The Challenge 

In realizing the energy transition, new sustainable energy carriers are needed. Hydrogen has emerged as an important candidate. Hydrogen can be generated with sustainable energy and can be widely applied, for example, in industry, mobility and heating of homes. Hydrogen has great potential as a sustainable energy carrier. Storing & transporting hydrogen, however, is complicated. It is a flammable and light gas must be stored under high pressure or in an inefficient liquid form. It can cause hydrogen attack, and storage takes up a lot of space. Therefore, hydrogen storage also becomes expensive.

The Solution

SOLID proposes a revolutionary way to store hydrogen: Iron-Based Hydrogen Storage (IRHYS). By making use of steam and iron, hydrogen can be created with the only byproduct being rust and heat. By regenerating the rust with hydrogen, a completely circular, compact, safe and energy efficient hydrogen storage method is created. This academic year, SOLID is developing one critical part of the entire IRHYS value chain: “Extracting” hydrogen from the iron and steam. This is the Steam Iron step. A world’s first proof-of-concept installation able to produce 1 kg H2 per cycle will be built, highlighting the potential of the technology.

The Mission

We are working on the ecosystem for iron as a sustainable energy carrier. By creating this revolutionary way to story hydrogen we aim to enable access to clean and renewable energy for anyone at any time and expand the Iron Fuel landscape.

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