2023-12-27 16:06:07
Artistic fresco, green plants, soft sofas, carefully decorated cafeteria… The bright premises of Lhyfe, where 130 employees work in the center of Nantes, exude a start-up atmosphere. But its founder refuses to make it a simple showcase. “I understood from my first employer, the American Hewlett-Packard, that well-being at work and goodwill in management only bring positive things and make people more productive», explains this 42-year-old engineer, who is one of the first in France to believe in the potential of green hydrogen to decarbonize transport and industry.
Produced with water and electricity from renewable energies, green hydrogen has the particularity of not releasing CO into the atmosphere but oxygen. It can be used to replace gasoline in vehicles (especially buses and trucks) and in all kinds of industrial processes (steel, glass, electronics, chemicals, etc.). «The stakes are dizzying and we cannot afford to go slowly”he warns, recalling that the global production of “gray” hydrogen – this time produced from fossil fuels – generates a billion tonnes of CO each year (out of the 37 billion tonnes emitted globally, all sectors combined) .
Vendée, land of entrepreneurs, was the first community to trust it. Since 2021, it has hosted Lhyfe’s first green hydrogen production site in Bouin, near a field of onshore wind turbines. In recent months, the start-up won a call for tenders to coordinate the Hope project, an offshore green hydrogen production site on a wind farm located off the coast of Belgium, planned for 2026. Its ” race against time “ facing global warming is only just beginning.
European ambitions
Lhyfe today employs 200 people around the world, is listed on the stock exchange, is increasing its scientific partnerships and deploying its ambitions in France and Europe (with three sites in operation and four under construction). «Every day spent working for Lhyfe helps us achieve this goal a little morehe says quickly. The most frustrating thing is knowing that things don’t move forward at night and on weekends. »
Matthieu Guesné was not always possessed by this feeling of urgency. After starting at Hewlett-Packard in Paris, this former engineering school student became sales director of a Breton SME specializing in microwave electronics which is seeking to internationalize. A mission that allows him to discover dozens of countries, and as many different cultures.
“In France, we are sometimes self-centered. By working with other nationalities, I gained in openness to othershe believes. I have also seen a lot of countries change, like Chinaincreasingly restrictive on freedoms, or Turkey, with very degraded political life. » An experience useful to the international development of the company, even if it now pays more attention to its carbon footprint in its travels, favoring the train over the plane when possible.
The future generations
Before launching Lhyfe, this father of two young children chose to leave the world of business for that of research, by directing the Nantes branch of the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA). It was at this time that he took the time to consult the IPCC reports and measure the impact of global energy production on the environment.
« I constantly think of my children because it is their generation and that of their children who will pay the price, he delivers. I do not want to leave them a world where the consequences of global warming will fuel conflicts and restrict their freedoms. We really need to learn to think in the long term in order to act now…”
While working on marine energies within the CEA, he discovered the “wonderful potential” green hydrogen. «We were looking to buy some for our tests and it was very hard to obtain some, so we set out to produce some…”, he says. This former handyman who, as a child, programmed games on his calculator and discovered the first computers with stars in his eyes, does not believe that a technological solution is the answer to everything. “We must first reduce our energy consumption before decarbonizinghe warns. The development of green hydrogen should not be the pretext for each having two cars running with it! »
► “We are all capable of making this transition”
“I believe that humans are intelligent enough to move on the right path: one where rich countries will invest massively in the ecological transition and lower the cost of access to these technologies for less developed countries. We decarbonize, we help each other and we all emerge from it. To do this you have to take a step back, take a deep breath and tell yourself that it’s possible. On an individual level, we must remember that our grandparents already had the good sense of eating locally, repairing what was worn out or reusing their packaging. We do not need to buy more products made in China but common goods like health, education and social relations. Progress is not consuming more. We are all capable of making this transition. I already see it around me. »
#Matthieu #Guesné #green #hydrogen #full #steam