Hydrogen has been the decarbonized power sector’s white whale.
Wildly considerable and extremely versatile, it has lengthy had the potential to decarbonize total sectors of the economic system. From vehicles and vans to planes, trains and even family boilers, the universe’s lightest fuel isn’t brief on potential purposes.
However it’s brief on profitable purposes. Vehicles and vans? Till yesterday, the final time I noticed a hydrogen automotive was after I examined a Mercedes gas cell B-Class … practically 15 years in the past. Planes? Not anytime quickly. And houses? Japan is testing the concept, however given the issue of retrofitting the pure fuel infrastructure to accommodate the leaky molecules, it’s unlikely to occur within the close to future.
One place the place hydrogen does present promise is in heavy trade, the place intense warmth and dense energy might be onerous to duplicate with electrical sources. Price stays a hurdle, although.
That’s the place Hgen hopes its modular electrolyzers will make an affect. The startup goals to decarbonize hard-to-crack industries like metal and ammonia manufacturing by specializing in inexperienced hydrogen that’s made utilizing renewable energy. It was based by Molly Yang, a Tesla alum who helped lead the Supercharger, residential power and industrial power groups, and Colin Ho, who led actuation and energy methods for Starship at SpaceX.
The corporate solely advised TechCrunch that it has raised a $2 million seed spherical led by Founders Fund, which was joined by Fontinalis Companions, Local weather Capital, Yishan Wong and a handful of different angels.
Yang stated Hgen is bringing to hydrogen manufacturing Tesla’s and SpaceX’s concentrate on optimizing the entire widget.
