Page 20 - 03-May-2024

business mistake of sticking too close to home, a market which is only one 10th the size of the U.S.”
But, the depth of the AI talent pool in Edmonton is what makes Trust Science happy to call the city home.
“The anchor, the magnet, that makes Edmonton so attractive, the reason we’re based in Edmonton, is the extreme depth and breadth of the AI-know how,” says Chrapko. “The AI talent pool in Edmonton is no longer a best-kept secret, but it’s not shouted from the rooftops like it could be.”
While in Austin, Chrapko attended the “Backstage” event, one of the hottest mixers of SXSW. And, while there, a seven-digit deal he had been working on came to fruition, some- thing he was able to share with his fellow delegates and festival-goers.
And, he brought his black cowboy hat to Austin — because Chrapko
says he’s a cowboy at heart — and was surprised to be the only Albertan there with one.
DISRUPTING
THE DISRUPTORS
Hydrogen power is maybe the biggest disruptor technology of the 21st century. The Alberta government is betting big on hydrogen, providing millions and millions of dollars’ worth of supports for hydrogen manufactur- ing facilities.
But this disruptor technology is itself being disrupted — by Edmon- ton’s Gölu Hydrogen Technologies Inc. Its hydrogen on-site generator uses all-natural ethanol for its base material. The generators can be used pretty well anywhere on Earth and don’t need any added infrastructure. Communities and industries can use hydrogen for power, without needing to build manufacturing plants that cost billions of dollars. Gölu could be a true democratizer of energy.
It’s a hard sell, though. People con- tinually ask President and CEO Inder Singh how his team has created a new way to make hydrogen efficiently, and portably, when no one from within the energy sector has been able to dream up anything like it.
INDER SINGH, CEO OF EDMONTON’S GÖLU HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGIES INC.
totally non-toxic.”
But, he’s got to sell this vision to
the skeptics. And this is why a trip to SXSW was important.
“We get a lot of exposure by trav- elling around and going to targeted conferences. But those are designed for the people who are from the field. But Austin is for the general public. So this gives us the opportunity to bring it to the general market, so people can understand it.”
Last year, Singh and his team were invited to K-Days, and it was a lesson on how scientists need to change their narratives so they can talk to the general public. It was pretty good practice for Austin.
“It was quite an experience, but the interest from the general public was also very surprising.”
Singh says that he goes to at least one or two conferences a month. He’s recently been to Egypt, Dubai, the Netherlands and Germany. At the 2024 EGYPES Climatech event, the company won the people’s choice award for innovation. But it’s a
lonely haul. While Alberta Innovates supported this trip, a lot of the time, he feels he is totally on his own.
“We get no federal or provincial government supports, because they think we are against their agenda, which is promoting oil.”
— STEVEN SANDOR
20 EDify. MAY.24
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALBERTA INNOVATES
“This can be used by microgrid communities, far-off communities, new communities that cannot get connections that fast, or fleet owners who need a half-megawatt, megawatt connection,” says Singh. “They can all use our process anywhere. Even in the middle of nowhere. You don’t need to create new infrastructure.”
Because the innovators at Gölu come from the pharmaceutical world, they approached the energy sector with out-of-the-box thinking. Singh says the energy industry is saddled with “incremental improvements on the knowledge they have, which is from the petroleum industry.”
Singh predicts that this make-your- hydrogen technology can power a European town of 1,000 households with a $70,000-$80,000 tank that’s then filled with ethanol, It costs about $135,000 to fill the tank, and the supply lasts around six weeks. Compare that to billions needed for battery storage “and acres of land.” That tank would be about the size of three rail cars — compared to massive plants being constructed right now.
Imagine a remote town, powered by this. Singh says extra power could be set aside for greenhouses and electric cars — and that entire community could go off the grid.
“It’s the highest density of energy at the lowest cost possible, and it’s