New Energies, new possibilities

This funding brings Ecolectro's total capital raised to US$27.7 million, including grant funding from the US Department of Energy under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, New York State's Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the National Science Foundation. These funds will be used to accelerate the development and deployment of Ecolectro's groundbreaking anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysers, offering an affordable and scalable path to reducing carbon emissions through true green hydrogen.

The global green hydrogen market, valued at over US$7 billion in 2023, is projected to grow at an annual rate of 41.6% over the next decade. Despite this rapid growth, the nascent hydrogen industry still faces significant cost and logistical challenges. A major barrier is the reliance on proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers, which require iridium — an extremely rare and expensive metal that has seen prices rise by over 700% in the last decade. Additionally, PEM electrolysers typically utilise PFAS, the 'forever chemicals' linked to cancer, infertility, and ozone depletion, that are facing severe restrictions in the US, EU, Japan, and other jurisdictions. These challenges are further compounded by the high costs of shipping and storing hydrogen, which can account for up to half the total delivered price.

Ecolectro, founded by Cornell PhD chemists Dr. Kristina M. Hugar and Dr. Gabriel G. Rodríguez-Calero, has developed a breakthrough AEM electrolyser. At the core of this technology is a proprietary membrane chemistry that eliminates the need for rare earth materials like iridium and harmful chemicals such as PFAS, instead utilising readily available, recyclable and eco-friendly materials. This membrane is highly durable, operating efficiently in high-temperature and alkaline conditions, and achieves over 70% efficiency (<47.5 kWh/kg) in typical operating environments, significantly outperforming comparable PEM and alkaline systems.

Additionally, Ecolectro's AEM electrolysers provide reliable performance even with variable energy inputs, making them ideal for integration with solar, wind, and other intermittent renewable energy sources, as well as for industries where continuous hydrogen production is not always needed.

Ecolectro's fully integrated, plug-and-play electrolysers are designed with flexibility in mind to meet specific customer needs. Their modular design allows customers to adopt hydrogen without large upfront investments, and expand their system requirements over time.

By enabling on-site hydrogen production, Ecolectro significantly lowers the overall cost of hydrogen by eliminating the need for expensive transportation and storage infrastructure. This also reduces environmental impacts by cutting carbon emissions from transport trucks and preventing hydrogen losses that typically occur during storage and handling. Customers who adopt Ecolectro's electrolszers to produce their own hydrogen are also eligible to receive federal and state green hydrogen tax credits, further enhancing the economic appeal of the solution.

"Hydrogen is key to decarbonising heavy industry and other hard-to-abate sectors, but cost-prohibitive barriers have delayed its widespread adoption," said Dr. Rodríguez-Calero, Co-Founder and CEO of Ecolectro. "With our innovative AEM technology, we're breaking down those barriers today. Thanks to our investors, including Toyota Ventures, we're well-positioned to bring affordable green hydrogen to market at scale next year."

Ecolectro closes Series A funding round to accelerate next-generation green hydrogen electrolysers | Global Hydrogen Review

BAKU, Azerbaijan-- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec", HKG: 0386) has successfully hosted a multilateral event themed Hydrogen Powering Climate Action: Towards A Clean Energy Future with Net-Zero Emissions on November 13rd at the China Pavilion of the 29th Conference of the Parties ("COP29").

Jointly organized by Sinopec, International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association (IHFCA), and Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (FECO), the event marked a significant milestone as the first hydrogen-themed event co-hosted by a Chinese company at the COP conference.

Two reports were published at the event, the Progress Report on Implementation of the COP28 International Cooperation Initiative "Safe, Climate Beneficial and Sustainable Development of Hydrogen Energy" and IHFCA Green Hydrogen Economy Report, that presented the progress of China's hydrogen energy innovation and practices, unfolded the country's green and low-carbon development, and promoted safe, efficient, and sustainable development of hydrogen energy and international cooperation.

Sinopec, a pioneer in developing green hydrogen, geothermal, and CCUS technologies, accentuates advancing international technological exchanges and cooperation. Ma Yongsheng, chairman of Sinopec, delivered a compelling keynote speech at the event. He emphasized the importance of collective action in building a robust hydrogen industry ecosystem and transitioning towards a "hydrogen era" in the energy sector, while stressing the need for enhanced international cooperation, openness and innovation as well as trade facilitation across the hydrogen industry value chain.

"Sinopec is dedicated to working with all stakeholders and global partners to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals as we address the pressing climate challenges. Together, we are committed to forging a green, peaceful and sustainable future for our planet," said Ma Yongsheng.

Sinopec is gradually establishing a comprehensive industry chain of hydrogen production, storage, transportation, utilization and research, further boosting green hydrogen production capacity and exploring emission reduction solutions in refining and chemical industries. It has put into operation China's first 20,000-ton photovoltaic green hydrogen demonstration project and is now planning the 100,000-ton/year wind and green hydrogen integration project.

As the world's largest single enterprise operating hydrogen refueling stations, Sinopec has built 11 hydrogen fuel cell supply centers and 138 hydrogen refueling stations. In 2023, the stations accounted for about 40 percent of China's hydrogen refueling volume.

Source: SINOPEC

Tata Steel has signed an agreement with CO2 shipping firm Ecolog, the Port of Amsterdam and green hydrogen project developer Gen2 Energy to develop a corridor for shipments of liquid H2 produced in Norway to the Netherlands to be used in green steelmaking.

Gen2 Energy currently has four projects in Norway under development, which aim to use hydropower to produce green hydrogen, with at least two facilities scheduled to start operations in 2027.

Ecolog has agreed to ship the hydrogen as a liquid in self-designed carriers to a planned terminal at the Port of Amsterdam, where it will re-gasify the H2 for delivery via pipeline to Tata Steel’s Ijmuiden site near the port.

The steelmaker currently had two direct iron reduction plants on order with Italian firm Danieli, although in a recent memorandum of understanding for offtake by building materials firm Lindab, it had scheduled green hydrogen-based steel production to only begin in 2030.

While direct iron reduction using renewable H2 has almost no emissions, Tata Steel noted: “In the production of steel, even in the new Green Steel installations, a small amount of CO2 is still emitted.”

However, it added that these emissions are still a fraction of what is emitted by coal-fired blast furnaces.

The steelmaker has signed a separate agreement with Ecolog to also ship liquid CO2 captured from its Dutch facility for subsea storage on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Ecolog plans to recycle the “cold energy” released during the regasification of liquid hydrogen — which has to be kept at minus-253°C — to liquefy the CO2.

“This creates a liquid hydrogen/CO2 corridor, with efficient management of energy,” the steelmaker said.

However, no commitments have been made when it comes to volumes of hydrogen or CO2, while Gen2 Energy’s projects hinge on the necessary approvals being in place.

Meanwhile, liquid hydrogen has been criticised by many analysts as an inefficient method of transporting H2, compared to ammonia, which actually contains more hydrogen molecules by volume and is easier to store and transport.

Source: Tata