5 QUESTIONS WITH DUNCAN KERR, CEO OF AERISTECH

1.How would you explain Aeristech’s cutting-edge compressor technology to a 7-year-old?

We use electricity to push lots of air into hydrogen fuel cells with our compressors. Hydrogen fuel cells use hydrogen, which is the lightest gas on earth, and Oxygen, which is what we need to breathe to stay alive, to make electricity and water.

Our compressors push air, one fifth of which is Oxygen, into the fuel cells. The hydrogen comes from tanks. Our compressors are cutting edge because they are very efficient – that means they don’t waste much of the electricity used to power them.

They also recover energy from the fuel cell exhaust, which means that if the fuel cell is powering a car, it can go further with the same amount of hydrogen when using our compressors.

2. As an expert in investing and in the tech industry, do you have any trend predictions for 2023?

Any company’s valuation that is involved in AI is going to continue upwards. There will probably be a lot of volatility as authorities grapple with how to regulate it.

Electrification is increasing apace, and I expect that there will be some gems in the supply chain that will benefit.

I don’t know when, but I see the oil majors changing direction away from fossil fuels, because if they don’t start using their financial muscle to move towards a more sustainable approach, their valuations will go down as there will be more and more investors that don’t want to hold shares in them for environmental reasons.

3. Things that are revolutionary about the HEIDI project?

We’re currently developing compressors with energy recovery directly from the fuel cell to be adapted for the HEIDI application. Technology like this is new and we’re unaware of any similar systems currently in play.

Bramble Energy has a patented method of making fuel cells using technology from the PCB industry. This has the potential to be a game changer cost-wise.

Retrofitting hydrogen fuel cell powertrains to existing buses means the technology can be in play at far less cost than building the hydrogen fuel cell buses from scratch.

4. One common misconception that people have around sustainable energy is? People sometimes think that there is a singular solution to the energy problem. When I explain about Hydrogen Fuel Cells, people often want to compare it to battery electric and ask which is better. The question isn’t about which is better, but rather which is best applied to which situation. To solve the energy crisis, we need all the solutions working together.

5. As CEO of a well-renowned company, what is that one piece of advice you’d offer to someone starting off on their entrepreneurial journey?

It’s difficult to boil it down to just one thing, but if I’d have to it is to fail fast. You’re never going to get everything right first time, so it’s better to discover your mistakes as soon as possible so that you can rectify them. Never go for perfection on a first pass, just get something working. It’s something that good venture capital investors know very well.