Massena, NY, is on the St. Lawrence River at the Canadian border
From an Article by Lucy Grindon, America Corps, October 18, 2022
Air Products, a company that makes industrial gases and chemicals, has announced plans to open a new liquid hydrogen manufacturing facility in Massena. The facility will require an investment of about $500 million.
Patrick Kelly, CEO of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, said the project reaffirms Massena’s status as an important regional manufacturing center. Multiple plants for companies like General Motors, Reynolds, and Alcoa have closed or downsized there over the past few decades. “It’s a major milestone in establishing New York State as a hydrogen energy leader,” Kelly said.
NASA calls liquid hydrogen “the fuel of choice for space exploration.” It’s often used to power rockets. It’s also seen as a key green energy source that can reduce carbon emissions and slow the effects of climate change. Liquid hydrogen is becoming more common in the shipping and manufacturing industries. In the future, it may be used for more cars.
Earlier this year, Governor Kathy Hochul said she wants New York to become a “regional clean energy hydrogen hub.”
To make liquid hydrogen, water and electricity are required. Kelly said the area around Massena is rich in those resources. “We have low-cost renewable energy, we have an abundance of water,” he said. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has made a deal to provide Air Products with low-cost electricity. Some of that electricity will come from NYPA’s hydropower dam on the St. Lawrence River.
Kelly said the area also has plenty of workers with manufacturing skills because of its history of aluminum production, mining, paper mills, and food production. Those workers will be another important resource that Air Products will need, he said. The facility still has yet to be built. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
NYPA spokesperson Paul DeMichele said that after Air Products starts using NYPA’s low-cost electricity, the company will have three years to create at least 90 new full-time jobs, per its deal with the state. “There’s a hundred-year history or better history in Massena of being a world-class manufacturing community,” Kelly said. “There’s a specific and someone unique skill set in running these kinds of facilities.”
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SEE ALSO: Ammonia might just be the ticket for a more sustainable future, Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, October 19, 2022
Largely used to make fertilizer, ammonia might have another trick up its sleeve. It could, some claim, be the “green” holy grail of alternatives fuels. This is because it uses the same existing transportation and distribution methods that industries are already using without requiring any infrastructure changes. In the past ten years, attempts to employ ammonia in gas turbines and internal combustion engines have significantly increased.
As a potential fuel source, ammonia has some significant advantages:
>> It is both carbon-free and relatively safe for the environment (excluding carbon costs for its production).
>> It has three hydrogen atoms and could perhaps be employed as a hydrogen carrier.
>> Compared to many other fuels, their manufacturing, storage, transportation, and distribution are significantly simpler.
>> It is practical and affordable for use in applications.
>> It could serve as a substitute for kerosene, diesel, and gasoline.
>> It can be considered for all combustion systems, including gas turbines and engines.
>> It might be a viable fuel for renewable energy production in remote places.
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