Mears Group, Inc. announces its participation in a new research and development project that will address the technical barriers to blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines at large scale.

The two-year HyBlend Project will assess hydrogen compatibility with pipeline materials and operations and deliver important information regarding long-term impacts. The project is led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory―along with participation from Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the National Energy Technology Laboratory—and sponsored by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

More than 30 stakeholders from industry, nonprofits, and academia are also contributing to the project. GTI, a leading independent non-profit organization addressing global energy and environmental changes, is serving as an industry liaison. They will also play a key role in life-cycle and techno-economic analyses that will support publicly accessible tools to characterize the opportunities, costs, and risks of blending hydrogen in the natural gas pipeline network.