A report from a group that looks at economic conditions in the Appalachia region of the U.S. says a hydrogen hub proposed for the area already faces significant challenges. The Ohio River Valley Institute in a research brief published this month said five of the 15 originally proposed projects in the hub have been canceled, and four project development partners already have left the hub. The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), encompassing locations in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, is one of seven regional sites in the U.S. chosen by government officials to generate, distribute, and consume hydrogen. The Biden administration last year said the Appalachian site would receive as much as $925 million in federal grants, as part of a multibillion-dollar outlay from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for hydrogen projects. The administration said the hydrogen hubs were a key element of its strategy to combat climate change. ARCH2 officials in September said the hub is "a collaborative initiative between the United States Department of Energy [DOE], private industry, state and local governments, academic and technology institutions, non-profit organizations, and community groups working together to build a safe and sustainable clean hydrogen ecosystem in Appalachia.” The Ohio Valley research group in its report, released October 11, said "Hydrogen hub projects are unraveling due to high costs and uncertain demand. If decisionmakers ignore economics and shoehorn hydrogen and CCS [carbon capture and storage] into uneconomic applications with federal dollars, taxpayers, ratepayers, and residents could pay the price." Sean O'Leary, author of the Ohio Valley report, wrote, “Uncertain demand, under-capitalized and inexperienced project developers and uneconomic applications aren’t peculiar to the ARCH2 hydrogen hub. Across the nation and around the world, these and other issues are causing clean-hydrogen projects to struggle in their pursuit of financing.” The report said two development partners still involved in the project "are in states of chronic financial crisis ... two more have never developed or managed a significant industrial facility." The report also said, "And two of the principal uses to which the surviving projects propose to put hydrogen are described by respected industry analysts as 'uncompetitive' and 'terrible.' "