside pathogen and trigger a response. This initial response, known as the innate immune response, is inexact and can target other, healthy parts of the body.  

Jeremiah Kim wants to change that outcome. A graduate student at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), Kim has identified compounds that can increase the effectiveness of commercially available vaccines and minimize the complications associated with them.  

“Taking a vaccine is essentially grabbing a megaphone and telling our immune system that something is going on and that we need to respond,” Kim said. “But the message can be loud and unclear. What if, instead of a megaphone, we used a sound mixer? We could adjust the settings specifically to what our immune system needs.”

Method to replace carbon with nitrogen atom has been ‘top of wish list’

For years, if you asked the people working to create new pharmaceutical drugs what they wished for, at the top of their lists would be a way to easily replace a carbon atom with a nitrogen atom in a molecule.

But two studies from chemists at the University of Chicago, published in Science and Nature, offer two new methods to address this wish. The findings could make it easier to develop new drugs.

“This is the grand-challenge problem that I started my lab to try to solve,” said Mark Levin, an associate professor of chemistry and the senior author on both papers. “We haven’t totally solved it, but we’ve taken two really big bites out of the problem, and these findings lay a clear foundation for the future.”

Body swap

In chemistry, a single atom can make a huge difference in a molecule. Swap out one carbon atom for a nitrogen atom, and the way the drug molecule interacts with its target can dramatically change. It might make the drug easier to get to the brain, for example, or less likely to grab onto the wrong proteins on its way. So when scientists are creating new pharmaceutical drugs, they often want to try swapping out one particular atom.

University of Chicago to partner on $1 billion MachH2 hub for clean hydrogen

Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen selected to receive funding by U.S. Department of Energy to ramp up clean hydrogen production

The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2), of which the University of Chicago is a member, is slated to receive up to $1 billion in funding to launch a new hub to increase the production and use of hydrogen as a significant clean fuel source.

The MachH2 hub is one of seven across the country slated to receive funding from the Department of Energy as authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. These hydrogen hubs seek to reduce CO2 emissions through the use of hydrogen in place of fossil fuels in industries in the region where decarbonization has been difficult to accomplish by other means—including glass production, oil refining, steel manufacturing, and heavy-duty transportation.

The resulting ecosystem is projected to produce three million metric tons of clean hydrogen annually while eliminating 25 million metric tons of end-use carbon dioxide emissions each year—a scale that will improve air quality and public health, achieve significant goals for sustainability, and advance the pursuit of environmental justice. Projects associated with MachH2 are also expected to create more than 13,000 jobs in the Midwest, along with significant economic benefits to the region.

UChicago is a partner in MachH2 along with Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory operated by UChicago through UChicago Argonne, LLC; UChicago and Argonne are two of more than 70 academic institutions, corporations, professional organizations, and government offices who have partnered in MachH2.

UChicago's Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Chapter earns official status

When UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering students arrived at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) national conference in Salt Lake City last week, they did so for the first time as an official recognized chapter of the group.

Formerly an “interest chapter” founded in 2021, the group’s growth over the last few years earned it official chapter status in October, increasing the resources and opportunities it can offer Hispanic and Latinx people across the PME and greater Chicago area communities.

“Especially as PME continues to grow in size every year and attracts people from all different backgrounds, it's important to have an organization that welcomes everyone and provides opportunities that will help elevate people,” said chapter President Carlos Medina Jimenez. “Our goal is to be that family, that group that empowers students and tells them, ‘Yes, you can do this. How can we be of help?’”

Allison Squires links quantum lab to medical marketplace at Chicago BioCapital Summit

How can quantum sensing revolutionize biotechnology? UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Asst. Prof. Allison Squires had just eight minutes to convince a room full of biotech-oriented entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that quantum sensing innovations can help secure Chicago's future as a biotech hub.

Squires, the Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering, spoke in one of the “lightning talks” at the 2023 Chicago BioCapital Summit. It was a natural fit for Pritzker Molecular Engineering, Squires said.

"Our entire engineering school is founded on the idea of finding new ways to innovate at the intersections of different fields,” she told the crowd Thursday at Fulton Labs, a new health sciences campus in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood and future home of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago.

The event was presented by the Chicago Biomedical Consortium, a collaboration between UChicago, Northwestern, the University of Illinois Chicago and other area institutions to translate research into entrepreneurship.

“The CBC is focused on two things: getting Chicagoland inventions from lab to patient bedside and building companies here in Chicago,” said CBC Executive Director Michelle Burbea Hoffmann. “To do this, we need to build and reinforce networks of expertise that PIs and early company employees can tap into when they have questions or are faced with unknowns. Events like the Chicago BioCapital Summit help lay the foundation for these networks.”

Researchers boost vaccines and immunotherapies with machine learning to drive more effective treatments

Small molecules called immunomodulators can help create more effective vaccines and stronger immunotherapies to treat cancer.

But finding the molecules that instigate the right immune response is difficult —the number of drug-like small molecules has been estimated to be 10^60, much higher than the number of stars in the visible universe.

A team from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago tackled the problem by using machine learning to guide high-throughput experimental screening of this vast search space.

In a potential first for the field of vaccine design, machine learning guided the discovery of new immune pathway-enhancing molecules and found one particular small molecule that could outperform the best immunomodulators on the market. The results are published in the journal Chemical Science.

UChicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering receives $1.9 million grant to develop new semiconductor technology

University of Chicago researchers are leading a multi-institution team that has received a nearly $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct research that will enable next-generation semiconductors.

The Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program grant, one of only 20 given out nationwide, will bring together researchers from UChicago, Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to design, synthesize and investigate self-assembling materials and processes for high-volume, high-resolution patterning in semiconductor manufacturing.

The UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) team is led by Prof. Juan de Pablo and Prof. Paul Nealey.

Prof. Juan de Pablo

“New semiconductor technology will be essential in advancing innovations in artificial intelligence, climate modeling, and therapeutics,” said de Pablo, who is also Executive Vice President for Science, Innovation, National Laboratories, and Global Initiatives at the University of Chicago. “Our work will lead to new technologies for the fabrication of nanoscale circuits that will improve performance and speed. A distinctive feature of our research will be to combine advanced molecular modeling, synthesis of new molecules, and characterization to rapidly arrive at new and effective processes for nanomanufacturing.”

New understanding of oobleck-like fluids contributes to smart material design

If you mix cornstarch and water in the right proportions, you get something that seems not-quite-liquid but also not-quite-solid. Oobleck flows and settles like a liquid when untouched, but stiffens when you try to pick it up or stir it with a spoon. The properties of oobleck and other non-Newtonian fluids — including Silly Putty, quicksand, paint and yogurt — change under stress or pressure and scientists have long struggled to prove exactly why.

Now, researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have used piezoelectric nanoparticles, which themselves change in response to pressure, to investigate the fundamental physics of non-Newtonian fluids. The team discovered a key role for friction between particles in causing the materials to flip from a fluid to a more solid structure.

“This not only answers long-standing basic questions about the physical origins of these materials, but opens up doors for the design of new non-Newtonian fluids with practical applications,” said Stuart Rowan, the Barry L. MacLean Professor of Molecular Engineering and co-senior author of the paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Polsky Center to Support New Biopharma Hub Funded by $10.4 Million Investment

The Chicago Biomedical Consortium Hub for Innovative Technology and Entrepreneurship in the Sciences (CBC-HITES) will help academic inventors translate their research into commercial products.

CBC-HITES joins 13 hubs that are part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REAC Hub) program, which is focused on bringing basic science discoveries to market.

The NIH has awarded the new hub a $4 million grant to support its activities.

This is joined by $6 million in support from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust and $400,000 from the Walder Foundation – totaling $10.4 million in funding.

CBC-HITES is backed by the talent, methodologies, networks, and infrastructure put in place by the Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC), a research consortium between the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago, and Northwestern. It recently received an additional $13.5 million from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust to scale its support for the life sciences and biotech community.

Meet the Seven Early-Stage Companies that are Part of Transform’s Cohort 2

In September, the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Data Science Institute announced the seven early-stage companies accepted into the second cohort of its Transform accelerator for data science and AI startups.

Over the last few months, these companies have been working to bring themselves to the forefront of the emerging AI space – an industry that is expected to see tremendous growth over the next few years.

From utilizing large language models for market research to using AI to help train radiologists, these companies are redefining how we use data science and AI.

University of Chicago’s Polsky Center Launches New Cleantech Accelerator, Resurgence

The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in partnership with the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) are pleased to announce the launch of Resurgence, a new cleantech accelerator powered by Deep Tech Ventures.

Polsky Deep Tech Ventures is a full-spectrum venture support initiative dedicated to translating deep tech innovations into startups that bring life-saving, world-changing products and services to market. The University of Chicago unveiled the initiative earlier this year, since which it has also announced the inaugural cohort of its data science and artificial intelligence accelerator, Transform. The launch of Resurgence marks the latest in this commitment to support entrepreneurs bringing new innovations to market. 

“The launch of Resurgence is an exciting step in the ongoing effort to develop innovative new ideas in the field of clean energy technologies,” said Juan de Pablo, Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Executive Vice President for Science, Innovation, National Laboratories, and Global Initiatives at the University of Chicago. “Through this unique combination of the scientific expertise of the University and its partners, the entrepreneurial know-how of the Polsky Center, and the commitment of visionary business leaders, we anticipate making important strides for the future of our community, our city, and our planet.”

Jeffrey A. Hubbell receives the 2023 Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine

Renowned researcher Jeffrey A. Hubbell has received the 2023 Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine, an annual award given by @NorthwesternU's International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) to one scientist for outstanding achievements in the field. Hubbell, a professor at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, has revolutionized the fields of nanoscale bioengineering and regenerative medicine.

His work exemplifies the spirit of innovation and excellence that the Kabiller Prize represents. He also has demonstrated a commitment to advancing scientific discovery for the betterment of humanity.

Read more about the Kabiller Prize: https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/jeffrey...

Read more about Hubbell's 'inverse vaccine': https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/inverse...

What might disclosure rules reveal about corporate carbon damages?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed a rule that would mandate that public companies report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This follows similar efforts in the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom. One rationale is that disclosure will provide information on material risks to investors, making it evident which firms are most exposed to future climate policies. In addition, some believe that reporting will galvanize pressure from companies’ key stakeholders (e.g., customers and employees), leading them to voluntarily reduce their emissions. This reasoning is in line with evidence for financial markets (1) and disclosure mandates that form the third wave of environmental policy, which follows a wave of direct regulation and a wave of market-based approaches (2). But what might such disclosure reveal? We provide a first-cut preview of what we might learn about the climate damages caused by each company’s GHG emissions by drawing on one of the largest global datasets, which covers roughly 15,000 public companies.

Conclusion

The core finding from our analysis is that corporate carbon damages are, on average, large but highly skewed, with median damages being much smaller. Moreover, these damages are heterogeneous across industries as well as within industries and countries. It is important to bear in mind that these findings are largely derived from voluntary reporting with no penalties for misreporting or even from estimated emissions. This is not a small caveat and underscores the need for mandatory and verified emissions reporting.

Mandatory disclosure can aid in decreasing GHG emissions in at least three important ways. First, it is not possible to have meaningful policies that aim to restrict GHG emissions without reliable measurement and credible data. This is true for both market-based policies (e.g., taxes on GHG emissions and cap-and-trade markets) and for command-and-control policies, which also require credible data to determine whether the policy is achieving its intended goals.

Second, mandatory disclosure would help financial markets to discipline GHG emissions by pricing existing and expected future environmental policies. Such disclosure and the subsequent pricing would also give firms incentives to think strategically about their GHG emissions. Supporting this view, a considerable body of research suggests that financial disclosure mandates have improved market pricing of risks, capital allocation, and firms’ financial operations (1, 8, 9), and indeed they are the bedrock of capital markets.

Third, recent studies show that disclosure mandates can incentivize firms to reign in environmental externalities, such as GHG emissions, even in the absence of environmental policy [e.g., (10, 11)]. Targeted transparency has been used successfully in other policy areas (12). Thus, there is an empirical basis for the view that mandatory disclosure could pressure firms to reduce their GHG emissions. At the same time, we note that this “channel” relies on the nonfinancial preferences of key stakeholders (e.g., employees, customers, and perhaps even shareholders), which expands firms’ social responsibility beyond profit maximization.

How inverse vaccines might tackle diseases like multiple sclerosis

Vaccines aimed at dampening the immune response could revolutionize the treatment of autoimmune diseases

I’ve written about vaccines for years, but recently I stumbled across a concept I had never heard of before. Typical vaccines prime the immune system to respond. But scientists are also working on “inverse vaccines” that teach the immune system to stand down.

Last week Jeffrey Hubbell and his colleagues at the University of Chicago reported that an inverse vaccine they developed had successfully reversed a disease similar to multiple sclerosis in mice. Hubbell has tested this approach before, but only as a way of preventing the disease—not curing it. “What is so exciting about this work is that we have shown that we can treat diseases like multiple sclerosis after there is already ongoing inflammation, which is more useful in a real-world context,” he said in a press release.

These immune-dampening shots could lead to a whole host of therapies to treat autoimmune diseases. In fact, Anokion, a company Hubbell cofounded, has already launched clinical trials to test whether this type of inverse vaccine might help people with multiple sclerosis and celiac disease. It’s an exciting prospect, so for The Checkup this week, let’s take a look at inverse vaccines. 

Membranes in Solar-Driven Evaporation: Design Principles and Applications

Solar-driven evaporation process brings exciting opportunities to recover clean water and resources in a sustainable way from diverse sources like seawater and wastewater. Separation membranes, as a vital material in many environmental and energy applications, can contribute significantly to this process owing to their structural features. However, the unique roles of membranes in solar evaporator construction and process design are seldom recognized and not summarized yet from scientific principles and application demands, which forms the motivation of this review. Herein, the roles of membranes in different processes based on solar-driven evaporation are focused and the design principles of membrane materials and devices to meet the requirements of these applications are discussed. Fabrication strategies for photothermal membranes are introduced primarily, followed by a discussion on how to design membrane materials, devices, and processes to pursue optimal performance and realize advanced functions accompanied by evaporation. Furthermore, the future of this field is forecast with both challenges and opportunities.

The Quest to Quantify Quantumness

What makes a quantum computer more powerful than a classical computer? It’s a surprisingly subtle question that physicists are still grappling with, decades into the quantum age.

Over the last 20 years, a loose confederation of mathematically inclined physicists and physically inclined mathematicians has endeavored to more clearly identify the power of the quantum realm. Their goal? To find a way to quantify quantumness. They dream of a number they can assign to an arrangement of qubits produced by some quantum calculation. If the number is low, then it would be easy to simulate that calculation on a laptop. If it’s high, the qubits represent the answer to a truly hard problem beyond the reach of any classical device.

In short, researchers are seeking the physical ingredient at the root of quantum devices’ potential power.

“That’s where quantumness begins in a super rigorous sense,” said Bill Fefferman, a quantum researcher at the University of Chicago.

For these reasons, both physicists and computer scientists have endeavored to map out the exact topography of this three-part quantum kingdom. This summer, a trio of research groups announced that they had formulated the best map yet of the least familiar of the three provinces, adding crucial details to the understanding of where the classical ends and the truly quantum begins.

Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?

Scientists agree that eons ago, a bacterium took up residence inside another cell and became its powerhouse, the mitochondrion. But there are competing theories about the birth of other organelles such as the nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum.

More than 1.5 billion years ago, a momentous thing happened: Two small, primitive cells became one. Perhaps more than any event — barring the origin of life itself — this merger radically changed the course of evolution on our planet.

One cell ended up inside the other and evolved into a structure that schoolkids learn to refer to as the “powerhouse of the cell”: the mitochondrion. This new structure provided a tremendous energetic advantage to its host — a precondition for the later evolution of complex, multicellular life.

But that’s only part of the story. The mitochondrion is not the only important structure within complex, eukaryotic cells. There’s the membrane-bound nucleus, safekeeper of the genome. There’s a whole system of internal membranes: the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, peroxisomes and vacuoles — essential for making, transporting and recycling proteins and other cargo in and around the cell.

Where did all these structures come from? With events lost in the deep past and few traces to serve as evolutionary clues, it’s a very tough question to tackle. Researchers have proposed various hypotheses, but it is only recently, with some new tools and techniques, that cell biologists have been able to investigate the beginnings of this intricate architecture and shed some light on its possible origins.

Industry 5.0: Creating Economic Viability with Humanity-Centric Innovation for a Sustainable Future

In a world where the drumbeats of technological advancement are often accompanied by the whispers of environmental concern, Industry 5.0 emerges as a beacon of hope, promising a revolution that places humanity and sustainability at the heart of innovation. As we stand on the cusp of this new industrial paradigm, it’s essential to understand how it builds upon the digital transformation of Industry 4.0, which brought us the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and unprecedented levels of automation.

Industry 4.0 was a game-changer, but it was just the beginning. It focused on efficiency and productivity, often at the expense of the environment and social well-being. Enter Industry 5.0, which takes a step beyond by integrating the principles of humanity-centric innovation. This approach doesn’t just seek to solve problems; it aims to do so with a conscience, ensuring that solutions are economically viable, socially responsible, and environmentally sustainable.

The Sustainability Revolution: A Core of Industry 5.0

At the heart of Industry 5.0 lies the sustainability revolution, as highlighted by the insights shared on Heartland.io (https://www.heartland.io/sustainability-news/industry-50-the-sustainability-revolution/). This revolution isn’t just about “going green” for the sake of good PR; it’s about redefining the very essence of industrial processes to be inherently sustainable. It’s a transformative approach that sees waste not as an inevitable byproduct but as a design flaw.

Remote collaborators don't generate as many breakthrough scientific ideas: study

Teams of scientists that collaborate remotely are less likely to generate disruptive ideas, a new study suggests.

Why it matters: The finding lands as debates about the benefits and drawbacks of remote work roil workplaces and some studies suggest there is a slowdown in discoveries that push science in new, fruitful directions.

What they did: Analyzing 20 million scientific research articles and 4 million patent applications spanning the last half century, the researchers first described the increase in remote collaborations between scientists around the world during that time.

• They defined teams as "on-site" if the authors of a paper or patent were in the same city. When a team had an author from another city, it was considered a remote collaboration.
• A paper was deemed to be disruptive based on how it was cited: If a subsequent scientific paper cites the original paper and the references in it, it is seen as incremental work. If a paper cites the original patent or paper but doesn't include the references in it, that suggests the original work was disruptive because it eclipsed the old ones referenced, the researchers reported in the journal Nature.
• They determined who was involved in idea generation from the contributions of each author — in conceiving the idea or study design, data analysis, writing the paper and other tasks — that are included in papers.

What they found: The team reports "remote teams develop and on-site teams disrupt both in science and technology."

Hydrogen Is Our Best Bet To Decarbonize Heavy Industry, U.S. Energy Secretary Says

The U.S. government is making an unprecedented push to invest in clean hydrogen as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gas pollution. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tells Forbes that the government believes fuel will be crucial in decarbonizing heavy industrial processes, particularly steel and ammonia production.

“Hydrogen is going to play a role in the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors (that are) 30% of our CO2 emissions,” she said. “We want to be in a position to move eventually away from fossil fuels and to clean energy all the way. Renewables are not going to be able to get to the temperature necessary for decarbonizing heavy industry. Another solution is going to be necessary and we think this is really right for that.”

Last week, the Energy Department designated seven “Hydrogen Hubs” around the country, covering 16 states, that will share $7 billion in funds for clean hydrogen projects set aside in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Those projects, including proposed pipelines, heavy-duty truck programs and clean hydrogen for fertilizer production, have also attracted announced corporate investments worth more than $40 billion. The Biden Administration also predicts the hubs will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.