California receives $1.2 billion for clean hydrogen hub to help replace fossil fuels

WASHINGTON (KABC) -- California is getting $1.2 billion to help replace fossil fuels.

It's part of the $7 billion the government is distributing to set up six to 10 "clean hydrogen" hubs across the country.

The money was secured by Sen. Alex Padilla.

The goal is to have renewable, clean hydrogen by 2030.

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The project is expected to create more than 220,000 jobs, according to Padilla's office.

It will also reduce emissions that disproportionately impact underserved communities and accelerate the climate crisis.

The infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed in 2021 included billions of dollars to develop so-called clean hydrogen, a technology that industry and clean-energy advocates have long pushed as a way to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels.

Some environmentalists call hydrogen a false solution because it frequently relies on natural gas as a fuel source.

Energy companies say fossil fuels can be used if the projects capture the carbon dioxide produced and keep it out of the atmosphere, a technology that has yet to be produced at commercial scale.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.