112. Accelerating the Hydrogen Stack

Hydrogen infrastructure requires billion-dollar cryogenic systems. That's the conventional wisdom keeping hydrogen grounded. Dr. Jalaal Hayes proved it's wrong—and the implications for expeditionary operations are immediate.

Hayes developed Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC) technology, which stores hydrogen at ambient temperatures using existing fuel infrastructure. No specialized equipment. No cryogenic vulnerability. Combined with biohydrogen production, delivering three times the energy density of JP-8, this isn't an incremental improvement—it's an operational paradigm shift.

When you orchestrate complementary technologies instead of betting on single solutions, you eliminate infrastructure dependencies that constrain deployment. For institutions like the DoW, that means hydrogen propulsion without forward-deployed cryogenic facilities.

Paradigm Shifts:

→ Applied Budgetary Exhaustion: LOHC eliminates billions in cryogenic infrastructure by using existing petroleum systems—the same asymmetric strategy Ukraine uses with $10K drones vs $100M platforms. Attack the cost structure, not the capability.

→ Infrastructure Independence: Biohydrogen becomes deployable when paired with ambient-temperature LOHC storage. No cryogenic vulnerability. No specialized tankers. Existing logistics networks carry hydrogen in chemical form—released on demand at the point of use.

→ Regional Stack Control = Supply Chain Security: Hayes built his entire prototype with suppliers within driving distance. That's not convenience—it's strategic autonomy. When you control the full stack regionally, you eliminate foreign dependencies and supply chain vulnerabilities.

Operational Impact:

→ Space-to-Ground Dual-Use: Same hydrogen stack enabling Mars closed-loop life support runs ground ops at forward operating bases. One R&D investment, two critical applications. That's how you maximize constrained budgets.

→ Technology Intersection > Selection: Stop forcing teams to pick biohydrogen OR storage OR production. The breakthrough lives where they integrate—each solving the other's deployment constraint. Complementary systems outperform optimized components.

→ Compressed Innovation Cycles: Hayes's students solve real commercial prototypes in semesters, not years. Academic-entrepreneurial integration accelerates the transition of capabilities from the lab to the field.

Strategic Reframe: Infrastructure dependencies limit operational flexibility. When you orchestrate technologies that leverage existing systems, you eliminate deployment barriers. The question isn't "which hydrogen technology wins?" It's "what combination removes infrastructure constraints from our operational calculus?"

Guest: Dr. Jalaal Hayes, CEO & Founder, Evince Inc. | Associate Professor of Chemistry, Lincoln University

Host:  Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

Ecosystemic Futures is the Shoshin Works foresight series with NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration heritage.