Southern Company Gas, Electro-Active Technologies and T2M Global collaborate on clean hydrogen technology

A new project announced this week will see Southern Company Gas, Electro-Active Technologies, and T2M Global partner on developing a technology capable of producing clean hydrogen from waste.

With $1 million in support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the project will approach this from two angles: advancing next-generation clean hydrogen technologies outright and supporting Southern Company’s Hydrogen Energy EarthShot initiative. The latter is an effort to reduce costs and risks while speeding the development and demonstration of high-efficiency, low-cost renewable hydrogen generation for transportation and distributed energy applications.

“Southern Company is committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its enterprise-wide operations, including Southern Company Gas, by 2050,” Robin Lanier, renewable gas director for Southern Company Gas, said. “Having a diverse portfolio of clean fuels is key, and we see great potential in hydrogen technologies. We are excited for this opportunity to work with our partners and the DOE in advancing the wet waste-to-clean hydrogen pathway and to help bring the hydrogen economy to reality.”

Hydrogen Energy EarthShot intends to eventually remove barriers to the commercialization of clean hydrogen as a fuel source. This project, in concert with the other companies, will seek to draw its power source from food waste, specifically pulled from landfills. Waste generators will ideally have a new way to divert large volumes of food waste from landfills while complying with local regulations. Along the way, it will also aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both the food value and transportation sectors by tapping into biology and electrochemistry options to break products down and generate hydrogen from small external voltage.

Southern Company will take the lead on the project, but it will use core technology from Electro-Active Technologies. T2M Global will further matters through investigations into end-use applications such as fuel cell testing.