Project description
Carbon-free alternative for the transition to a hydrogen economy
In recent years, there has been a growing need for decarbonisation in a wider effort to mitigate climate change. Hydrogen is one of the most important energy vectors that could be used to achieve this goal: with three times more energy density by weight than gasoline, it can play a strategic role in the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Unfortunately, its transport and storage present great challenges as currently they aren't very safe or economical. The EU-funded HYDROSIL project aims to overcome these challenges by developing a novel hydrogen carrier made of a liquid silicon hydride derivative. The new carrier will be non-toxic, non-explosive and therefore safe, while also allowing the on-demand release of hydrogen on-site.
Objective
Hydrogen is an excellent energy vector with nearly 3 times more energy density by weight (120 MJ/kg) than gasoline. It plays a strategic role in energy transition, being essential to achieve the decarbonisation objectives. But the big challenge that hinders the deployment of hydrogen as a real solution for zero-emissions mobility is how to transport and storage big quantities in a safe and economic way.
Our company HySiLabs has developed and patented an innovative hydrogen carrier called “HydroSil”, a liquid silicon hydride derivative, which is stable, non-toxic, non-explosive and non-dangerous. It enables to release hydrogen at the consumption site easily, on-demand and without any external energy input. Furthermore, it can be reused as many times as desired.
HydroSil is aimed to big energy companies aiming to supply hydrogen to the market. This solution allows them to use the existing logistic infrastructure for fossil fuel, thus revolutionising the hydrogen delivery sector. Its high hydrogen content enables to transport 7 times more H2 per truck than with high-pressure H2 gas, drastically reducing the operational costs and the related emissions. Our innovation will have a disruptive impact in the mobility sector as it has the potential to remove the barriers that currently prevent a wide deployment of hydrogen-based applications by tackling safety, regulatory and supply chain issues. Moreover, HydroSil is a unique carbon-free solution, suitable for onboard applications in heavy mobility (trucks, trains, maritime, etc.).
HySiLabs was created with the objective of developing and exploiting this new technology which is based in a recent scientific discovery. Properly industrialised, it has all the ingredients to become a game changer in hydrogen distribution industry, enabling the deployment of a hydrogen economy. With a business model based in revenues mainly from royalties and technical support, our baseline scenario foresees revenues over €82 million in 2030.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsliquid fuels
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloids
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energyhydrogen energy
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
13100 Aix-En-Provence
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.