1/2 Mark Verhagen in a mini version of the iron powder installation (Photo: Alice van der Plas)
It was all or nothing for the company of three former students of the Eindhoven University of Technology. Their trial had to succeed, otherwise their company Rift would have gone bankrupt. They built a six-metre-high installation for the district heating system in Helmond. Goal: to burn iron powder and use it to heat 500 houses. The test was successful and the staff can breathe a sigh of relief.
The 35 employees are now ready for the second phase: developing an even better installation. Ultimately, the company wants to enter the market in 2025. Because the money has so far come in through subsidies and investors. “We really needed these partners to make it happen,” says Mark Verhagen, co-founder and CEO of Rift. “People have stuck their necks out.”
Computer billionaire Bill Gates also saw bread in it and invested. “Each year he chooses ten companies that he believes will change the world,” says Mark proudly. Various lenders gave the company a total of 11 million euros for the next two years.
For forty hours, the installation produced enough heat for 500 households and supplied it to the district heating system. The six-meter tower is now being demolished again.
“The Netherlands has more than enough old iron to make a difference.”
Mark Verhagen thinks that burning iron powder could be an important innovation in the near future. According to him, the Netherlands has an enormous amount of old iron: from bicycles to metal from demolished buildings. The old iron is processed into iron powder that is burned in the Rift installation. With that process, extremely high temperatures can be reached.
“Many industries have a heat requirement that cannot be met with electricity,” says Verhagen. Iron powder reaches temperatures between 1800 and 2000 degrees. The iron powder installation is easy to transport and does not need to be connected to a network. Ideal for the glass industry, for example, he believes.
In addition, the process produces no waste. The rust that remains after combustion can be used again for new iron powder. “The loss is minimal.”
According to Verhagen, the Netherlands has more than enough old iron to make a difference. Burning iron powder emits less CO2 and nitrogen. Ultimately, the company hopes to be able to save 1 gigatonne of CO2 per year by 2050. That is quite an ambition: that is seven times as much as the Netherlands as a whole emits. “But we still have a lot of steps to take for that.”
“What we have done in Helmond has never been seen before.”
A homeowner cannot independently install an iron powder installation at home. The installation of Rift can be connected to, for example, a district heating system. “It is the most advanced installation of its kind in the world. What we have done in Helmond has never been seen before,” says Mark. “Our company is also the market leader.”
But sustainable energy sources are more expensive than coal or gas. Will there be consequences for the energy bill? That’s hard to say for a technology that’s not yet on the market. The bill will never rise as fast as it did during the gas crisis, Mark thinks. “We were then able to compete with natural gas, so you can see that a tipping point can come soon.” In any case, the Helmond households have no longer paid for their heat.
