Ep. 360: Is today finally hydrogen's day?

Guest: Jessica Verhagen, Hydra Energy

To say hydrogen’s day has been coming for a long time is an understatement.

It was discovered by Henry Cavendish in 1766 and it was quickly identified as the most abundant chemical substance in the universe – the entire universe. In other words, there is no “peak hydrogen.” We can use the stuff forever and we can use it to store energy and to fuel transportation. And maybe, just maybe, today is the day hydrogen takes centre stage as the fuel of choice.

In transportation, the electrification of heavy vehicles and service vehicles like taxis and police cars and delivery trucks just isn’t practical. The practical alternative is hydrogen. Practical is so many ways such as storage, storage capacity in the vehicle, the fact that hydrogen and gas mix. Heck, hydrogen and methane mix and so does hydrogen and diesel.

And the sources of hydrogen are ubiquitous – they are everywhere. With that said, in a world that is endeavouring to lower GHGs, green hydrogen is treasured. That means the electricity used to produce the hydrogen is, well, green. Well, what about waste by product hydrogen – the hydrogen you can produce using landfill waste? Not only do you reduce methane emissions from landfills, but you also create clean burning hydrogen.

It’s an exciting new world. But wait – there’s the challenge of switching vehicles from diesel or gas to hydrogen. That can be costly. And who do you turn to and how does it work? Enter British Columbia-based Hydra Energy, which offers hydrogen to trucking fleets as a service.

We invited Jessica Verhagen, the CEO of Hydra Energy, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about hydrogen’s role in a low carbon world.