San Angelo Signs Up for Clean Energy Hydrogen Proposal

SAN ANGELO, TX — Called the Trans Permian “H2Hub”, a serial entrepreneur named Jack W. Hanks believes he can harness the Biden Administration’s stimulus largesse to create alternative energy and byproducts using hydrogen. Yesterday, the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce heralded the dream’s arrival to San Angelo. San Angelo is proposed to be one point of an area defined by a polygon, with a border that connects this city, San Antonio, Del Rio, Midland/Odessa, and Big Spring.

The H2Hub will be a grouping of projects, including “green and blue hydrogen plants, blending of H2 into natural gas pipelines, H2 metro-bus manufacturing, H2 re-fueling stations, H2 to large-scale power generation, conversion of H2 to ammonia and methanol for both H2 hub and export markets, solar and wind power, H2 small-scale distributive power, and metropolitan H2 bus transport projects in major cities.”

In one example of a viable H2 project, Hanks, ever the visionary, proclaimed that wastewater from oil drilling can be harvested to turn into hydrogen. Hanks estimated that the Permian produces three barrels of water for every barrel of oil extracted via fracking and considering growth in the Delaware Basin alone, wastewater disposal will need new and additional capacity to dispose of 2.5 million barrels per day of saline water. To grow that capacity, Hanks cites sources that estimate the oil companies will need to invest at least $400 million.

Hanks asked the question, what if that water can be harvested to create H2 projects like large-scale power generation or to manufacture ammonia or methanol?

To launch the H2Hub enterprise, MMEX Resources Corporation is in the application process at the U.S. Department of Energy to have the Hub area sanctioned by the federal government. If the Hub designation is received, the region can receive between $500 million and $1 billion in federal funds to finance H2 projects. The hard part is the designated Hub will need to match the federal money, dollar for dollar.

The DoE program is officially called a “Funding Opportunity Announcement” released on Sept. 22, 2022. The DoE has $6 billion to $7 billion to fund six to 10 H2Hubs in the country. The applications are due May 31 and the winning recipients of the money will be announced in the Fall of 2023.

Hanks’ MMEX is also involved in building the Pecos County Ultra Clean Fuels Refining facility near Fort Stockton among other clean energy projects in west Texas and in South America. According to MMEX’s most recent 10Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has yet to generate revenue.

In the opening words introducing the company on its website, MMEX Resources proclaims, “To achieve the Paris Agreement objectives on climate warming reduction, massive investment will go to clean fuels production and Hydrogen production.”

In the prospectus for creating the H2Hub, it states that, “We plan to include community benefits programs, including environmental justice, that check the core elements of the FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement).”

No taxpayer money was required by the City of San Angelo, COSA-DC or the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce to proclaim each entity’s support of Permian H2Hub.