Hydra Energy CEO Jessica Verhagen Named as one of the 50 Most Influential and Boundary-pushing Women in Hydrogen
Hydrogen Economist’s annual Women in Hydrogen 50 award highlights the need for women’s voices and diversity in the industry and recognizes Verhagen’s contribution to reducing emissions in the challenging transportation sector
VANCOUVER, BC (May 26, 2022) – Today at the First Element Conference covering global hydrogen markets, policy, innovative technologies, and industry trends, Hydra Energy CEO Jessica Verhagen was named to Hydrogen Economist’s Women in Hydrogen 50 list highlighting the most “influential and boundary-pushing women in hydrogen today”. Verhagen was specifically recognized under the “Industrial Use and Switching” category focused on reducing emissions in hard-to-abate sectors using clean hydrogen.
As Hydra CEO, Verhagen and the rest of her team are tackling one of the most challenging, highest-emissions-contributing industries, heavy-duty trucking which accounts for 20% of global CO2 emissions. However, they aren’t just tackling it down the road when zero-emission solutions will finally be commercially available at scale. Instead, they are today providing a transition step on the path to Net Zero that decarbonizes existing fleet vehicles up to 40% per truck thanks to the company’s unique Hydrogen-as-a-Service (HaaSTM) business model and hydrogen-diesel retrofit approach. In fact, back in October, Hydra became the first company in the world to deliver a hydrogen-converted, heavy-duty truck to a paying fleet customer – the first of 12 trucks which will reduce fleet emissions over 800 tonnes per year – and most recently, announced new fleet partnerships with Alberta-based Veteran Express Secure Logistics (VEXSL), the Edmonton International Airport (EIA), and Hercules Logistics. The company is also in the process of building the world’s largest hydrogen refuelling station to be operational in mid-2023.
“It can be easy to get caught up in all the hype and promise around hydrogen-based transportation but what matters is delivering viable, economical lower emission solutions right now,” said Verhagen. “I’m honoured to be included in this group of pioneering women but more importantly, to have Hydra’s innovative dual-fuel approach recognised for what it’s doing for fleet owners today at zero cost and with no negative impact on truck performance.”
Jessica’s leadership is accelerating hydrogen trucking and, in the process, is turning sourced hydrogen into clean fuel that is provided at diesel-equivalent prices to commercial fleet owners who have had their heavy-duty trucks retrofitted with Hydra’s proprietary hydrogen-diesel, co-combustion system. Through this practical technology approach that seamlessly switches to diesel when hydrogen runs out and the company’s ability to connect today’s hydrogen supply and demand, Hydra offers the only zero-cost, end-to-end green trucking solution for commodity haulers available right now.
