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PURE HYDROGEN CORPORATION (PH2) - Revolutionizing Clean Energy: Pure Hydrogen Corporation's Scott Brown on Modular Green Hydrogen Plants and Strategic Partnerships

July 22, 2024 • Andrew Musgrave

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Curious about how the future of clean energy is being shaped right now? Join us on ASX Briefs as we sit down with Scott Brown, Managing Director of Pure Hydrogen Corporation, a visionary in the hydrogen fuel sector. Scott unveils the transformative technologies and ambitious projects his company is spearheading, from modular green hydrogen production plants to hydrogen-powered vehicles like buses and garbage trucks. You'll gain exclusive insights into their zero-emission solutions and innovative waste management strategies, which are set to revolutionize the hydrogen economy and create a sustainable energy landscape.

Scott also shares the exciting collaborations Pure Hydrogen has forged with industry leaders like H-Drive and H2X Global, partnerships that are essential in driving the advancements of hydrogen fuel cell technology. Learn about their global distribution rights and the promising markets they are eyeing, such as the United States with its substantial subsidies. Whether you're an energy enthusiast or just curious about the future of sustainable technology, this episode will leave you inspired by the potential of hydrogen to power a greener world.

Andrew Musgrave:

Welcome back to ASX Briefs, and today we're joined by Scott Brown, the Managing Director of Pure Hydrogen Corporation, who are pioneering the hydrogen fuel sector in Australia and developing an integrated suite of hydrogen-related technologies, including fuel cells, vehicles and hydrogen production facilities. In today's episode we'll discuss how the company is shaping the hydrogen economy, the latest technological advancements and the impact of their initiatives on the industry and on the environment. Scott, thanks for joining us today and welcome to the podcast.

Scott Brown:

No, thank you.

Andrew Musgrave:

Now if you can just give us a brief overview of Pure Hydrogen, your current projects and your strategic vision for the company.

Scott Brown:

Yeah, so Pure Hydrogen has been listed for over four years now. We started off initially as two gas companies and we still do have some legacy natural gas assets, but our primary focus is on hydrogen gas and, in particular, two elements to our business. One is hydrogen fuel cell technology and building devices that really work with hydrogen using fuel cell, and the whole idea behind fuel cell is that it can convert hydrogen to electricity and then you can power up that device and, in particular, trucks and buses. And then the other aspect of our hydrogen business is hydrogen production and distribution, and that's making hydrogen and then distributing it to customers. So that's really the encapsulation of what we're trying to do, and we think the hydrogen sector has a big role to play, not only in Australia but globally in the energy sector.

Andrew Musgrave:

Okay, and now you're developing modular green hydrogen production plants, so can you just explain how these plants actually work and the technology behind them?

Scott Brown:

Okay, so the technology has actually been around for a long time. So essentially we're looking to make hydrogen three different ways. One is what's known as green hydrogen and that's using electrolysis having an electrolyser that essentially converts water into different components, being hydrogen and oxygen. That technology, as I said, has been around a long time. It's very proven. So we think it's a good way to start and we would use what's known as alkaline technology for for that. But we also are looking for other methods of making hydrogen.

Scott Brown:

This is notably turquoise hydrogen and emerald hydrogen. Turquoise is essentially taking natural gas, converting the natural gas, to hydrogen and carbon. The carbon becomes graphene. Graphene is a very high value product per kilogram, so we'd be able to sell those different components and, importantly, have zero emissions. So it's quite an innovative way of doing it. We own 40% of a company called Turquoise Group, but we do have the rights to all the hydrogen that they eventually produce. And the other method I mentioned, Emerald Hydrogen. That involves taking waste streams and converting waste streams to hydrogen. There are some other products as well and, importantly, with waste, it's a big problem for a lot of governments around Australia that are looking to have gate fees on waste that goes into landfill. So this is a way you can divert waste from landfill and then end up with a really good product that could drive the energy for a lot of different devices.

Andrew Musgrave:

And the company's been active in vehicle development, including buses and waste trucks, so can you discuss the technologies involved in these hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and your distribution rights across various global regions?

Scott Brown:

Yeah, sure. So we invested in a company called H-Drive. We've invested in both H-Drive and H2X Global. So H-Drive are developing or have developed a garbage truck. Essentially, as I mentioned earlier, it's taking hydrogen. The hydrogen is converted through a fuel cell into electricity and that electricity then drives the truck and so we have a truck going into service with JJ Waste up in Queensland. But we've also signed deals with Solo and we're looking at putting one in one of the trucks into service in South Australia in Adelaide, one of the councils down there. We're also looking at a council in Victoria and also a rubbish truck in northern New South Wales. So all those would be hydrogen fuel cell trucks. The distribution rights we've got global rights to that so Pure Hydrogen can sell that globally. We think there's a big market globally for hydrogen fuel cell garbage trucks, particularly in places like the United States where they have very generous subsidies up to $240,000 US per truck in places like California.

Scott Brown:

So that's an extremely attractive market to target.

Andrew Musgrave:

And I was just going to say can you elaborate on any partnerships you have and how they are pivotal in advancing the fuel cell technologies.

Scott Brown:

prime

Scott Brown:

the most well-known, or certainly the largest, fuel cell company in the world, so we've been working well with them. So we put their fuel cells both in a garbage truck and also a prime mover. So we brought a prime mover to Australia, as that PrimeMover is being deployed into Pepsi. But we're actively talking with a range of other companies that are keen to have zero emissions vehicles in their fleet and would like to have a hydrogen fuel cell one.

Andrew Musgrave:

Now can we also just touch on the challenges that you face in the adoption of hydrogen technologies and how the company is addressing those challenges.

Scott Brown:

Yeah, probably the biggest thing with hydrogen people need to understand is the storage and transport.

Scott Brown:

Making hydrogen is actually only one of the costs. Probably a bigger cost is in the storage and transporting, and hence that's why we think we see a decentralised model where you have smaller plants that are close to customers, where you can cut down on the storage and transport and the overall effect will be, you know, a lower cost for those customers. Right now we're looking at different technology for storage Storage. You know the storage tanks that we use in the trucks and buses, what's known as type four. That could store more hydrogen and also be a lighter weight by using different materials, so that they can still maintain integrity, but stronger and lighter, which is, you know, one of the interesting things about the whole technology and how it's all converging. So hydrogen's been around for a long time. It's always shown a lot of promise, but I think the technology is now at a stage where it can be mass adopted, and that's really what we're looking to do to mass adopt this technology not only in Australia but globally.

Andrew Musgrave:

And just to wrap things up, are there any new markets or technologies you're looking to explore, and also what w wha re what are some of the key milestones you're looking to achieve a in the next a to 18 months?

Scott Brown:

So, just where I mentioned about the storage capacity, one of the interesting things is potentially using graphene, and that is coming from our investment in Turquoise Group. So looking at using that unique material, which is a fantastic material that can make very strong stuff but very lightweight at the same time, looking to use that in cylinders and improving the whole ecosystem and in terms of the vehicles, they're a tremendous industry advances. So we're building off really what started from an EV or a battery electric suite and we've been able to electrify the whole truck and bus platforms so that they can then have everything powered up using the fuel cell, particularly applications like the garbage truck, where you could have end-to-end, where certainly the truck has a lot of advantages over battery electric in that you're using multiple loads. So in a garbage truck you're picking up a bin, you're compacting it and you're also moving from A to B.

Scott Brown:

So hydrogen electric is a really sensible way to go and I think the pricing of fuel cells is certainly coming down. As they come down, you'll see more and more deployment and they'll become much more economic. Um, so we we can see a, a road map where this technology is mass adopted and you can really phase out anything that's currently run on diesel can be run on hydrogen, and that that's really going to be the future and that's why we're we're very positive positive about the future deployment of hydrogen in the transport sector and also static electricity requirements. So I think there's certainly some pretty exciting things happening, not only in our company but across the industry.

Andrew Musgrave:

Well, Scott, thanks for your time today. It's been great to chat, to get an update on what's happening at the company, and we look forward to further updates from Pure Hydrogen in the coming months.

Scott Brown:

Yeah, no, thanks very much for your time. Thanks, Andrew.

Andrew Musgrave:

That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs. Don't forget to subscribe and we look forward to catching you on our next episode.