A startup in Seattle has developed novel technology to create ‘behind the meter’ turquoise hydrogen for commercial and residential buildings.

Modern Electron’s technology, which it says can decarbonise gas heating at the point of use, will make its debut by early 2023, says Tony Pan, the company’s CEO.

The company’s ‘Modern Electron Reserve’ uses a technique called methane pyrolysis to split natural gas into hydrogen and graphite. The hydrogen is then burned in a furnace, with almost no CO₂ emissions, and converted to heat and energy.

The solid carbon can be disposed of in landfill or collected for reuse in such products as tyres or asphalt, says Modern Electron.

“Our hydrogen technology is disruptive since it is the only CO₂-free distributed hydrogen production technology from natural gas that works even at smaller scales, for example in commercial and even residential buildings,” says Pan.

$30mn – Proceeds from latest funding round

“We offer a ‘behind the meter’ solution that can decarbonise onsite gas usage without requiring new transmission and distribution infrastructure for hydrogen,” he adds. Gas infrastructure already exists, he says.

“If you are stuck using a fuel, at least we will keep it clean,” he says, adding that Modern Electron’s technology could still be used even if a blend of gas and hydrogen is piped into a building.

Hydrogen is created at the end point, he says, saving time and money. Pan notes a 2019 IEA report that cautioned that transport and storage costs will play a significant role in the competitiveness of hydrogen.

“If hydrogen can be used close to where it is made, these costs could be close to zero. However, if the hydrogen has to travel a long way before it can be used, the costs of transmission and distribution could be three times as large as the cost of hydrogen production,” says the report.

Funding round

This month, Modern Electron announced an oversubscribed $30mn Series B funding round led by venture capital firm At One Ventures, co-founded by former Google X head Tom Chi, and other new venture capital investors Extantia, Starlight Ventures and Valo Ventures. Strategic investors include investment management firm Irongrey and copper products manufacturer Wieland Group. Previous investors Bill Gates and early-stage investment firm Metaplanet have also expanded their investment.

The Series B capital will be used to integrate Modern Electron’s proprietary technologies into heating appliances with leading manufacturers of HVAC and energy systems. Pan declined to divulge the names of the manufacturers but says they are well-known.

“Our technology is aimed to be rolled out into commercial applications first, not residential,” he says. The technology can be scaled up, he says, or many units could be put in an array for industrial-scale applications.

Modern Electron says its technology reduces CO₂ emissions from natural gas to close to zero. Currently, it converts more than 90pc of natural gas to hydrogen.

“We are aiming for as close to 100pc as possible,” Pan says. The technology also saves homeowners and building operators money, and increases the resilience of critical heat and electricity systems during power outages, he adds.  

Solid carbon

The amount of solid carbon produced is considerable. One home with the technology installed in a cold climate might produce 1-2kg of graphite daily, an amount that otherwise would be emitted as pollution. “We have been treating the atmosphere like a giant garbage dump,” Pan says.

The graphite would have to be disposed of with household garbage, he suggests, adding up to 10pc to a home’s volume of trash. Commercial users could resell the graphite because of the quantity they would produce.

Turquoise hydrogen has drawn some interest recently, notes Martin Tengler, lead hydrogen analyst at research firm BloombergNEF. He points to technology firms such as Hazer Group in Australia, which has a low-emission hydrogen and graphite production process, and Monolith in the US.

Earlier this month, Hazer said it will partner with Alberta-based Suncor Energy on a turquoise hydrogen project in Canada that will produce 2,500t/yr of hydrogen. And Monolith, which says that its technology can cut greenhouse gas emissions by some 80pc, received preliminary approval for a $1bn loan from the US Department of Energy in December last year.

Julie McNamara, deputy policy director of climate and energy at non-profit organisation the Union of Concerned Scientists, notes that, although Modern Electron’s technology creates little methane, there would still be methane emissions upstream in the natural gas collection and distribution system.

“We offer a ‘behind the meter’ solution that can decarbonise onsite gas usage without requiring new transmission and distribution infrastructure for hydrogen” Pan, Modern Electron

She also suggests the technology only heats and does not cool, unlike a heat pump, so would not address summertime load. And that there would still be nitrogen emissions. “No one technology solves everything,” she says.

Users of the Modern Electron’s pyrolysis technology would also need to use more natural gas than previous systems, because they are not harnessing the energy of the carbon, says Pan.

But when the technology is paired with Modern Electron’s thermionic converter, a co-generation technology that takes heat produced by a furnace and turns it into electricity, a commercial customer or household will still save on their utility bills, he says.

Regarding heat pumps, Pan counters that heat is 50pc of final energy demand. He notes that heat pumps only create low-temperature heat. High-temperature heat is needed in everything from steam for heating, cleaning and sterilisation, to process heating for manufacturing metals, cement, chemicals and even food and paper, says Modern Electron.

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Author: Ros Davidson