K2, ZeroUp partner to supply low-carbon hydrogen for California transit fueling deployments
K2 Pure Solutions and PACC Services, LLC have reached a hydrogen supply agreement (HSA) with ZeroUp Energy, Inc. to provide ZeroUp with a supply of low-carbon hydrogen from K2's chlor-alkali facility in Pittsburg, Calif., to support ZeroUp's mobile fueling deployments for transit agencies across Northern and Southern California.
K2 Pure Solutions says the agreement carries particular significance in the context of California's Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation, which requires public transit agencies to transition their bus fleets to zero-emission technologies and mandates the use of renewable fuels for agencies operating fuel cell electric buses. K2's low-carbon hydrogen will be produced via a pathway targeted to meet the renewable fuel standards of the ICT framework, addressing one of the most persistent barriers to fuel cell bus adoption at scale across California.
ZeroUp currently supplies hydrogen to Omnitrans in the city of San Bernardino, Calif., under a multi-year contract and is actively engaged with agencies such as the Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority (StanRTA), which is deploying fuel cell electric buses and requires a mobile hydrogen fueling solution ahead of revenue service. In both cases, a locally sourced, low-carbon hydrogen supply at competitive economics is central to making those programs work.
"Transit agencies need supply they can count on at a price point that actually works—and when that supply is produced on a pathway targeted to meet California's renewable fuel standards under the ICT regulation, it removes a real compliance headache for them," said ZeroUp Energy Executive Jonathan Palacios-Avila. "K2 is a proven producer with a track record of reliability, and their hydrogen will meet the quality and carbon intensity standards that transit programs require. This agreement gives us the supply foundation to grow our fueling programs in both Northern and Southern California and deliver what agencies like Omnitrans and StanRTA are counting on us to deliver."
Hydrogen produced at K2's Pittsburg facility is generated as a byproduct of its existing chlor-alkali manufacturing process, an inherently low-carbon production pathway that requires no natural gas reforming or standalone electrolysis infrastructure. The hydrogen consistently will meet or exceed SAE J2719 purity standards required for fuel cell vehicle applications. K2's facility is targeting commercial availability in Q3 2026, with PACC Services serving as exclusive commercial partner responsible for contracting, logistics coordination and supply chain management.
"ZeroUp has the operational experience and the agency relationships to put hydrogen to work on the ground where it matters," said K2 Pure Solutions CEO Howard Brodie. "Our facility was built on decades of operational excellence and process safety, and our hydrogen will be produced on a low-carbon pathway we believe is targeted to meet California's renewable fuel standards. That is a meaningful credential for the transit agencies ZeroUp serves, and it is something we will earn through the way we operate. This is exactly the kind of collaboration our hydrogen program was designed to support."
PACC Services CEO Andrew Carman says “the ICT regulation creates real, durable demand for low-carbon hydrogen across California's transit sector, and transit agencies need supply partners who can deliver on both the compliance and the economics. K2's targeted low-carbon production pathway, paired with ZeroUp's field experience and PACC's commercial infrastructure, is exactly the kind of integrated supply chain those agencies have been waiting for. We structured this agreement to support programs that are running today and scale as California's FCEB fleet grows."