The Gold Hydrogen Program, a coalition of organizations seeking to support the scale of this clean energy resource, announced its launch — and the debut of a pilot microbial Gold Hydrogen Process — during this week's 2nd American Hydrogen Forum.
A joint industry partnership to commercialize clean, gold hydrogen, the program's founding members include Cemvita Factory (innovator in low-carbon microbial solutions for energy and mining resource extraction, production, and renewal), and Chart Industries, Inc. (a leader in clean energy solutions). Other collaborators include EXP (a global engineering and consulting firm); and The Center for Houston's Future (a nonprofit organization devoted to fact-based strategic planning, collaboration, and action on issues of great importance to the long-term future of Houston).
Hydrogen can be naturally occurring or manufactured and when burned, its only byproduct is water. At almost double the efficiency of conventional fuel, it is a prized source of clean energy. However, conventional hydrogen production is energy-intensive; thus, hydrogen products are classified by colors — green, blue, grey, brown, and more — that describe the process used for creation (including electrolysis, steam-methane, oil, or coal production methods).
Found naturally deep in the Earth, "gold hydrogen" is an unparalleled resource that until now, has been cost-prohibitive to extract and not commercially viable. However, this could change with new subsurface biomanufacturing techniques, spearheaded by Cemvita, that hold the promise for efficient and clean extraction.
With the potential to revitalize and remediate thousands of depleted, abandoned oil and gas reservoirs around the country, the extraction techniques meld existing infrastructure with cutting-edge microbiology to scale clean energy solutions quickly while creating new revenue streams for heavy industry companies.
Gold Hydrogen presents a unique opportunity for innovative companies to serve and thrive in the transition to a clean economy. Replete with assets and infrastructure, skilled workforces, and global footprints, these companies can be leaders at a time when ambitious climate action is dramatically increasing demand for energy, resources, and minerals. But this will not be possible without scalable innovations to rapidly reduce the carbon footprint of operations."
Moji Karimi, CEO of Cemvita Factory
"Microbiology shows incredible potential for unlocking the promise of Gold Hydrogen in a clean, efficient way," said Zach Broussard, Head of Petroleum Microbiology at Cemvita and Gold Hydrogen Program Manager. "Through this program, we are looking forward to collaborating with companies who value innovation and are committed to leading the clean energy transition."
"The need for innovative energy solutions is paramount as the world continues to shift towards green energy. To help clients achieve their goals of outcome-focused, safe, and achievable energy solutions, we joined Cemvita and partners on this important initiative," says EXP's Business Development Director, Energy Services L.J. Guillotte.
"Cemvita Factory's work on building an alliance to commercialize Gold Hydrogen and to transform heavy industries for a net-zero economy shows how Houston companies can lead in low-carbon energy innovation," said Brett Perlman, CEO of the Center for Houston's Future. "The Center is creating a coalition of stakeholders, including Cemvita and its partners, committed to developing the Houston region as a clean hydrogen hub. Cemvita's work illustrates how Houston's deep energy industry expertise can drive this effort."
"We continue to believe that innovation and collaboration are critical to the future of hydrogen and the accomplishment of private and public carbon emission reduction goals," stated Jill Evanko, CEO of Chart Industries. "Cemvita has a unique approach to this, and we are pleased to partner with another application that is likely to utilize Chart hydrogen and cryogenic equipment."
Through the Gold Hydrogen Program, member companies collaborate to generate gold hydrogen cleanly, efficiently, and at scale to meet rising global demand. Program members receive early access to IP at preferential rates, and participation in the group is capped at ten members.
About Cemvita Factory
Cemvita Factory, Inc, is on a mission to reimagine the heavy industries such as Oil and Gas and mining for the net-zero economy. This is done by sustainable extraction of natural resources, low-carbon production of chemicals, and closed-loop renewal of waste as feedstock.
About Chart Industries, Inc.
Chart Industries, Inc. is a leading independent global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment servicing multiple applications in the Energy and Industrial Gas markets. Our unique product portfolio is used in every phase of the liquid gas supply chain, including upfront engineering, service and repair. Being at the forefront of the clean energy transition, Chart is a leading provider of technology, equipment and services related to liquefied natural gas, hydrogen, biogas and CO2 Capture amongst other applications. We are committed to excellence in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues both for our company as well as our customers. With over 25 global locations from the United States to Asia, Australia, India, Europe and South America, we maintain accountability and transparency to our team members, suppliers, customers and communities.
About EXP
With a mission to understand, innovate, partner and deliver, EXP provides engineering, architecture, design and consulting services to the world's built and natural environments. Our heritage dates back to 1906, when the earliest of EXP's predecessor companies started its engineering infrastructure practice.
Today, thousands of EXP professionals across North America provide the passion and experience needed to deliver successful projects around the world.
About Center for Houston's Future
Center for Houston's Future is a 21-year-old nonprofit that brings business, government, and community stakeholders together to engage in fact-based strategic planning, collaboration and action on issues of great importance to the region.