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“Another exciting solution has come as a byproduct of the Bill Gates–backed startup Modern Hydrogen. The company’s main focus is pulling solid carbon from methane to create clean hydrogen. It turns out that the solid carbon can be used to make a more durable asphalt. Modern Hydrogen CEO Tony Pan told the BBC, “We increase stiffness by 34%. That means the roads are stronger, more durable, and asphalt is able to withstand higher temperatures.”

Sequester Carbon in Road Repairs: As cities and regions across the nation grapple with the challenges of sustainable urban development, San Antonio’s pilot with Modern Asphalt presents a compelling case study. Its success could signal a new era in road construction, marrying environmental responsibility with practicality and performance. The San Antonio pilot project is more than just a local initiative; it’s a beacon of innovation in the asphalt industry. By embracing Modern Asphalt, the city isn’t just repairing roads; it’s paving a path toward a more sustainable future. As this project unfolds, it may very well set a new standard for urban infrastructure, demonstrating that ecological responsibility and high-quality road construction can, indeed, go hand in hand.

Modern Hydrogen, a start-up specializing in decarbonizing natural gas at the meter in order to deliver clean fuel for sectors traditionally difficult to decarbonize, set out to prove its hypothesis: stripping solid carbon from natural gas before combustion is a more practical approach to decarbonizing than managing gaseous CO2 — and can reduce the amount of harmful CO2. Previous methods of reducing CO2 after combustion have proven complicated and expensive, according to Mothusi Pahl, Modern Hydrogen’s vice president of business development and government affairs. This new method substantially reduces costs as well as the embodied CO2 of asphalt, which contributes to the decarbonization of the natural gas sector, a known CO2 emitter. “Capturing carbon before combusting natural gas — not after — could make decarbonization easier,” Pahl said. “Nobody else has figured out how to decarbonize at the point of use.” In the process of developing a way to deliver “energy with a CO2 footprint that looks like renewables,” they discovered a way to reduce the environmental impact of paving roads with asphalt —one that sequesters carbon for centuries. It also happens to enhance the quality of asphalt.

According to Utilities Tech Outlook, Modern Hydrogen is one of the top ten carbon emission solutions providers of 2023.

Emily Houston has been instrumental in developing and deploying Modern Asphalt as an engineering technician at Modern Hydrogen, Bothell, Washington. Emily has worked on developing Modern Hydrogen’s material characterization capabilities and asphalt products. This has included designing/performing experiments at various scales, creating new asphalt product integrations for multiple product categories, authoring lab standard operating procedures, and leading Modern Hydrogen’s asphalt lab safety program. Houston has a background in laboratory research with GC-MS, LC-MS, and TLC practices, and years of laboratory management experience. In her free time, Emily enjoys watercolor painting, cooking and video games. Modern Hydrogen CTO and Co-Founder Max Mankin describes her as a world-class problem-solver. “Her technical skills, willingness to troubleshoot problems without giving up, and eagerness to learn new things have enabled the creation of this revolutionary product,” he said.

Our news team has selected 24 startups poised to keep making headlines this year. Read why Modern Hydrogen is a startup to watch!

EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, the hosts speaks with the CEO of Modern Hydrogen, Tony Pan, about green hydrogen production and sequestering carbon in roads. EPISODE NOTES Topics: Tony’s background- Stanford, Harvard, Goldman, Gates Foundation, WEF, Fellow/EIR, Modern Hydrogen What made Tony want to start Modern Hydrogen and take on such an audacious task What’s wrong with infrastructure and permitting today, in relation to our climate goals What Modern Hydrogen Does today Distributed Pyrolysis at the source Built environment solutions- sequestering carbon in asphalt and the business round it Potential for carbon negative hydrogen production The changes we need to hit our climate goals

Behind a pair of orange barricades on Old Fredericksburg Road, a small crowd of local stakeholders gathered this week to watch what seemed like an ordinary pothole repair job. Cameras flashed as a public works crew took turns pouring buckets of asphalt into potholes and smoothing it over with large brooms. But this wasn’t just any repair job: Instead of using traditional asphalt, the crews used asphalt mixed with solid carbon – in what project leaders say is the first demonstration of using sequestered carbon on public roads. “This is a demonstration that the rest of the country is going to look to,” said Mothusi Pahl, Modern Hydrogen’s vice president of business development and government affairs.

Dedicated hydrogen infrastructure offers further possibilities. This can involve the construction of pure hydrogen pipelines or innovative approaches that minimize the need for new infrastructure. Modern Hydrogen, for instance, employs a pyrolysis process that converts natural gas into hydrogen at the point of use. This efficient method enables utilities to skip extensive infrastructure changes and instead add a specialized box that removes carbon from the natural gas, leaving clean hydrogen for end-users. The removed carbon can even be sequestered in roads, providing an all-around sustainable solution. Improving energy efficiency is a vital aspect of decarbonization. Tightening the gas delivery system and promoting energy-efficient homes can significantly reduce energy consumption. American gas utilities are already investing $4.2 million per day in programs that facilitate energy-efficient upgrades and appliances, particularly for lower-income customers. These initiatives not only support decarbonization but also alleviate the financial burden of energy costs for vulnerable communities. In the pursuit of decarbonization, America’s gas utilities are exploring various pathways. The diverse range of options available ensures that all ideas can be tested, allowing individual utilities to adopt approaches that align with their unique systems and customers. By harnessing the potential of the natural gas delivery system, significant progress can be made towards a more sustainable and decarbonized energy future.

Dedicated hydrogen infrastructure can take two forms. The first is new infrastructure, such as pure hydrogen pipelines from hydrogen hubs to industrial customers. There are other projects in the work that minimize how much new infrastructure is needed, while maximizing the utility of existing infrastructure. One company working in this space is Modern Hydrogen, which uses a process called pyrolysis to convert natural gas into hydrogen at the point of use. The value proposition is summed up well by a quote from Tony Pan, CEO and Co-Founder of Modern Hydrogen: “Our biggest value is speed of decarbonization, because we can skip infrastructure changes. Instead of changing all their pipes to become compatible with pure hydrogen, utilities can add our box at the end of the pipe, and the box strips out the carbon (C) as a solid out from the natural gas (CH4) molecules, leaving only clean hydrogen (H) for the end user. Then we sell and permanently sequester that solid carbon in roads.” The proposition that the easiest way to transport hydrogen is to simply transport natural gas instead is an intriguing one. Lindsey Motlow, a Senior Research Associate and Physicist on the Sustainability and Energy Transition team with Darcy Partners, effectively summarizes many of the potential advantages of this approach and the progress being made on implementing it. “The Preliminary Acceptance test and implementation of Modern Hydrogen’s methane pyrolysis technology with Northwest Natural represents a pioneering milestone with distributed pyrolysis technology directly integrating with an operating gas system. Methane pyrolysis produces what is known as “turquoise” hydrogen; it is a hydrogen production pathway with the potential of low-to-negative carbon intensity. This hydrogen production method takes advantage of existing asset bases and workforces by use of hydrocarbon feedstock. Given the engineering and cost hurdles associated with large scale hydrogen production, storage, and transport, the commercial maturation of distributed “turquoise” hydrogen presents a compelling solution for on-site decarbonization, especially to customers connected to existing natural gas infrastructure.”

The hydrogen heating startup, which rebranded from Modern Electron in May, plans to complete the move to its new HQ location during the first quarter of 2024.

Turquoise hydrogen also comes from natural gas. But this H2 is split from methane’s carbon atoms in a different way. It’s known as pyrolysis. Here, high heat breaks down methane into H2 and solid carbon. The solid carbon would not go into the air. So it would not add to global warming. And the carbon could be used for other things, like making tires or parking lots. Pyrolysis can be done in an industrial setting as natural gas comes into a facility. So it wouldn’t need new pipelines, says Mack Hopen. He’s at Modern Hydrogen in Bothell, Wash. There, he works to get turquoise hydrogen into commercial markets. However, there would still be some methane leaks from getting methane to an industrial plant. And the process still is costly. But some say the technology could act as a bridge from fossil fuels to a H2 economy. A team at the Max Planck Institute in Mülheim, Germany, shared that view in 2021.