Raven SR has secured $15m in investment from Ascent Funds and has also promoted Matt Scanlon to President and Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
In addition to this, the recently appointed Stuart McFarland has been elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors with Mark Gordon, Chief Investment Officer of Ascent Funds, as Vice-Chairman.
The Ascent Funds backing received contributions from existing investors Chevron New Energies, ITOCHU and Stellar J Corp. – the engineering, procurement and construction company managing the construction of Raven SR’s Richmond, California, waste-to-hydrogen production project.
“Raven SR is pleased to have the continued and enhanced support of our investors as we move toward construction of our organic waste-to-hydrogen facility,” explained the company’s Founder and CEO, Matt Murdock.
“This funding is crucial for finalising our production setup, and the expanded board strengthens our team for the next phase.”
Raven SR received approval for its Richmond project last year (2023), after its California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) permit was agreed by the Richmond City Council. H2 View understands the facility will produce up to 2,400 tonnes of hydrogen per day via food waste.
Read more:Raven SR’s California waste-to-hydrogen plant receives approval
After being appointed to the Board of Directors in January (2024), McFarland is now looking forward to “teaming with Murdock as they move the company ahead.”
He added, “With this solid foundation, 2024 is shaping up to be a landmark year for Raven SR as it commercialises its steam/CO2 reforming technology to bring clean and sustainable fuel to the world.”
McFarland will be joined by Justin Heyman, Managing Director of RockCreek Group, and Robert Kinghorn, Founder and CEO of Stellar J on the Board of Directors.
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Hydrogen production: Waste-to-hydrogen
Electrolysis has undoubtably become the bookie’s favourite hydrogen production pathway to deliver clean hydrogen. However, its water usage continues to be a point of contention.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported last year (2023) that around 2.2 billion m³ of freshwater is withdrawn for global hydrogen production every year – accounting for 0.6% of the energy sectors total freshwater withdrawal. Grey hydrogen accounts for 59%, 40% from brown hydrogen, with green and blue hydrogen making up the remaining 1%.
These withdrawals are forecasted to more than triple by 2040 and increase six-fold by 2050 compared to current levels. IRENA has found the hydrogen production share of total freshwater withdrawn for the energy sector could rise from 0.6% to 2.4% by 2040.
Alternatively, waste-to-hydrogen tech, developed by companies such as Raven SR and Levidian, has added benefits using landfill as a feedstock instead of water.
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