One of the Biden administration’s flagship projects to derive energy from hydrogen faces an uncertain future due to strong community opposition, underscoring the difficulty in rolling out a technology once hailed as key to the green transition.

The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), spanning the prolific Marcellus shale basin in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, is designed to produce hydrogen using primarily gas and carbon capture by mid-2030. But the $6bn project, which includes fossil fuel companies EQT, CNX and Marathon Petroleum as developers, faces opposition from local communities and green groups over its environmental footprint and doubts over its commercial viability.

Last month more than 50 local environmental groups urged the Department of Energy in a letter to suspend negotiations on ARCH2 until more clarity was provided on the project.