Shayle and his team at Energy Impact Partners (EIP) review a lot of climate-tech pitches. The best kind of pitch uses a solid techno-economic analysis (TEA) to model how a technology would compete in the real world. In a previous episode, we covered <a href="https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/catalyst-climatetech-startups-need-strong-techno-economic-analysis">some of the ways startups get TEAs wrong</a> — bad assumptions, false precision, focusing on parts instead of the system, etc.
So what does a good TEA look like? 
In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleagues, Dr. Melissa Ball, EIP’s associate director of technology, and Dr. Greg Thiel, director of technology. They apply their TEA chops to two technology pathways — green ammonia and synthetic methane. EIP hasn’t invested in either area yet because both struggle with challenging economics. Shayle, Greg, and Melissa talk about what would have to change to make those economics work, covering topics like:
<ul>
<li>The basics of ammonia and methane production</li>
<li>The cost stack of ammonia production and the surprisingly large role transportation plays</li>
<li>The challenges of integrating ammonia production with renewables, like buffering hydrogen</li>
<li>Novel approaches to ammonia synthesis, including scaling down the existing process, lower temperature, and pressure</li>
</ul>
Recommended resources
<a href="https://liftoff.energy.gov/clean-hydrogen/">U.S. Department of Energy</a>: Clean Hydrogen Commercial Liftoff
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ammonia-the-beer-of-decarbonization/id1593204897?i=1000670788578">Catalyst:</a> Ammonia: The beer of decarbonization
<a href="https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/catalyst-climatetech-startups-need-strong-techno-economic-analysis">Catalyst</a>: Climate tech startups need strong techno-economic analysis
Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub is working with more than 70 utilities across North America to help scale VPP programs to manage load growth, maximize the value of renewables, and deliver flexibility at every level of the grid. To learn more about their Edge DERMS platform and services, go to <a href="http://energyhub.com">energyhub.com</a>.
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Shayle Kann

TEA breakdown: green ammonia and synthetic methane

Shayle and his team at Energy Impact Partners (EIP) review a lot of climate-tech pitches. The best kind of pitch uses a solid techno-economic analysis (TEA) to model how a technology would compete in the real world. In a previous episode, we covered some of the ways startups get TEAs wrong — bad assumptions, false [&hellip;]