Welcome to Proton Power, Inc.


Proton Power, Inc. has developed a clean energy system for customer-sited distributed generation that converts Cellulose to a Hydrogen-rich gas stream that can be directly combusted to produce heat and/or power.

Ranging in power from 500kW to 5MW, these systems are intended for sale to business customers with access to cellulosic biomass or cellulosic waste streams such as woody waste, agricultural by-products, and paper waste.  Other customers include community-scale independent power producers, and institutions seeking affordable on-site renewable energy options.  Market channels for equipment sale include energy service companies, engineering contracting firms, and direct customer sales. A further market exists for ‘green’ hydrogen, in which the gas stream is stripped of CO2 and other gases, and the low-cost carbon-neutral hydrogen is sold directly to customers.

The efficiency of the CHyP gasifier produces excellent energy economics. The process allows the production of hydrogen at the rate of $0.75/kg. For comparison, hydrogen has 92% of the energy content of a gallon of gasoline allowing some direct comparisons with fossil fuels.

On a heat basis, the hydrogen derived from cellulose gasification is equivalent to wholesale gasoline priced at $0.82/gallon. Heat from the same process can be produced for about $0.51/therm compared with about $0.60/therm for wholesale natural gas and $0.85/therm for wholesale propane. Electricity (requiring a generator) can be produced for between $0.03/kWh and $0.07/kWh, depending on feedstock price. Current Utility Electricity Prices range from $0.08/kWh to $0.16/kWh.

An important aspect unique to Proton Power's approach is the ability to generate hydrogen from a feedstock at small scales (500kW to 5MW) for distributed applications. Most other cellulose or biomass generation approaches can operate economically only at large scales.

The ability to operate at any scale addresses applications not available to current approaches.