Transform Materials' onsite hydrogen production tech selected for Hyzon Motors back-to-base applications
Back in 2020, when Transform Materials announced its breakthrough technology that converts natural gas into hydrogen and acetylene, the company identified heavy trucks used in back-to-base operations such as recycling centers as a target market for onsite hydrogen production. The back-to-base model is simple: the truck starts and ends at the same point: the refueling station.
Today, that prediction became a reality, with Hyzon Motors' announcement that it will work with Transform Materials to develop facilities that produce low-to-negative carbon intensity hydrogen from various forms of methane, prioritizing biogas and renewable natural gas.
Transform Materials is an ideal partner for Hyzon. Its clean plasma technology can convert methane into hydrogen and acetylene without the CO2 emissions that result from traditional processes for generating hydrogen and acetylene. Utilizing this flexible, readily available feedstock without emitting CO2 results in low-to-negative carbon intensity hydrogen for powering Hyzon’s zero-emissions vehicles.
Hyzon and Transform Materials will seek to align hydrogen production with the accelerating demand created by Hyzon’s heavy-duty vehicles. Production hubs would be located and sized to fulfill existing and potential customer needs, leading to high utilization by Hyzon’s back-to-base vehicle deployments.
How the back-to-base approach overcomes the hydrogen refueling roadblock
The transportation sector moves economies but is one of the bigger culprits when it comes to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for over 16% of all global emissions. In the U.S., the transportation sector accounts for 29% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, the most of any sector. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles account for 23% of these emissions.
Hydrogen plays an important role in the decarbonization of the transportation sector as a clean, simple and sustainable fuel. Hyzon fuel cell vehicles are near silent and only emit water vapor, eliminating the need for heavy diesel vehicles. However, one of the biggest challenges in widespread Hydrogen adoption is refueling infrastructure. That’s where Transform Materials comes in: it enables Hyzon to place refueling stations anywhere where there’s a supply of natural gas.
“Transform Materials offers a sustainable alternative for utilizing traditional hydrocarbon feedstocks such as natural gas and biogas. Transform’s innovative technology avoids combustion entirely by turning these abundant resources into hydrogen, a carbon-free fuel, and into useful building-blocks for important industrial chemicals. Working with Hyzon, we can de-carbonize two major industries at once: the transportation industry with our clean hydrogen, and the chemical manufacturing industry with our clean acetylene.”
Results: media coverage in key trade media
