Our work and adventures shape the land and, in turn, depend on it. The equipment we use to tend fields, haul lumber, and explore the great outdoors helps us maintain our partnership with the land. To preserve that partnership, the way our equipment works needs to evolve.
We can’t power our trucks and off-road equipment with diesel for another generation, and the same equipment works too hard and too far from charging infrastructure to rely on batteries. We need a fuel that can power us for miles and generations to come. At Croft, we believe hydrogen is the fuel that will leave diesel in the dust.
Enduring hydrogen equipment for the world's toughest challenges
products
Make your own fuel, anywhere
Our Base Station produces clean hydrogen for on-site fueling – only water and electricity required
Portable, low pressure storage
Carry extra fuel for longer journeys, and swap our rugged, hand-portable tanks in moments
A bold truck, built to last
With future-proofed hydrogen drive, you get a zero-emissions truck with zero-compromises
purpose
Enduring
Capability
- Extreme vehicle range, in any weather
- Additional fuel in cartridges you can carry
- Store energy for weeks without losses
Energy
Independence
- Produce fuel when and where you need it
- No fast chargers or electrical upgrades required
- Predictable cost you can control
Clean Power
- Breathe fresher, cleaner air
- Future-proofed for the next generation
- Stewardship of community resources
COMMUNITY
"As an electric utility, power is our core business, if we can power the heavier trucks in our fleet with hydrogen made from electricity that we produce, that's very appealing. It would demonstrate how we can expand the market that we can serve locally."
Leader at Power Utility in Tennessee
"We're often times limited by the physical footprint of hard infrastructure required to power the farm. If fuel production was more modular and portable, that would open up a lot of possibilities for us operationally. We'd be more nimble."
Farmer from East Tennessee
F.A.Q.
Why hydrogen? What industries or applications can benefit from Croft’s products?
Hydrogen is cleaner than fossil fuels, and it can be produced locally wherever there is electricity and water. Local production offers greater choice and energy independence for rural communities and work sites that face gaps in their access to centralized infrastructure. Like other clean technologies, the cost of hydrogen is dropping rapidly. We expect it to be cheaper than diesel in many communities by the end of this decade.
Hydrogen also has capability advantages – it has the energy density and portability to replace fossil fuels in a range of applications that are difficult to electrify with batteries. While lithium batteries can only offer economical back-up power for 4-12 hours, Croft’s products can store hydrogen efficiently with minimal losses for days or weeks. That kind of long duration energy storage is becoming more important as electrical grids are strained by wildfires, hurricanes, growing demand for electricity, and the rapid transition to intermittent wind and solar power.
Croft’s products are being designed with partners who rely on off-grid power generators, commercial trucks, and off-road equipment to sustain the way they live and work. Agriculture, construction, utilities, forestry, and natural resources are a few of the industries that operate in austere environments and stand to benefit from Croft’s vision of an enduring, local, and clean hydrogen economy.
How does Croft's solid state hydrogen storage technology work?
Legacy hydrogen storage systems compress hydrogen gas to extremely high pressures (700x atmospheric pressure) or liquify it by cooling it to extremely low temperatures (-253° Celsius or -423° Fahrenheit). Compression and cryogenic liquefaction are energy intensive processes that require expensive equipment, which has been a major barrier to the build-out of hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
By contrast, Croft’s products adhere hydrogen molecules to the surface of a solid particle – a process known as physical adsorption. Specifically, we use a proprietary nanoparticle that is made of graphite, the same abundant material used in battery anodes and pencil cores.
When hydrogen flows into a tank that has been filled with this proprietary material, hydrogen molecules adhere to the solid material in a manner that allows for very dense packing of hydrogen, even at ambient temperature and relatively low pressure. In practical terms, this means that Croft’s hydrogen cartridges can store significantly more hydrogen than a 700 bar compressed gas storage system of the same size, yet our tanks operate at 90% lower pressure. At the system level, this low-pressure storage breakthrough makes hydrogen equipment simpler, safer, more modular, and more affordable.
Do you have a cartridge available that we can test?
We’re planning demonstrations. Fill out the reservation form if you’d like to learn more.
How much hydrogen can a Base Station produce?
The standard Base Station produces 2 kg of hydrogen every 24 hours. With an additional electrolyzer module, each Base Station can produce up to 5 kg every 24 hours. Base Stations are inherently modular – they’re designed to be stacked to meet each site’s hydrogen requirement, in much the same way that standard solar panels are stacked in an array to meet a given site’s requirements. This means that Base Station installations can start small and scale to meet your ambitions.
Where can I buy a Croft Base Station, and how much will it cost?
Croft is an early-stage startup, and our products are not yet available for sale to the general public. We are planning early demonstration partnerships. If you’re interested, you can contact us using the pre-order form above.
What infrastructure does a Croft Base Station require?
Base Stations can produce hydrogen anywhere you have water and electricity. Regular potable tap water will often be sufficient, in some locations with harder water or other contaminants it’s necessary to install a reverse osmosis filtration system alongside your Base Station. As for electricity requirements, the entry-level base station requires a 7 kW power supply and produces up to 2kg of hydrogen every 24 hours. The kind of 240 volt outlet you would use for a washer and dryer would work well. Base Stations are designed to work well with on-site solar. Producing your own clean electricity means you can lock in your fuel price, and it allows you to scale up hydrogen production and achieve energy independence in places where upgrading your site’s electrical grid connection is not workable.
About us
Croft is an ambitious startup with a blueprint for an enduring, local and clean hydrogen economy. We like to think of ourselves as toolmakers for the future of fuel. Most of our founding team hails from communities in the rural heartland, and we're proud to be based in Atlanta, with team members in British Columbia and across the continent.
At Croft, we're building enduring hydrogen equipment for the world's toughest jobs. Our twice-monthly newsletter includes analysis and updates on this space if you'd like to stay in touch.
