The search for the illusive Holy Grail of the global energy transition is ongoing with hydrogen as the prime target. If you haven’t been paying attention, hydrogen has been all over the news, as developers, promoters, and companies, focusing on the tax credits and project funding available in the Inflation Reduction Act passed last summer, announce, and begin projects.

The hydrogen news has been hyped recently by two developments. First was the announcement of a “revolutionary” technical breakthrough for nuclear fusion, which utilizes hydrogen to create clean electricity. The second event is the start of a pilot operation to test hydrogen-powered tractor-trailer trucks in Houston.

For the first time, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in a controlled nuclear fusion reaction, smashed two hydrogen atoms together releasing more energy than the operation consumed. This development offers hope the decades-long efforts of scientists around the world to create an unlimited source of clean energy may have found the Holy Grail. In the future envisioned by fusion technology, we will have unlimited clean energy.

The hydrogen-fueled truck operation in Houston is a two-week test in which a fuel-cell powered truck will deliver plastic resins from a Mont Belvieu plant to the Port of Houston for ExxonMobil. The problem with hydrogen fuel is its economics. The truck will carry about 10% less cargo weight than its diesel counterpart, but the cost of its fuel is higher. Currently, hydrogen fuel costs around $10 per kilogram or $5 per gallon, and there are handling and logistical challenges.

Houston is the largest producer of hydrogen, which is primarily used in refining and producing petrochemicals that consume nearly 60% of the nation’s supply. Hydrogen is blended with the sulfur in crude oil during refining, producing hydrogen sulfide, which is then burned to separate the sulfur and steam/water. Hydrogen sulfide is a dangerous material and its elimination during the refining process is expensive and releases carbon emissions. Finding cheaper, safer, and less polluting processes that can operate at scale is key. Hydrogen systems that could separate sulfur at the wellhead could make more oil and gas resources usable. Reducing CO2 emissions, creating clean hydrogen, lowering the risk of refining and health issues in handling hydrogen sulfide, and expanding our nation’s hydrocarbon resources would be major accomplishments for the petroleum industry in its effort to become more climate friendly.

For this Company Spotlight, we interviewed RedShift Energy’s CEO (Howard Nelson) and President (Trey Anthony) about how they are helping energy companies convert hydrogen sulfide into a hydrogen profit center while also reducing their carbon footprint. RedShift Energy uses plasma energy to produce hydrogen from hydrogen sulfide. The company’s modular technology is designed for economic applications across the petroleum value chain including unlocking trapped reserves upstream and recycling hydrogen downstream. For more information on RedShift, please visit rsenrg.com.

Background: In 2017, Howard Nelson and Trey Anthony lead a team that co-founded RedShift Energy to develop and commercialize applications of plasma to address complex problems that cannot be solved by traditional chemical solutions. The initial problem they undertook was creating….. READ MORE

Headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Boston Government Services (“BGS”) is an engineering, technology and security firm for government programs, national laboratories, national security facilities, nuclear operations and complex projects. Headquartered in Richland, Washington, Sterling Engineering & Consulting Group, LLC ("SE&C"), is a provider of executive, project management, business development and technical consulting services focused on the Department of Energy (“DOE”) complex. The platform of BGS and SE&C will establish a leading national network of engineering and consulting firms with shared capabilities and an expanded client base, primarily consisting of organizations operating within the DOE complex.

Founded in 2007, Svante has developed carbon capture and removal technology using structured adsorbent beds, known as filters. Svante offers companies in emission-intensive industries a commercially viable way to capture large-scale CO2 emissions from existing infrastructure, either for safe storage or to be used for further industrial use in a closed loop. This funding will support Svante’s commercial-scale filter manufacturing facility in Vancouver, which is anticipated to produce enough filter modules to capture millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year across hundreds of large-scale carbon capture and storage facilities.

NET Power invents, develops, and intends to license technology that provides reliable, on-demand natural gas power with life cycle emissions that are approximately 90% below today’s combined cycle natural gas systems and in line with renewables coupled with batteries. NET Power’s proprietary process combines oxy-combustion (combustion of natural gas with pure oxygen) with a supercritical CO2 power generation cycle to generate electricity. This patented, high-efficiency cycle inherently captures over 97% of CO2, which can then be utilized or sequestered, transforming natural gas into clean baseload power.

Through the Acquisition, VoltaGrid will become the largest vertically integrated portable power generation and clean fuels platform in North America. The combined platform will provide a reliable and cost-effective solution to advance electric completions, remote mining decarbonization, utility grid reinforcements and hydrogen blending partnerships. In conjunction with the Acquisition, VoltaGrid has entered into a senior secured revolving credit facility that provides immediate access to $175 million and up to $250 million under certain conditions.

Based in Tualatin, Oregon, ZincFive is a leader in nickel-zinc battery-based solutions for immediate power applications. The funding accelerates ZincFive’s penetration into existing markets, including mission critical applications in data centers, intelligent transportation, and industrial engine starting as well as providing the growth capital to enter new high-power energy segments and geographies. In addition to investments in channel and product development, the funding will accelerate the build-out of annual high-volume production capacity to meet rapidly growing customer demand.

Related Press Release: ZincFive Raises $54 Million in Series D Financing

Energy Technology Musings

Searching for the Key to the Energy Transition