HydGene Renewables

The challenge

From agricultural waste to renewable hydrogen and seeing the potential beyond the lab

HydGene was founded by a team with expertise in synthetic biology, engineering, and hydrogen production. The company has developed an engineered biocatalyst that converts sugars derived from biomass into hydrogen.

Unlike conventional hydrogen production, HydGene’s technology uses a biocatalyst to produce hydrogen continuously in modular units. This means hydrogen can be produced close to where it’s needed, including for making fertilisers, fuels and chemicals.

Agricultural residues can be difficult to use economically because they are often dispersed and variable in composition. Converting these residues into hydrogen could enable local production of renewable hydrogen while supporting lower-emissions manufacturing of products such as ammonia for fertiliser and methanol.

For the HydGene team, the scientific opportunity was clear. The challenge; was understanding how to move from a research result to a technology that customers could adopt.

That meant testing assumptions about the market, understanding customer needs, protecting and licensing intellectual property, building industry relationships and identifying a credible pathway to scale.

The team brought deep technical expertise, but needed to develop the commercial skills required to build a company.

Our response

Finding the people, expertise and confidence to commercialise

For CEO and co-founder Dr Louise Brown, CSIRO’s ON Accelerate Program helped turn a promising research opportunity into a commercial pathway - by building the team’s understanding of customers, markets, partnerships and the practical demands of starting a company.

Louise joined ON Accelerate in 2020 while she was an academic and researcher at Macquarie University; around the time HydGene was being formed as a university spin-out.

ON Accelerate helps research teams explore the commercial potential of their ideas, test customer needs and develop the skills and networks needed to pursue a venture. For Louise, the program provided valuable exposure to the practical aspects of commercialisation and helped the team better understand the pathway from scientific research to building a company. 

The program connected the team with expertise in areas including intellectual property, communications, marketing, finance, governance and commercialisation. It also provided access to experienced founders, investors and industry stakeholders who could challenge assumptions and offer practical insights into building a technology venture.

One of the most valuable elements was the network of experts and connections that continued beyond the program itself. 

Through ON, the team developed practical capabilities that are rarely taught in research environments. These included engaging with potential customers, communicating a compelling value proposition, building strategic partnerships and considering whether a startup was the right pathway for the technology.

The program helped establish an early commercial foundation for HydGene, alongside the research, funding, partnerships or ongoing work required to build and scale the company. 

Today, Louise leads HydGene full-time following the company’s spin-out from Macquarie University.

The results

The longer-term journey—building a company and progressing the technology

Since completing ON Accelerate, HydGene has grown from a university spin-out into a technology company advancing its biological hydrogen platform towards commercial deployment.

In March 2026, the company reported continuous hydrogen production from wheat straw at pilot scale. It also reported a tenfold increase in biocatalyst manufacturing capacity and continuous operation of its catalyst systems for more than two years. These milestones demonstrate significant advances in the performance, scalability and durability of HydGene’s technology as the company progresses towards commercial deployment.

HydGene has also secured support to advance its manufacturing and field-deployment plans. A $2 million NSW Biosciences Fund grant will support the scale-up of biocatalyst manufacturing, including the development of fermentation and downstream processing capabilities. The project is intended to establish up to 10,000 litres of fermentation capacity in New South Wales.

Separately, a $2.5 million NSW Government Clean Technology Innovation grant is supporting a planned first-of-a-kind deployment of HydGene’s modular waste-to-hydrogen system at a regional NSW site. The project is intended to test the technology under field conditions and explore its application to on-site hydrogen for fertiliser production.

These developments have been enabled by the combined efforts of the HydGene team, Macquarie University, research and industry partners, investors and government funders.

ON’s contribution came earlier in the journey, helping the team build commercial capabilities, develop industry connections and establish a foundation for taking the technology beyond the university.

HydGene’s journey illustrates that research commercialisation is not a single step from laboratory to market. It is an ongoing process of developing the technology, understanding the customer, building partnerships, securing investment and progressing towards commercial deployment.