The green hydrogen trickle is turning into a flood, and the latest developments on its score are $ 198 million in funding for a patented industrial-scale electrolytic system from Massachusetts startup Electric Hydrogen. Sponsors include legacy companies Honeywell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Rio Tinto. This is another sign that large companies are ready to shift to the global hydrogen supply.
Big money for green hydrogen
If money speaks, electric hydrogen is working on something.The company is new CleanTechnica Radar, with $ 24 million in funding so far, has caught the eye of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Partners, Energy Impact Partners, and Prelude Ventures.
Announced on June 22nd and returning to the new Series B round led by Fifth Wall Climate Tech at S2G Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital, all four must have been quite happy with what they saw.
In addition to Honeywell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Rio Tinto, new strategic investors include Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Brazilian company Cosan and Equinor Ventures.
What is all the fuss?
For those unfamiliar with this topic, green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced from renewable resources rather than natural gas or coal. Together, they account for 95% of the world’s hydrogen supply.
If that about hydrogen and 95% fossil sources has caught your attention, you may be thinking of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. However, this is only part of the big picture of hydrogen. Hydrogen is ubiquitous throughout the modern world economy, including areas such as agriculture, food processing, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, metallurgy and refineries. If fuel cell vehicles don’t make much sense, there are many other hydrogen-dependent activities that need to free themselves from fossil procurement.
Green hydrogen can be produced from biogas, biomass, or waste water, but most activities are centered around an electrolysis system that uses an electric current to push hydrogen gas out of the water.
Current is the key. The electrolysis of water by electricity powered by fossils is the oxymoron for decarbonization. The availability of low-cost wind and solar power has changed the table, and electrolysis innovators are competing to take advantage of new carbon calculations.
Small startup, big plan for green hydrogen
It takes us to electric hydrogen. The company is laser-focused on large-scale industrial electrolyzer systems that resist direct decarbonization by renewable energies. Examples include steelmaking, energy production, mining, freight transport, sea shipping, heavy industry and ammonia production.
The electrolysis of water has been scientifically known for over two centuries, but until recent years its industrial use was limited. Some whispers happened in 1998 when the International Space Station began planning for oxygen supplied by a water electrolysis system powered by solar power from the station’s solar panels.
Since then, the activity in the electrolysis area has increased explosively, but there is always room for improvement. The Contribution of Electric Hydrogen is a system designed from the ground up to supply green hydrogen on a large scale.
The company’s press material is thin, but mentions a rethinking of electrolyzed soups into nuts for expandability, flexibility, and simplicity, and, of course, costly defeating fossil-derived hydrogen. increase.
If you think this may be related to the “artificial leaf” photoelectrochemical process, please send a note to the comments thread. It’s just a guess! Watching Electric Hydrogen’s info video, their system seems to be source agnostic about renewable energy.
The electrolysis field is crowded
The concept of artificial leaves has made a slow start, but it seems to be gaining momentum in the evaluation of hydrogen production patent applications, as reported by the International Renewable Energy Agency and the European Patent Office in May last year.
Overall, hydrogen filing is increasing by an average of 18% each year, and the report points to increased activity in the area of ”photoelectrolysis” (probably related to photoelectrochemical batteries), and the university In the area that occupies above average position in patents.
The report also noted that in 2016 there were more patents on water electrolysis than on fossil sources. They also noted increasing patent activity to help lower the cost of electrolysis of water with alternative, cheaper catalysts.
In related news, last year, the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported on a breakthrough in green hydrogen in “artificial leaf” systems.
Future green hydrogen vehicle
All this activity in the field of green hydrogen is an opportunity for automakers who are waiting for the next big thing of zero-emission vehicles.
Although the spread of electric passenger cars with hydrogen fuel cells has been delayed, fuel cell activities are becoming more active in other transportation fields such as trucks, buses, ships, aircraft and locomotives.
In addition, automakers are rethinking hydrogen combustion systems for automobiles.
Back in March our friends Muscle cars and trucks It was discovered that Ford has probably patented a “control and combustion of hydrogen mixture” method for use in hybrid systems.
Earlier this year, Renault stepped into hybrid combustion water using Scenic Vision, a concept car with a hydrogen engine, electric motor, battery, fuel cell and hydrogen tank.
“The general idea is that Scenic Vision’s hydrogen fuel cells can help extend the range of a vehicle while traveling long distances.” CNBC report. If all goes according to plan, the driver can expect to time almost 500 miles without recharging the battery, but the plan involves building enough hydrogen fuel stations to meet the needs. It will be. It depends on the location, but Renault seems to expect a complete buildout by 2030.
Some automotive industry insiders, whether fuel or fuel cells, are still not very keen on the idea of hydrogen. I don’t know yet. After all, battery-powered electric vehicles ended the 20th century with the wrong start, before the technology became widespread in the 21st century.
Anyway, the case of green hydrogen will continue to grow with or without the transportation sector.
IRENA summarized it in its January report on the geopolitical impact of green hydrogen, which “… brings new and diverse participants to the market, diversifies routes and supplies, and powers from minority to majority. I will shift. “
“International cooperation can make the hydrogen market more democratic and inclusive, providing similar opportunities for developed and developing countries,” they added.
Geopolitics may be ridiculed by skeptics, as Ukraine plans to take advantage of its vast renewable energy resources to cut off gas relations with Russia and support green hydrogen. Impact is still clear.
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Photo: Courtesy of electric hydrogen.
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