Coalition of Arizona energy providers, state universities to pursue solutions for carbon-neutral economy

Experts from four Arizona energy providers and three public universities formed a new coalition last week dedicated to getting the state’s economy to one of carbon neutrality and intend to create a new center focused on finding ways to achieve this.

Contributors include Arizona Public Service Co., Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power, and Southwest Gas, and, on the academic side, Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University. Clean hydrogen will be one of their first and biggest pushes through the Center for an Arizona Carbon-Neutral Economy, now housed at ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Lab.

To begin, the center will seek to design a regional clean hydrogen hub centered in Arizona. Hydrogen can fuel chemical reactions that produce water as a byproduct of energy release rather than CO2. In theory, this would allow more of the energy used to create this product to be stored within the gas itself and then tapped for carbon-free energy or feedstock on demand. The coalition agrees that this could help reduce carbon emissions throughout the economy.

However, creating a hub like this will require more than an end goal. To get there, experts still need to address a host of assets and resources available in Arizona and define its overall vision, governance, and organizational structure. Done right, however, the coalition theorized that Arizona could be successfully transformed from a net energy importer to an energy exporter, improving its economy while selling the means for others to use and pursue clean energy goals.