In order to achieve this, The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Shell, the City of Houston, Greentown Labs, and the Urban Future Lab (UFL) at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering today (May 10) revealed seven startup participants for the Low-Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator (LCHA).

The next stage is to reduce the carbon emissions from hydrogens application which is where the new LCHA initiative comes into play.

After receiving a total of 88 applications from 18 countries, the LCHA narrowed down its process to seven innovative projects aiming to utilise hydrogen in order to create a low-carbon society.

The selected programmes include:

Advanced Ionics (Milwaukee, US) is enabling green hydrogen production without the green premium.
Arco Technologies (Bologna, Italy) is developing a proprietary Anion Exchange Membrane electrolyser with the lowest capital expenditures and operating expenses possible today.
Clean Power (Greater Manchester, UK) is developing a novel, low-cost, highly durable hydrogen polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell delivering zero-emission electricity.
Element Resources (Houston, US) is enabling compressed hydrogen storage tank technology.
Smartpipe Technologies (Houston, US) is developing a robust self-monitored repurposed pipeline system for hydrogen with minimal environmental disruption.
SPEC Sensors (Newark, US) is creating a robust and reliable meshed sensor network for hydrogen leak detection and line-monitoring systems.
RUNWITHIT Synthetics (Alberta, Canada) is creating a live, digital twin modeling platform that generates decision-support data for regional hydrogen-demand scenarios.

Neva Espinoza, Vice-President of Energy Supply and Low-Carbon Resources at the Electric Power Research Institute, said, “Accelerating low-carbon hydrogen technologies is an essential part of achieving global net-zero targets by 2050.

“EPRI looks forward to collaborating with these early-stage companies to advance innovations that could become gamechangers for economy-wide decarbonisation.”

Pat Sapinsley, Managing Director at the Urban Future Lab, said, “The Low Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator is the latest of several impactful climate accelerators created by UFL and Greentown Labs with a host of excellent corporate or research entities.

“As a research coalition with a member base primarily made of utilities, EPRI intricately understands the complexities of bringing new technologies onto the grid. As a fuels major, Shell understands all of the testing, safety, and production issues of fuels.

“We look forward to continuing this path forward with these terrific partners and our seven innovative startups.”