Well, navigating through the topic of hydrogen isn't always easy! So, we've compiled some information to make things clearer for you.
Every hero has an extraordinary story, and this is even more true of our hydrogen heroes. So here is the story of Flore de Durfort, CEO & Co-founder of Atmen (previously Point Twelve), a SaaS platform that enables goods producers to certify their green production.
I have always been passionate about the energy transition. I studied energy markets and their regulation. And then I spent 10 years working for major electricity and gas producers and resellers, between Europe and the United States.
In this sector, I have always had a strong appetite for new business development and sales. And in 2017, I took a very tech and data turn: before founding Atmen, I was in charge of data monetization for E.ON, in a data team of 80 people.
I worked at the crossroads of the gas, electricity and carbon markets, so all the ingredients were there for me to get into hydrogen!
Right from the start, I was driven by the fact that hydrogen is essential for decarbonizing industry. It has its place in the energy transition, alongside renewable electricity and carbon capture. And industry is going to have to produce, sell and buy certified low-carbon products - without it becoming a gas factory!
With Atmen, we are working to rethink low-carbon certification. Our focus is hydrogen, because it is an extremely interesting practical case for our vision: the automation of certification.
Today, certification is far too archaic!
If we stay with a twentieth-century system, I see two major problems:
- A lot of time and money will be wasted on this. Verifying production, of hydrogen for example, requires a lot of manual data entry by on-site agents and, on top of that, audits which are both costly and less efficient than our continuous, real-time analysis solution (an audit only records a production sample).
On top of that, we are also losing time with the competition that exists today between different labels, and this fragmentation is dangerous. For example, imagine a green hydrogen producer in Spain who wants to export to another European country: right now, not all countries have the same certification system, so other countries don't necessarily "recognize" foreign certifications. That's why at Atmen we offer a digital passport per batch, which can be integrated into national registers as our projects progress. The aim is to automate certification across borders.
- There is a risk that players will lose confidence in less-than-transparent certifications. Today, there are few simple, reliable ways of proving that you are really producing something renewable and green. A lot of public money is being invested, many customers are interested in this subject, and the slightest failure on the part of one player could have an impact on all the others. Our solution is there to maximize the confidence of consumers, the regulator and the producers themselves in the sustainability of what they produce.
My daily battle: evangelism! A lot of people wonder why hydrogen has not taken off yet? Well, we have been talking about it for a long time now, and some people have been disappointed by a few announcements. Every day I bring them factual arguments to say that we have no choice but to turn to hydrogen, that it is not a gadget solution.
And then there are all those who are just starting out with hydrogen and don't yet understand the regulatory issues. We need to explain to them the complexity of the regulations (with the new European regulations on renewable fuels, we are reaching a level never before seen in oil and gas or electricity), the technical complexity of implementation and, above all, the financial impact.
If hydrogen isn't green, it will not be in demand, and it will not be subsidized.
Every customer and every investor convinced that it is now and with us - it gives us tremendous energy. We are in the process of completing a fund-raising round that will enable us to redouble our efforts to get our decarbonized gas and fuel activities off the ground. We are succeeding more and more in making people understand that this certification issue needs to be tackled head-on now, that in 2 years of time it will be too late, and that we need to tackle it in a new way. Awareness is gradually building: customers are asking for it, regulators are asking for it, investors are asking for it... the subject is hot, and we have a solution!
Two things: "Just do it" and "Look for partners whose values are close to your own".
To elaborate a little, I find that the best way to convince is often to do, to take action as quickly as possible. Going fast means working first not necessarily with the "big names", but with partners who share the same values, the same vision and the same "doer" mindset.
Eric Baleviez is the Commercial and Services Director at Safra. After 30 years of experience in urban mobility, first as a user (operator) and then as an electric vehicle manufacturer, Eric decided to join the hydrogen sector at Safra.
Originally, Safra was a bodywork company that gradually shifted towards vehicle renovation. The desire to extend the lifespan of vehicles has been part of the company's DNA since the beginning.
In 2011, the current President, who was then an engineer, Vincent Lemaire, decided to embark on the great adventure of building electric and then hydrogen buses. After an initial Businova, which was very groundbreaking for its time, they switched to "bus start-up" mode to design and build vehicles that meet high standards in terms of safety, performance, equipment, and certification.
Today, they have also integrated Retrofit activity into their range. It was a logical progression to combine their expertise in renovation and hydrogen innovation.
Our first hydrogen Businova was designed by only about ten people! It was the starting point of the great story that we writing now.
Today, there are about 20,000 buses running in France. Among them, 35 run on hydrogen, including 23 from Safra. It's a great source of pride!
Throughout my career, I realized that the way hydrogen vehicles are manufactured and sold needs to be revised to reduce their cost of ownership. A hydrogen vehicle costs more to buy than a diesel vehicle, but in the long run, you can play with technical elements or operating methods to reduce overall costs.
That's how I switched to the manufacturing side.
And then, I fell in love with Safra's story, a French, human-sized company with a strong desire to invigorate our territories. We are actually the only 100% French player since we carry out studies, design, and construction in France (we even use a French fuel cell).
Finally, I work with passionate people of all ages and experiences, which is very stimulating!
When you get into hydrogen, you often face many obstacles, whether they be financial or regulatory, for example, but also mentalities that are still skeptical about this energy vector. It's a daily struggle to move forward, step by step.
I also fight against an aging industrial environment, very routine, and full of historical rules.
With Safra and generally all hydrogen players, we try to shake things up! That's what drives us!
Hydrogen should be part of a mix and combined with other forms of mobility, such as electric, for example. Hydrogen won't solve all problems, but it's an essential key to the ecological transition, yes.
When I see how fast we are moving forward every day at Safra, I am hopeful that we will leave a great legacy of what we are building in 50 years. We have already laid the foundations, and the outlines of the puzzle, now we just have to put the pieces in the middle.
I think hydrogen contributes to addressing the major challenges of our time:
My first piece of advice is to evaluate whether hydrogen is really the right solution for your problem. For example, in passenger transport, it could be the perfect solution if you want to transport more people over longer distances.
My second piece of advice is to think in terms of an ecosystem. For example, if you want to switch to hydrogen and know that your product and service ranges will expand, then take advantage of that by converting other vehicles to hydrogen as well. This could include light utility vehicles. This allows you to use the production station for multiple purposes.
Every hero has an extraordinary story – this is that of Elisabeth Ausimour, President of the Products division at Manitou Group, which added the “hydrogen” string to its bow two years ago.
I am in charge of all products developed by the Group (telehandlers, aerial work platforms, forklifts, loaders...). We naturally have a large diesel range, but we have very strong ambitions for electric and, since two years ago, hydrogen is now also part of our strategy to offer a complete zero-emissions range.
It was our very strong CSR commitments that put us on the hydrogen trail. Under this policy, switching our transmission systems to electric and hydrogen have become priorities for us. We see hydrogen as an incredible opportunity, as this energy carrier offers an answer to two performance issues for our machines and handling vehicles – that of power and range.For me, what is also really interesting with this energy is the systemic approach that can be developed around it. We can be green and virtuous from end to end and act locally. Lhyfe produces green and renewable hydrogen, our customers use it locally and the only vehicle emissions are water! This is how we are working today near the first production site in Bouin with our first prototype hydrogen-powered telehandler.
At Manitou Group, the aim is for over 40% of products sold to be zero emission in 2030. We are already well on our way to achieving our ambition, as in 2022, the share of zero-emission vehicles already accounted for more than 10% of our sales.With hydrogen, we will be focusing in particular on offering relevant solutions to the construction market. As soon as it becomes law to have a certain share of electric vehicles in towns and cities, I can quickly see residents wanting greener and quieter construction sites. The advantage is that, with hydrogen, the combination of power and range will be real strengths for site operators. Personally, I am convinced that hydrogen is the cleanest energy possible! But I still need to convince a lot of people... And we also need to explain that not all uses can be covered by hydrogen. For example, farmers will perhaps turn first to biofuels as it will be difficult to access hydrogen in rural areas at the beginning.
We are fighting a battle against time – we must progress quickly towards this energy transition. We want to be pioneers but the technologies are not always ready and customers aren’t either. It is a real challenge as we are trying to introduce these offerings quickly with all of the hydrogen ecosystem (vehicles + stations + H20), even though the technologies are not market-ready today.
Being a pioneer has been somewhat in our culture since the company was founded 60 years ago. We invented the first masted forklift and then we invented the telehandler. We were also the first Toyota distributors in Europe and we have had a CSR policy for 13 years already, which has won us several awards.
I would make two wishes to make hydrogen more accessible:* For the distribution network to be accessible to all – that is really the challenge if we want to bring green hydrogen to our machines and our clients.* To make the technology cheaper. I know that the CEA is researching the topic but you have to face the fact that today hydrogen is not yet a mass market and the products are expensive even though we would like it to be available to all.
I think that hydrogen is one of the major transformations of our industrial era. A change is taking place that we absolutely must not miss and that is why we are investing enormously. And I am very proud to be writing this new chapter with my teams!
