Ayrton Energy

Natasha Kostenuk couldn’t believe what she heard — that someone was unable to charge their Tesla and run their home air-conditioning unit at the same time. “I thought that was ridiculous.” It also turned out to be true because of energy bottlenecks. So Kostenuk and Dr. Brandy Kinkead, PhD, came up with a key to the solution — hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel. Tackling the problem with hydrogen generators had been their original plan, until they realized the distribution model for hydrogen was expensive and inefficient.

“That’s when we got the idea to create our own process,” says Kostenuk, BSc (Eng)’02. She founded Ayrton Energy with Kinkead, who did her post-doctorate work at UCalgary in Dr. Steven Bryant’s lab. They have developed a way for hydrogen to be stored and transported as a room-temperature, room-pressure liquid. That means that hydrogen can be handled no differently than diesel and gasoline, which, critically, allows existing oilfield infrastructure — tanks, tank trucks, rail cars, pipelines — to be used.

“Our vision is to see hydrogen everywhere,” says Kostenuk. “We want to see hydrogen fuel cells as common as solar panels are today.”

Ayrton, which was founded in 2021, is about to start its first field pilot with ATCO. While in pursuit of solutions for a sustainable future, the co-founders appreciate the contributions of UCeed, which offers funds, expertise and, in Ayrton’s case, a place to conduct research — both of the company’s labs are located at the University of Calgary.

By the way, the company name is a tribute to Hertha Ayrton, a British woman who was a pioneering engineer and mathematician.

Visit Ayrton Energy's website for more information.

Ayrton Energy has received investment from UCeed, a venture philanthropy fund accelerating UCalgary and community-based start-up companies to advance problem-solving research, create jobs and fuel the economy. A key program in the UCalgary innovation ecosystem, UCeed bridges the gap between innovation, demonstration and commercialization, and is managed by UCalgary’s knowledge-transfer and business incubator, Innovate Calgary.

UCeed Energy Fund is made possible through the philanthropic support of Calgary entrepreneur and community leader Don Archibald, with additional philanthropic support from the Tamaratt Fund at the Calgary Foundation, and funding from UCalgary’s Global Research Initiative.