Hydrogen
At VC Fuel, we believe that Hydrogen will be one of the keys to global decarbonization. Clean hydrogen as an energy carrier has multiple advantages, including the potential to complement renewables as an energy storage solution and serving as a clean transport, industrial, and commercial fuel. Unlike some other decarbonization solutions, hydrogen can also capitalize on existing (and often upgraded) energy infrastructure, from pipelines to storage facilities, providing decarbonization solutions at a faster pace and potentially lower cost.
VC Fuel will focus on four key components of the Hydrogen value chain:
- Hydrogen Generation
- Hydrogen Storage
- Hydrogen Transportation
Clean Hydrogen Generation
There are a number of proven as well as emerging technologies for burning hydrogen with zero emissions. Among the technologies that VC Fuel will focus on with partner companies are the following:
Steam methane reforming technology (combined with carbon capture)
- Electrolysis
- Cold plasma reforming
- Biomass gasification
- Other emerging technologies
A number of innovative companies that are targeting the efficient production and scaling of hydrogen are emerging and in many cases are ready to achieve scale. There are also a number of hydrogen production projects that will achieve the scale necessary to make hydrogen a meaningful component of the clean energy economy.
Many of these companies and technologies have the potential to leverage technology that has been developed outside the US, especially in European and Asian countries that have been more focused on clean hydrogen than the US has in the past. We believe that there is a significant opportunity to apply these advancements to the American market through investment in new companies and the development of new joint ventures and partnerships.
VC Fuel focuses on the generation of clean hydrogen from various feedstocks, including conventional natural gas, renewable natural gas, biomass, methane, and water. Some of the feedstock conversion methods will need to be combined with carbon capture and sequestration technologies, while others will produce clean hydrogen directly (e.g. hydrogen produced through electrolysis).
VC Fuel will be working relentlessly to identify and partner with the best in class companies and projects across the Very Clean Hydrogen space.
Clean Hydrogen Storage
Successfully storing hydrogen will be critical to its success as a transport, commercial, industrial, or utility fuel.
VC Fuel focuses on finding companies that address hydrogen storage, including compressed gas storage and cold or cryo-compressed hydrogen storage.
VC Fuel is examining a broad range of hydrogen storage-related companies, encompassing everything from liner technology and solutions providers that would enable hydrogen storage in existing salt caverns and other storage fields, to materials-based hydrogen storage technologies and solutions, including: sorbents, chemical hydrogen storage materials, and metal hydrides.
Clean Hydrogen Transport
In this section, we focus on the transportation of hydrogen from supply to demand centers, and not on the fuel cells or vehicles themselves (this is addressed in the Clean Mobility section). VC Fuel focuses on companies that provide solutions for transporting hydrogen via pipelines (including current natural gas pipelines), over the road in cryogenic liquid tanker trucks or gaseous tube trailers, or by rail or barge. This is an area where collaboration with existing energy infrastructure providers, particularly pipeline companies, can lead to advancements in hydrogen transport that make it a viable alternative natural gas or oil.
