The story of Ergenics began in the late 1970s as an offshoot of INCO, a Canadian company exploring newly discovered room-temperature metal hydrides. These hydrides were remarkable for their ability to absorb hydrogen at room temperature, sparking early interest in converting gasoline engines to run on hydrogen during the oil crisis of that decade. When oil prices fell, interest in hydrides waned, but the groundwork had already been laid for innovations that would transform hydrogen storage and energy conversion. In 1980, Mark Golben, now the owner of Ergenics, joined the company and became instrumental in inventing the first hydride compressor. The systems harnessed the interaction of hydrogen with metal hydrides to form metal alloys capable of storing hydrogen more densely than in liquid form. The result was a highly efficient, compact method of hydrogen storage with transformative implications for energy use. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ergenics broke new ground in fuel cell development and was among the first to attempt commercialization of PEM fuel cells, winning multimillion-dollar NASA deals along the way. The company was also the first to patent the integration of metal hydrides with fuel cells, an innovation that supported projects such as EV systems for astronauts in space. Ergenics’ credibility was further validated when its hydrogen storage units were selected for the Cassini spacecraft mission, a 25-year journey to Saturn and Titan. Unlocking the Power of Hydride Compression Ergenics has unlocked new potential in hydrogen technology through its work on hydride compression. When hydrogen-infused hydrides are heated, the pressure rises exponentially, enabling the design of staged hydride compressors that can achieve successively higher pressures with remarkable efficiency. The process mirrors the principles of a steam engine, where heat drives exponential pressure increase, but in this case, hydrogen plays the central role. This staged compression system can elevate hydrogen from just a few PSI to as high as 12,000 PSI, all driven by low-grade heat sources. Such capability represents a paradigm shift in hydrogen compression, positioning Ergenics as one of the few companies deeply advancing this technology. The implications extend far beyond traditional storage and compression, opening the door to entirely new forms of renewable energy conversion. “The compression ability of metal hydrides lets us use low-grade solar heat to pressurize hydrogen, basically turning thermal energy into stored hydrogen power,” says Golben.