#01. The Climate Commune is Live.
#01. The Climate Commune is Live.
Understanding the diatomic dichotomy in our first newsletter edition
Welcome to the very first edition of The Climate Commune by Newtrace!
We are a climate-tech startup crafting next-gen electrolyzers for the wide-scale adoption of affordable green hydrogen. The vision we swear by is simple — to decarbonise our planet, leaving a greener, more sustainable future for generations to come.
How We Got Here.
As we kickstart the building of our newsletter community, we’d like to share a little bit about who we are and what we do.
Newtrace was founded in 2021 as the brainchild of aerospace engineer Prasanta Sarkar, co-founder and CEO, and material scientist Rochan Sinha, co-founder and CTO, in response to the environmental threat exacerbated by a gap in methods to produce affordable, clean hydrogen.
The Diatomic Dichotomy.
Hydrogen (H2) is a major source of fuel and a key raw material in large-scale industries.
Even so, traditional methods of hydrogen production are highly carbon-intensive. For perspective, production by steam-methane reforming (at $2 - 3 / kg) emits about 900 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 for every 100 Mt of H2 produced (aptly named ‘grey hydrogen’). Newer, cleaner methods of hydrogen production — although more sustainable — are highly priced (at $6 - 7 / kg). The hydrogen thus produced is termed ‘green hydrogen’.
Ergo, while hydrogen is undoubtedly a cleaner fuel, current production methods are either carbon-heavy or present several bottlenecks (eg. cost) in its wide-scale adoption.
The solution, our founders reckoned, lay in devising a production method of hydrogen that is carbon-free and affordable, leading to the idea of Newtrace’s novel electrolyzers that use renewable resources as input and utilise no rare earth metals in their composition. The resulting green hydrogen is sustainable and inexpensive.
Our Big News.
Newtrace has raised $5.65M in seed led by Sequoia Capital.
It is our pleasure to share this significant milestone with you!
We have successfully raised $5.65M in seed funding, led by Sequoia Capital. The round also witnessed participation from a distinguished panel comprising Aavishkaar Capital alongside angel investors Ashish Goel and IKP Knowledge Park. We also celebrated continued support from existing investors Speciale Invest and Micelio Mobility.
The newly secured funds will empower the doubling-down of R&D effort, while bolstering the expansion of Newtrace’s electrolyzer manufacturing and deployment capabilities in India and overseas.
Prasanta and Rochan, co-founders of Newtrace, expressed immense gratitude to the investors who have placed their trust in the company's mission. "With this backing, we can further accelerate the global transition to green hydrogen, making sustainability an industry-scale mindset," says Prasanta.
Investor Commentary.
"We at Speciale Invest are thrilled to be backing Newtrace's exceptional endeavour to transform the hydrogen industry. Their unique, patented electrolyzer technology holds the potential to redefine conventional hydrogen production by offering a sustainable and cost-effective solution.”
“Newtrace is one of the most exciting companies in our Micelio fund portfolio. It is great to see the amazing progress they have made in validating such a foundational technology to make green hydrogen a reality.”
“Production of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen has been identified as an enabler in the energy transition of hard-to-abate industries and we see Newtrace as a critical player in shaping India’s emerging green hydrogen story.”
The Hydrogen Economy: A Snapshot.
From refining to transportation and manufacturing, hydrogen plays a gamut of roles in different industries. Like we were saying, most of this hydrogen is produced by carbon-intensive fossil fuels.
The International Energy Agency’s Global Hydrogen Review 2021 estimated investments for sustainable hydrogen technology deployment must hit US$1.2 trillion by 2030, representing a huge market opportunity for electrolyzers to lead this energy transition from fossil-fuel-derived hydrogen to its cleaner counterpart.
The total global production of hydrogen in 2021 stood at 94 Mt of hydrogen, 62% of which came from natural gas. Less than 1 Mt H2 came from low-emissions hydrogen, and only 35 kt H2 from water electrolysis (0.04%). This is the untapped market Newtrace aims to supply to.
There are three major industries hydrogen is vital to: refining (40 Mt H2), manufacturing (~54 Mt H2) and mobility (30 kt).
The expanding applications in mobility, steel, cement & energy storage is expected to push hydrogen demand to 210Mt H2 by 2030 (Global Hydrogen Review 2022, IEA).
It is clear. The hydrogen economy is driving the need for innovative clean technology to be scaled and deployed at lightning speed.
Newtrace’s patent-pending electrolyzer tech is solving for the bottlenecks of carbon-intensive supply chains and high production costs. Our electrolyzers use no critical components or rare earth metals, lowering associated costs and boosting affordability.
These are exciting times to be living in. We are sitting on the cusp of being able to achieve the 2050 Net-Zero Goals called for in the Paris Climate Agreement — if we start now.
Spotlight: Also explore our Principal Engineer, Deeparnak Bhowmick’s article - Mitigating the safety risks of Hydrogen production & usage
Come, Join the Discourse.
That’s all for our first edition!
The Climate Commune aims to build a community of thinkers and doers looking to stay updated with pioneering work in the green hydrogen and renewable energy ecosystem, knowledge-sharing from industry experts, and insights from peers as part of the wider community. Come, join the discourse.
Reach Out to Us.
General enquiries: hello@newtrace.io | Media enquiries: media@newtrace.io | Career opportunities: careers@newtrace.io