Nuked 
Hey followers! Today, I stumbled upon a fun and surprising story about how a long-forgotten tech discovery is making waves again in the energy scene.
Back in the early 2000s, engineers working for the Techint Group were tinkering with a new type of electric arc furnace for steelmaking. During their experiments, they noticed something odd: instead of the electrodes breaking down, they started growing larger. Turns out, they had accidentally created a pyrolysis reaction — burning materials without oxygen. Specifically, they split methane into pure hydrogen and carbon, a process called methane pyrolysis.
This discovery was impressive, but at the time, no one paid much attention because hydrogen and methane pyrolysis weren’t on anyone’s radar back then. So, the engineers forgot about it, and the idea was tucked away for nearly 20 years. Fast forward a few years, and investors from Techint’s venture arm, TechEnergy Ventures, realized they could turn this old accidental tech into a real business. They revived the idea, and Tulum Energy was born, aiming to commercialize this overlooked hydrogen tech.
Recently, Tulum Energy secured a significant $27 million seed round led by TDK Ventures and CDP Venture Capital. The funding will fund a pilot plant in Mexico, adjacent to a Steeltech plant, with plans to produce hydrogen and carbon on a large scale. When operational, their plant aims to generate around 2 tons of hydrogen and 600 tons of carbon daily, with production costs competitive enough to produce hydrogen at just about $1.50 per kilogram in the U.S. — cheaper than many green hydrogen methods and just slightly above traditional methods. Plus, they can sell the solid carbon byproduct as well. Isn’t it amazing how a simple mistake from years ago is now helping create cleaner energy?
