Carbon Zero energy? What is greener than solar and wind? Hydrogen + Nuclear power! (Part 1)
Carbon Zero energy? What is greener than solar and wind? Hydrogen + Nuclear power! (Part 1)
There is a celebrity couple about to be more famous than Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin... The hydrogen + nuclear couple... An upcoming revolution about to accelerate our cities' decarbonization.
In 2022, the rising trend of inflation coupled with tremendous increases in energy costs has caused disruption to every household around the globe. For consumers, inflation coming in the same winter as Ukraine War meant energy bills dramatically increased and as a result, much harder to live their day-to-day.
This year, some people in the UK even started to cut trees in their gardens, like their ancestors did, to save a few bucks on their energy bills. For investors thinking outside of the fence, this means there is no better time for the market to welcome cheaper, alternative, and decentralized sources of energy… And here are a few good ones our research team has got for you!
What’s up for the near future of cheap/green energy?
I hard about Green hydrogen… and nuclear power… So, what are the out-of-the-box alternatives that could breed unicorn companies?
In France, there are 15 famous Nuclear Power Plants preparing to produce at-scale Green Hydrogen, in fact, this year, President Macron unveiled a plan to invest $30b USD next decade to make France the world leader in Green hydrogen and nuclear power.
The majority of hydrogen today is produced using fossil fuels. But there is now a wide range of carbon-free and low-carbon production methods for hydrogen. One way to produce hydrogen without emissions is through low- and high-temperature electrolysis by splitting water into pure hydrogen and oxygen. Powered by nuclear power, high-temperature electrolyzers can use heat and electricity to separate water and are more efficient, calling it Green Hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is ready to play a major role in global emissions reductions by 2030. According to Cepsa's chief executive Maarten Wetselaar, the Spanish oil giant aims to invest $3.1 billion in a green hydrogen project in Andalusia, southern Spain.
According to market analysts Aurora, the global pipeline for electrolyzers reached 340GW in February, with 200GW of that amount in Europe. By the year 2030, they predict that increased electrolyzer use will reduce the price of green hydrogen to that of blue hydrogen, with Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom having the lowest costs due to their large renewable energy capacity.
However, nations with a wealth of inexpensive renewable resources will be the most desirable locations to create electrolytic hydrogen. The Middle East, Africa, the United States, and Australia are a few of these.
During Cop27, both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency emphasized the critical role that nuclear power and green hydrogen will have to play in achieving net zero targets to fulfill the 660 million tonnes of CO2 emission reductions per year.
We are investing in the Teslas of nuclear power
Atlas Capital recently invested in Avalanche energy, but we also wanted to share with you some of the landscape our portfolio company is playing in…
Company name: Avalanche Energy
Founded: 2013
Location: Seattle, Washington
What they do: A fusion energy start-up with venture capital funding. They develop, test, and manufacture portable micro fusion reactors. Infinite power applications and an unheard-of energy density are made possible by their modular reactor architecture, which will supply clean energy and help the earth become carbon neutral.
Funded: $23.4M
Company name: General Fusion
Founded: 2002
Location: Burnaby, Canada
What they do: General Fusion develops utility-scale fusion power using a new, patent-pending concept based on recent developments in Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF). MTF has been relatively unexplored by the fusion community since the 1970s, but if proven it would provide a practical near-term path to fusion energy. It is the goal of General Fusion to demonstrate and commercialize this new clean, safe, and economical concept by the end of the decade.
Funded: $332.1M
Company name: CTFusion
Founded: 2015
Location: Seattle, Washington, United States
What they do: CTFusion is a company dedicated to the commercialization of fusion energy. Our competitive advantage, Imposed Dynamo Current Drive, will allow us to offer the benefits of fusion energy for near the price of natural gas.
Funded: $3.2M
Company name: Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS)
Founded: 2017
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
What they do: Commonwealth Fusion is a research company that develops energy through an inexhaustible power plant. It uses rare-earth barium copper oxide superconductor technology to develop energy. They combine proven physics backed by decades of government-funded fusion research with a revolutionary superconducting magnet technology to accelerate the path to commercial fusion energy.
Funded: $2B
Company name: Zap Energy
Founded: 2017
Location: Seattle, Washington, United States
What they do: Zap Energy's fusion reactor stabilizes plasma using sheared flows rather than magnetic fields. Driving electric current through the flow creates the magnetic field, which confines and compresses the plasma. The higher the current, the greater the pressure and density in the plasma. Zap Energy's reactor is the least expensive, most compact, and most scalable solution with the shortest path to commercially viable fusion.
Funded: $202.8 M
Company name: Helion Energy
Founded: 2013
Location: Greater Seattle Area, West Coast, Western US
What they do: Helion is a fusion power company focused on generating zero-carbon electricity from fusion. By building on the successes of its latest fusion prototypes, Helion is building the world’s first fusion electricity demonstration facility. Their pulsed non-ignition technology will be capable of low-cost 24/7 power generation that replaces the energy sources the world currently relies on, enabling a future with limitless, reliable, and affordable clean electricity.
Funded: $577.8 M
PS: If you are interested in this topic of nuclear power and hydrogen, stay tuned for the January edition of our newsletter (Part 2!) where we will do a deep dive into Green hydrogen startups we have come across!
At Atlas Capital, we do not only focus on new technologies, but we also aim to revolutionize traditional industries into greener, decarbonized ones. We believe that by bringing entrepreneurs, and investors together, we can ride that trillion-dollar market tsunami while returning huge ROI to our limited partners and saving gigatons of CO2. If you believe that now is the time your investments can build a zero-carbon world for your children… Join Atlas Capital, today.
We use publicly available sources to write this research paper. References can be found here, here, here, here, and here
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