In the city of Los Angeles, California, one prevailing issue is the smog that overtakes the city 1 out of 3 days a year. In Los Angeles, there are some of the most important seaports in the country (Briscoe, 2019). Unfortunately, these seaports are producing very large amounts of emissions from the diesel fuel being used. The cranes, ships, trucks, and forklifts are all using diesel fuel to make sure that operations can run smoothly at the port. Diesel fuel is really bad for the environment and especially for air quality. The fuel is leading to the smog in the city of Los Angeles. Smog can lead to serious diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, heart issues, cancer, and death (World Health Organization, 2026). On October 13, 2023, the seaports on the San Pedro Bay pledged to begin to use hydrogen fuel for their machines at the ports (The Port of Los Angeles, 2026). The switch in fuel sources will reduce the amount of smog in Los Angeles and will help stop the effects of climate change due to the deduction of greenhouse gases being emitted.
In 2006, the Clean Air Action Plan was put into effect which is where the initial idea for hydrogen fuel was introduced. Hydrogen is one of the best options for an alternate fuel source to replace diesel because it is a renewable source and does not take coal or oil to be able to harness (Gupta, 2025). Hydrogen also does not produce any negative byproducts when it is used. This means that the hydrogen fuel does not emit harmful gases that will hurt the climate or the health of people. In 2013, the first crane at the Seaport of Los Angeles was switched from diesel fuel to the new hydrogen fuel. This was the beginning of a movement to zero emission fuel sources and hydrogen fuel. In 2017, air pollution emissions in San Pedro Bay have dropped 90% for diesel particulate matter, 61% for nitrogen oxides, and 95% for sulfur oxides since 2005 (The Port of Los Angeles, 2026). In 2018, Toyota and Shell were beginning the design for new heavy duty hydrogen refuel tanks for the cranes and other equipment that was beginning to switch (Equilon Enterprises LLC, 2024). On March 10, 2020, the permit for construction was approved and by June 11, 2021, the hydrogen fuel tanks became operational (Equilon Enterprises LLC, 2024). This project took about a year and a half to complete; however, the intervention of Covid could have had an impact on how long this project took. This was such an important issue because of the necessity for a solution for this issue, especially in the Los Angeles region. Los Angeles is known for having extremely bad smog in the city, which is caused by pollution in and around the city. One diesel crane burns the equivalent of 400 barrels of oil per year (Paceco Group, 2026). With multiple cranes, that number becomes a really big problem. One additional benefit of the cranes being switched to hydrogen is that they still can run for 16 hours a day and not have any drop in production from diesel fuel powered (MI News Network, 2024). In 2024, the Seaport of Los Angeles and Long Beach received $400 million dollars from the federal government to continue their advancements (Briscoe, 2019). The government also has given $3.2 billion to begin these advancements nationwide. As of 2025, there has already been a reduction in diesel particulate matter by 90%, nitrogen oxides by 68%, and sulfur oxides by 98% since 2005 (ACT News, 2025). This data was measured in 2017, and eight years later, there has already been a significant impact. These benefits will only continue to continue to go up because of the price drop of hydrogen per kW. The price has had a significant drop from 2010→2024. This trend is only expected to continue. The market size for hydrogen is expected to increase dramatically as well. By 2050, the market size is expected to be $1.2 trillion and the seaports in Los Angeles and Long Beach are expected to be fully zero emissions by then. If this happens, hydrogen fuel will have been a major success and the rest of the country will follow shortly after.
The local impact that hydrogen fuel can have affects not only the seaports; however, it affects the cars and everyday vehicles used by people in Los Angeles. Because of how busy the downtown area is in Los Angeles, there are about 2,500 taxis being used everyday. These taxis use gasoline which produce harmful emissions that contribute to the smog. This hurts the air quality and leads to greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. By moving these taxis to hydrogen, these zero emissions initiatives can really become a reality for Los Angeles. Los Angeles has already planned with Shell to make 100 hydrogen fueling stations (California Energy Commission, 2026). By 2027, there will be motors for vehicles that run off of hydrogen fuel instead of gas or diesel (Nebergall, 2023). At Lawrenceville, these impacts are quite similar. The vehicles and equipment used by the grounds crew, landscaping, public safety, and the farm all have future possibilities in hydrogen fuel. Their RTVs and compact tractors will be switched from their fuel now to hydrogen which will help Lawrenceville continue their carbon reduction plan. This could be a long term initiative because it will cost a lot of money to transition the RTVs and other vehicles over from gas or diesel to hydrogen. In the long run, this will help Lawrenceville get to their goal of being carbon neutral and have zero emissions on their campus.
The social impact of hydrogen fuel needs to be developed further due to the costs and the amount that is going to be potentially used. Although the price per kw for hydrogen fuel has gone down significantly through the past few years, to be competitive with electric prices, the price needs to go down further. The price for a hydrogen storing technology will have to be quite high due to the cost of holding 1kW of hydrogen. The price of 1kW of hydrogen is $45; however, the cost of using 1kW of electricity is $0.30. That is a major price difference for two different products with the initiative of having zero emissions. Electric vehicles have a major problem; the batteries need fossil fuels to be produced and operate. This ultimately does not help the problem of emissions; the problem is just being relocated. By having hydrogen fuel, this problem would be solved because there is no by-product of hydrogen and there would be no reason for carbon emissions to be produced to make the new fuel source. This price needs to come down a lot in order for this idea to become effective because, if it does not, then nobody is going to use hydrogen fuel. Not only is the price too high; however, the price is too high with not enough in return. If the price was high, the global temperature would go from increasing 3.3 degrees C to 2.7 degrees C by 2100; there would be a legitimate reason to still consider switching. This does not happen though, the temperature still has a 3.3 degree C increase by 2100 after the implementation of hydrogen fuel. In order to make the cost more effective, coal and oil need to be taxed to make the cost of hydrogen more affordable.
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