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The deep red state of Iowa has long bucked the right-wing tide on energy policy. Despite its conservative slant on other matters, Iowa leads the US in biofuel production. It also tops all other states in percent of electricity generated by wind energy, at 59%. So, it’s no surprise to see an Iowa-based startup take a leading role the emerging US green hydrogen industry as well.
The US Loses A Green Hydrogen Opportunity…
Green hydrogen is a new global industry, substituting water, biomass, and other renewable resources for the natural gas and coal that have historically held a grip on hydrogen production. It’s going to be a long slog. The technology is still developing and scaling up, the equipment supply chain is immature, off-takers are in short supply, and some ventures have sunk under the pressure — as they have in practically every other clean tech field since the early 2000s.
Nevertheless, in terms of national energy policy the benefits are multiple: diversify the hydrogen supply chain, reduce fossil fuel dependency, improve global competitiveness, and, in cases such as Europe, deploy local resources to buttress regional energy security while cutting ties with a fossil-fueled foe nipping at its heels.
Europe has been organizing itself into various green hydrogen networks, the latest example being a proposed corridor linking the Russia- and Belarus-bordering nations of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The the latter two nations share a border with the Russian outpost Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Last year, all five also joined with Norway in a project to build a protective “drone wall” against you-know-who.
Here in the US, the domestic hydrogen supply chain continues to stand at about 95% natural gas. The Biden administration attempted to diversify the industry by establishing a network of hydrogen hubs through the $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, funded by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the US Department of Energy. The program is focused mainly on extracting hydrogen from non-fossil resources, though it does stipulate a carveout for natural gas as required by the BIL.
All that went kaput after Trump took office in January. For reasons best known only to itself, the American electorate voted for the guy who promised to bring down the price of eggs, ignoring other parts of the agenda.
Another Pathway To Green Hydrogen
What, nobody ever heard of egg replacer? You take some applesauce…oh, never mind. The price of eggs is still sky-high and the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program is in a state of suspended animation. Still, innovators and investors continue to stir the US green hydrogen pot.
That brings us to Iowa, home of firm SunHydrogen. The startup first cropped up on the CleanTechnica radar back in 2012 under its former name of HyperSolar. Along with the name change, SunHydrogen relocated from California to Iowa where it formed a partnership with the University of Iowa, aimed at commercializing its nanoparticle-based green hydrogen technology.
Much of the green hydrogen investor activity has been circulating around electrolysis systems, which deploy an electrical current from renewable resources to jolt hydrogen gas out of water. SunHydrogen is among those pursuing a related but different pathway. They cut out the middle-person, that being the the off-system renewable electricity source. Instead, they integrate solar energy directly into the process.
If you’re thinking the field of photoelectrochemistry is in play, that’s the ticket. The idea is to mimic photosynthesis as closely as possible, an approach sometimes called the artificial leaf or even the “bionic leaf” strategy. Technology hurdles abound, but one advantage would be to slot hydrogen production directly into solar arrays, skirting transportation expenses by opening up the potential for producing hydrogen for use on site.
The idea has been floating around various laboratories since the early 2000s without much commercial traction, but researchers are still hammering away. A team at the University of Cambridge, for example, is currently exploring the use of perovskite solar technology in a photoelectrochemical system.
Next Steps For SunHydrogen
SunHydrogen CEO Tim Young recapped the company’s progress in a public letter to shareholders and other supporters, posted on March 11.
Young cut right to the chase, launching with the observation that the company is navigating “an increasingly complex global landscape marked by economic and geopolitical uncertainties and rapid shifts in policy.” Nevertheless, he reminded everyone, the company did introduce a key 1-meter square proof-of-concept prototype last December, incorporating nine 1200 cm² hydrogen modules. The University of Tokyo also validated the prototype in January.
“This success sets the stage for our next ambitious goal: scaling each module from 1200 cm² to 1.92 m² — a 16-fold increase, bringing us to the size of a standard photovoltaic (PV) module,” Young continued.
“Achieving this full-module scale is significant: it represents the point at which our technology aligns with the form factor and size of conventional PV modules used in large installations. In other words, a 1.92 m² SunHydrogen module would fit seamlessly into existing large-scale PV module manufacturing processes and project designs, presenting a huge advantage for rapid, widespread adoption,” he added.
Who’s Gonna Pay For All This?
Plans for the scale-up are already in the works for 2025, though it may take some time before a commercial-ready photoelectrochemical system makes it to the shelves of your neighborhood hardware store. If that happens around the beginning of 2029, it will be just in time for Trump to leave office — peacefully this time, one hopes — and turn the reins of US energy policy over to someone else.
In the meantime, SunHydrogen is counting on continued support from its partners. Along with fans at the University of Iowa that includes Honda Research and Development, which is not surprising in consideration of Honda’s longtime interest in hydrogen fuel cell technology. Also on the roster is the German firm CTF Solar, and the German thin film coating specialist COTEC.
The support from two Germany-based firms brings us right back around to Europe’s pursuit of green hydrogen. Things appear to be heating up in those quarters, despite the obstacles.
“The European Hydrogen Bank’s second auction for the production of renewable hydrogen has attracted 61 bids from projects in 11 countries within the European Economic Area,” the European Commission reported on March y, noted that eight of the bids were supported by maritime industry off-takers.
What do you think? Are they all off their rockers? Drop a note in the comment thread…
Image (cropped): The US startup SunHydrogen is moving forward with plans to commercialize its solar-powered green hydrogen technology, supported by Honda’s research branch and two Germany-based firms specializing in solar energy and thin film coatings (courtesy of SunHydrogen).
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