On Wednesday, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced that the state landed a new “gigafactory” that will bring a $400 million investment and generate 500 jobs. That gigafactory will be run by Norwegian company Nel Hydrogen and will be used to create components needed to generate hydrogen gas.
That factory comes in part due to some necessary courting and negotiating with foreign companies by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. However, Whitmer is quick to point out that it would not have happened were it not for the funding provided through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Thanks to that act and other Biden-sponsored legislation like the Chips and Science Act, private companies have already announced $435 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States.
It’s not only funding projects that are quickly increasing the amount of renewable energy used in many states, it’s also creating a way that renewable energy can be moved over long distances, or even shipped overseas in the form of clean-burning hydrogen. In fact, the United States is becoming a hub for this technology. Replacing oil and gas with a clean substitute could make America the world’s leading renewable energy superpower.