"Hydrogen Could Fuel U.S. Energy Transition. But Is It Safe?"

"Lynn Rigsbee was sitting on her couch on a Tuesday morning last year when an explosion knocked her to the floor.

The blast came from a hydrogen plant a few hundred feet from her house in Long View, N.C., northwest of Charlotte. It broke doors loose from deadbolts, shattered windows and blasted a hole through her roof.

"The whole neighborhood was rattling," Rigsbee told a local reporter on the day of the explosion in April 2020. Reached by phone recently, she declined to comment, citing her attorney’s advice.

No one was injured, and OneH2 Inc. officials say that shows their safety protocols worked. But 60 houses were damaged. The home of Rigsbee’s neighbor was declared uninhabitable.

The blast is a reminder that, while hydrogen is having a moment, new sources of energy bring with them new dangers."

Mike Soraghan reports for E&E News August 20, 2021.

Source: E&E News, 08/20/2021