HyTerra (ASX:HYT) has appointed Dr Douglas Wicks as a US-based strategic advisor as the company tackles expanding in one of new clean energy frontiers with natural hydrogen.
Wicks is based in Washington, DC and was recently the Program Director at ARPA-E, the US Department of Energy’s advanced energy research agency.
He led national efforts to develop geologic hydrogen as a viable, naturally occurring, primary energy resource, positioning America at the forefront of this emerging global field.
He joins HyTerra, which is touted as the first company to list on the ASX with a focus on geologic (white) hydrogen, after leading ARPA-E’s Geologic Hydrogen program with approximately US$20 million ($30.77 million) of funding to develop transformative hydrogen production and subsurface engineering technologies.
Under the MINER initiative focused on critical mineral recovery and carbon capture in mining operations, ARPA-E awarded US$39 million across 16 projects in 12 US states.
He has over 25 years of experience across industry, startups, and academia and holds a PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BS in Chemistry from North Dakota State University.
Wicks is named on more than 60 US patents and has published widely in energy and materials science.
“I’m thrilled to be joining HyTerra at this pivotal moment. HyTerra is tackling one of the most exciting frontiers in clean energy with a pragmatic, science-driven approach,” says Wicks.
“Natural hydrogen has the potential to offer low-cost, low-carbon energy at global scale and I’m excited to work with a team focused on turning that potential into a commercial reality.”
HyTerra Executive Director Benjamin Mee says Wicks’ appointment is exactly the kind of opportunity that can reshape markets.
“He is a thought and innovation leader, with deep insights in key technologies to potentially produce geologic hydrogen at scale,” Mee adds.
Geologic hydrogen potentially has much lower production costs and carbon emissions than man-made hydrogen.
HyTerra’s Nemaha Project in Kansas, US, is situated across the emerging Nemaha Ridge geologic hydrogen and helium play fairway.
Its Geneva Project in Nebraska is a 16% earn-in interest in a joint development with Natural Hydrogen Energy targeting natural hydrogen and helium.
Both projects could be connected via existing transport infrastructure to multiple nearby offtakers, including ammonia manufacturers, and petrochemical plants.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: HyTerra
