In this episode, we learn from Florence Lambert, CEO of Genvia, a French high-temperature electrolyzer company. 

Key take-aways include 

• We will need a wide range of electrolyzer technologies to decarbonize our hydrogen industry:
  • Alkaline: (+) Proven tech, easy to manufacture (-) Less efficient, bigger footprint
  • PEM: (+) More flexible and smaller footprint (-) Not yet proven and more expensive 
  • SOEC (High-T):  (+) Solid oxide electrolyzers are at least 15% more efficient and 30% more efficient than low-temperature electrolyzers when waste heat is available (-) Less proven
• The attributes of high-temperature electrolyzers make them especially attractive in industrial use cases (e.g. steel, chemicals..) where heat can be recovered and integrated in the hydrogen production cycle 
• It isn't easy to win in manufacturing in Europe, which makes it even more important to be at the forefront of technology 

At the end of the episode, Florence leaves us with some golden career (and life) advice - "listen to your intuition, and take risks"

In this episode,  David Jaramillo, Co-founder and CTO at Verne, explains how Verne's technology innovation enables cost-effective clean hydrogen storage and refueling to decarbonize heavy-duty transport. 

Verne's unique storage technology cry-compression enables a higher energy density than liquefied or pressurized (up to 700 bar) hydrogen at at least half the cost. 

Sheldon Kimber, CEO and Founder of Intersect Power, demystifies hydrogen project development. Some of his golden rules and insights on effective project development include:

1️⃣ Innovative financing for large projects is typically

2️⃣ Not every long-term contract is a good contract

3️⃣ The current “flight to quality” for financiers leads to a consolidation in the project development market

4️⃣ Hydrogen deployment is much more than just a technology game. The business model matters!

Nuggets of inspiration

💡It is not about how fast the company can grow, it is about how fast you can grow

💡 Sheldon’s version of success is being a transcendent leader and being “good” at the same time

David Burns, VP of Clean Energy at Linde, sheds light on Linde’s journey in hydrogen from legacy to pioneering new tech. Some of the key insights are:

1️⃣ Linde can build on its decades of experience in hydrogen to catalyze the clean hydrogen industry

2️⃣ For short-distance transport, David sees potential in hydrogen pipelines where possible and liquified hydrogen in other cases.

3️⃣ For long-distance, intercontinental transport David sees potential in hydrogen carriers incl. methanol and ammonia

4️⃣ David points to ammonia's potential as energy carrier, not necessarily hydrogen carrier, by finding use-cases for ammonia directly”

5️⃣ To keep costs down, the best option is still to limit the need to transport hydrogen. This is the concept behind the regional US hydrogen hubs

Nugget of inspiration

💡Since David switched to working on clean energy, the new generation (amongst which David's kids) are more interested in and inspired by his work

Commercial aviation has been identified as a contributor of greenhouse emissions, and is perhaps one of the most difficult industries to decarbonize--but there is a plan! Amanda Simpson, Vice President of Airbus Americas for Research and Technology and Head of Sustainability, talks about the options and opportunities within the aviation industry which will help achieve the goal of net-zero carbon aviation by 2050. Listeners will gain insight into the technological challenges, development timelines, and infrastructure impacts of potential solutions that will influence the aerospace industry.  

Agriculture-related emissions account for 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. How will hydrogen fuel our path to net-zero agriculture?

In our 9th episode, Lorenzo Rosa, Principal Investigator at Carnegie Institution for Science and Assistant Professor (by courtesy) in the School of Sustainability at Stanford University, explains how hydrogen and ammonia will help us decarbonize the agriculture industry to feed the world sustainably

Want to find out how to decarbonize industry through hydrogen with existing infrastructure today? All of that while producing a valuable carbon by-product? Learn from Mothusi Pahl, VP of Business Development and Government Affairs at Modern Electron in our 8th episode.

Spoiler alert: This episode has an on-the-field component to it! 

In this episode, we learn from Professor Stefan Reichelstein, Emeritus Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Professor at the Department of Business Administration at the University of Mannheim. Internationally known for his research in economics, Professor Reichelstein demystifies what it will take to get to cost-effective clean hydrogen 

To put it in Bill Gates' words, Ken is phenomenal at translating deeply scientific concepts for people without scientific expertise. 

Ken Caldeira is Senior Scientist at Breakthrough Energy and Staff Scientist at Carnegie Institution for Science. 

As an atmospheric scientist, he demystifies the climate impact of hydrogen leakage. 

Under the motto "I like to say that the questions we ask are driven by our values, the answers we get should be independent of our values”, he brings a valuable unbiased scientific perspective to the topic.