Episode description

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Heavy industry is one of the hardest parts of the economy to decarbonize. Making steel, cement, and chemicals takes a lot of heat, a lot of electricity, and a lot of expensive equipment.

Take hydrogen: a gas used to produce ammonia for fertilizer or refine petroleum. Hydrogen is also a promising fuel source for transportation and electricity that's attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in global investment.

Every year, the world produces millions of tons of hydrogen through a dirty process where steam and natural gas react – creating lots of CO2 and carbon monoxide.

For hydrogen to be a truly clean fuel, we have to change how it's made.

Our guest, Monolith co-founder and CEO Rob Hanson, is doing exactly that – and creating new industrial materials in the process.

Monolith bills itself as a clean hydrogen and clean materials company. It uses methane pyrolysis to create hydrogen, and plans to use renewable methane to create carbon-negative hydrogen. 

And with the method that Monolith is perfecting, there's an added bonus: carbon black, a key ingredient in inks, plastics, makeup, and rubber tires.

Emily sat down with Rob to learn how he tackles hard technical problems as an entrepreneur. Rob also discussed his early startup ideas that never got off the ground, and his hope that Monolith will change the way people look at carbon.

Powerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate. Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.powerhouse.fund/subscribe.

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