The Sustainable Business Magazine has the pleasure of speaking with Rick Harlow, CEO of NovaSpark Energy, a company providing power and fuel from atmospheric hydrogen generation
Rick Harlow is co-founder and CEO of NovaSpark, an atmospheric hydrogen generation company. His company fills a unique gap in the market, producing fuel in places it would be otherwise impossible. Rick explains in this interview how NovaSpark partners with industry and defence innovators to secure power for critical infrastructure and off-grid operations.
The Uses of Atmospheric Hydrogen Generation
Rick begins our conversation by describing the target customer base of NovaSpark: ‘You’ve got critical infrastructure, such as a police station, fire station or water facilities. When the power goes out, it will switch over to our system and give uninterrupted power for days, weeks or even longer. We’re currently doing an off-grid community, where they have to pull the power across the entire mountain range in the Pacific Northwest.’ Rick explains a particular benefit of NovaSpark technology is its modular design, allowing for scalability as demand requires. Furthermore, NovaSpark does not experience the same shelf life issues as battery storage. Regardless of temperature or time elapsed, the same amount of gaseous hydrogen will be available as when originally produced.
Rick makes specific mention of the use of hydrogen to power long range drones: ‘The drones that have been proven to carry the heaviest payloads, or go the longest range, are the ones that run off hydrogen. We’re currently collaborating with a couple of different defence contractors as well as some commercial drone companies. In addition, there are some heavy equipment manufacturers that are very mature in their journey of having equipment run off of hydrogen.’ Rick emphasises the advantages of NovaSpark’s on-site fuel and energy production, therefore cutting out risks associated with supply chains or fuel deliveries to a site. This is a particularly important benefit for remote off-grid communities, commercial and military operations.
‘You’ve got critical infrastructure, such as a police station, fire station or water facilities. When the power goes out, it will switch over to our system and give uninterrupted power for days, weeks or even longer’
Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Hydrogen
Our conversation turns to the importance of bridging training gaps when it comes to the production and utilisation of hydrogen fuel: ‘When we were awarded our first contract with the military, we also wrote a safety program. It was so robust and easy to use and understand that they contracted us to formalize it and make that a part of our offering.’ Rick goes on to explain that in research done by the Defence Acquisition Research Group, NovaSpark was consistently referenced as proof of use of atmospheric hydrogen generation technology. Rick describes with pride how his company was used as an example of how hydrogen fuel is safely produced, transported and dispensed.
Rick tells me that NovaSpark has developed an entire training programme that will be offered through commercial clients and the Department of Defence. He believes strongly that there needs to be simpler provision of information, and attitudes towards hydrogen fuel should reflect the increasing scale of production. Rick gives the automobile industry as a specific example of how manufacturing is poised to take advantage of the scaling up of hydrogen fuel production. He explains that filling up from a hydrogen fuel centre should be just as simple as using petrol. Rick also emphasises that the main limitations of hydrogen vehicles are not due to safety or performance, but as a result of the scarcity of dispensing infrastructure.
The Future of NovaSpark and Atmospheric Hydrogen Generation
Rick describes the main areas of expansion he envisions for atmospheric hydrogen generation. The first is in military operations, where NovaSpark’s onsite production cuts associated emissions, and reduces exposure and risk to supply chains: ‘Whether you’re talking about fuel for long-range drones, high altitude balloons, ultra-light vehicles or even portable power, that is one bucket where we could make an impact in national or global protection using hydrogen technologies.’ Rick also mentions the increasing frequency of natural disasters in the US. Hurricanes can make areas impassable for disaster relief efforts. On-site generation and the by-product of drinkable water, therefore, positions NovaSpark as a uniquely beneficial technology in disaster relief efforts or other resource constrained geographies.
These benefits of atmospheric hydrogen generation are also apparent in critical infrastructure impacted by power cuts. Rick gives electric bus fleets as a specific example of how NovaSpark technology can be used to ensure the resilience of transport services: ‘The city of San Francisco, just like a lot of other cities, has large electric bus fleets. We can put our systems there for large scale backup power so they can still have their buses running for several days while waiting for the power to come back on.’ Rick tells me that during the San Francisco 2025 power cuts, residents complained about disturbed sleep due to noisy diesel generators. NovaSpark is a quiet, non-polluting alternative to backup power generation, and Rick is determined to continue bringing its benefits to the world.
