Bill Gates has shared a video of himself filling a pothole with Modern Asphalt.
The road repair material is made with carbon that has been stripped out of natural gas to decarbonize it in the process of making clean hydrogen.
Gates was an early seed investor in Modern Hydrogen, the Seattle-based company founded in 2015 that makes the asphalt.
“I filled a pothole—and reduced greenhouse gas emissions—during my incredible visit to Modern Hydrogen,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
“With an innovative process that removes carbon from natural gas to get emissions-free hydrogen, Modern Hydrogen is decarbonizing the energy market.
“And by sequestering that carbon in asphalt used to build roads (and repair potholes), the company is decarbonizing the building materials market, too.”
WATCH the cool video or continue below to learn more…
Tony Pan, Co-founder and CEO of Modern Hydrogen explained the company’s strategy this way:
“There are 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines in the USA alone. And the delivered price of natural gas is much cheaper than that of delivered electricity—typically by a factor of 3 to 5 times.
“By stripping out the offending carbon atom from gas at the end of the pipe, before it has a chance to become CO2, Modern’s technology can deliver decarbonized gas—aka clean hydrogen—on location. Thus, Modern can deliver this hydrogen to the end consumer, without the decades and billions of dollars it would take to build out clean hydrogen infrastructure.
“Sidestepping the need for new pipes and transmission permits will be invaluable in achieving speed and scale in realizing the clean hydrogen economy.”
CLIMATE CELEBRITY: Former NBA Star Rick Fox is Manufacturing Concrete That Absorbs More CO2 Than it Creates
Modern Hydrogen Co-founder and CTO Max Mankin describes their process as a “negative emissions technology”, something the world sorely requires to meet its climate goals.
“We can generate net negative emissions by applying our pyrolysis technology on carbon-neutral gases such as biogas. The solid carbon we pull out from the gas is directly weighed, so every ton of solid carbon we put into products and building materials are verifiable emissions captured, avoided, and utilized.”
MEMORABLE: When Life Gives You Carbon… Make a Factory for Producing Carbon-Negative Concrete
Ever the optimist, Gates says he “can’t wait to see what’s next.”
DON’T BE NEGATIVE: Share the Carbon-Positive News on Social Media…