Breaking down the hydrogen hub hype w/ Joanne Kilgour, exec. dir. Ohio River Valley Institute (We Can Be S04EP16)

We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments

Ohio River Valley Institute Executive Director Joanne Kilgour joins host Philip Johnson, the Endowments’ senior program director for Environment & Health, in breaking down the hype around hydrogen hubs and carbon capture.

Hydrogen hubs have as their centerpiece massive pipeline networks that funnel carbon captured from power plants and factories to injection points for underground sequestration. Some present the process as key to our environmental future, but are the promises of jobs and a reduction in global warming real?

Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) was founded in 2020 with an aim of providing data-driven environmental research that advances a more prosperous, sustainable and equitable Appalachia. The organization has become a leading voice in researching and communicating what carbon capture and hydrogen hubs would really mean for our country's future.

“Our research shows that not only are hydrogen hubs likely to be costly, taking funding away from more sustainable, long-term solutions,” Joanne says, “but they are also unlikely to deliver on significant job creation or to be an effective climate solution.”

Joanne grew up in Maine, earned degrees at Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, and has held positions with the Center for Coalfield Justice and the Sierra Club. An avid nature advocate, she holds a doctorate in environmental law, and the opportunity to “reveal surprising realities” about Appalachia’s energy future led her to ORVI.

She shares what she has seen about the unwavering sense of pride and place that Appalachians possess; what she has learned about the power of combining data and lived experience in revealing truths; and why she takes care to humanize policy research decisions by keeping the on-the-ground individuals she meets in Appalachian communities front of mind.

“I believe we can be compassionate problem solvers,” Joanne says. Learn how she is doing just that in this episode of “We Can Be.”

This episode of “We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments Senior Program Director for Environment & Health Philip Johnson and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Guest inquiries can be made to Scott Roller at [e-mail]. Guest image credit: PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources.