[Mar. 19, 2023: JD Shavit, The Brighter Side of News]
Enapter says its electrolyser uses about 2.4 liters of water to generate enough hydrogen for a couple’s home for several days. (Credit: Creative Commons)
Emission-free hydrogen could, one day, replace fossil fuels entirely – and a German start-up thinks it has the key ingredient to make it accessible to everyone.
Born on a South Pacific island affected by climate change, Vaitea Cowan is a strong believer in green hydrogen technology. She co-founded Enapter over three years ago.
“I wanted to replace all the diesel generators in New Caledonia and all the remote areas that didn’t need to rely on dirty diesel,” she explains.
“But then, realizing the potential of green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels, I wanted to be part of that change.”
Green solutions will only be adopted if they are the most economically attractive. And it’s our one-afternoon mission to make green hydrogen competitive with fossil fuels.
| Vaitea Cowan, Co-Founder, Enapter
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Based in Germany, the company has deployed its ion exchange membrane electrolyzers in more than 100 projects in 33 countries. The technology transforms renewable electricity into emission-free hydrogen gas.
Developed faster and cheaper than previously thought, the AEM electrolyser is already powering cars and planes, powering industry and heating homes.
Enapter’s hydrogen generators recently won the Prince William Earthshot Award in the “Fix Our Climate” category.
What is green hydrogen?
Much of the planet’s hydrogen is trapped in water. So-called “green” hydrogen is a means of extracting it without emissions. This extraction relies on renewable energy, which is used to power the electrolysis. Electrolysis is the chemical process required to separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water.
Electrolyser producer AEM Enapter (WKN A255G0) has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the world’s most innovative companies for 2022. (CREDIT: Enapter)
Extracting hydrogen in this way has been criticized for its low efficiency and high cost. Enapter, however, claims that its AEM electrolyser solves these problems and provides a quick and easy way to generate green energy, even at home.
Half the water used to flush a toilet can power a home for days
Enapter says its electrolyser uses about 2.4 liters of water to generate enough hydrogen for a couple’s home for several days.
Enapter is experiencing strong demand for its AEM electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen. Enapter’s solutions are used in a large and growing number of customer projects in 52 countries around the world. (CREDIT: Enapter)
However, the exact number of days depends on the energy storage capacity. This amount of water is equal to half the water used for a flush once (5 liters), and eight times less than the water consumption of a dishwasher (20 liters).
Enapter recently joined seven other leading European cleantech companies to announce the formation of a new Cleantech Scale-up Coalition, with the aim of helping Europe become climate neutral, energy self-sufficient and industrially competitive.
The coalition is backed by Bill Gates, founder of Breakthrough Energy and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, both present at the event.
Members of the Cleantech Scale-up Coalition are companies that develop and industrialize technologies to help Europe become climate neutral, energy self-sufficient and industrially competitive. Their products and services range from decarbonizing industry and energy with renewable hydrogen to producing scalable low-carbon cement; from the electrification of transport to the recycling of materials and batteries.
By 2050, Enapter hopes to produce 10% of the world’s hydrogen.
For more environmental news, see our Green Impact section on The bright side of the news.
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