# Turning Air, Water, and Sunlight into Natural Gas: Casey Handmer’s Vision for Sustainable Energy Part 1

- Show: [Hardware to Save a Planet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet)
- Published: 2024-12-05
- Length: 34m
- Episode: 67
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-12-05-turning-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmers-vision-for-sustai
- Listen: https://podcasts.fame.so/e/q80q6rrn-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmer

## Summary

Casey Handmer, founder of Terraform Industries, explains his company's approach to producing sustainable natural gas by combining direct air capture of CO2 with green hydrogen generated via electrolysis. He argues that conventional green hydrogen is economically unviable due to high costs and infrastructure challenges, advocating instead for modular, low-cost electrolyzers powered directly by cheap solar energy to produce methane on-site. Handmer draws on his background in space exploration and physics to frame the problem as one of energy arbitrage, emphasizing the necessity of hydrocarbons for heavy industry and aviation while dismissing hydrogen as a standalone fuel.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-12-05-turning-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmers-vision-for-sustai#t=0) Introduction and Guest Background
- [3:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-12-05-turning-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmers-vision-for-sustai#t=209) The Link Between Space Travel and Climate Tech
- [6:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-12-05-turning-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmers-vision-for-sustai#t=417) The Origin of Terraform and the Necessity of Hydrocarbons
- [19:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-12-05-turning-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmers-vision-for-sustai#t=1182) Why Hydrogen Fails as a Standalone Fuel
- [26:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-12-05-turning-air-water-and-sunlight-into-natural-gas-casey-handmers-vision-for-sustai#t=1579) Terraform’s Process: Solar, Electrolysis, and Methanation

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Batteries & low-power design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/batteries-and-low-power)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Terraform Industries (company)
- NASA (company)
- Hyperloop (company)
- Caltech (company)
- Tesla (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Andrei Klochko: Reversible Heat Pumps, Decarbonization, and Earth vs Mars | Hard Tech Podcast #6](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hard-tech-podcast/2023-06-14-andrei-klochko-reversible-heat-pumps-decarbonization-and-earth-vs-mars-hard-tech) (Hard Tech Podcast)
- [Driving down the cost of green hydrogen](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-11-13-driving-down-the-cost-of-green-hydrogen) (Catalyst)
- [HIBT Lab! Universal Hydrogen: Paul Eremenko](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-10-20-hibt-lab-universal-hydrogen-paul-eremenko) (How I Built This)
- [The future of natural gas](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2021-12-09-the-future-of-natural-gas) (Catalyst)
- [TEA breakdown: green ammonia and synthetic methane](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-11-21-tea-breakdown-green-ammonia-and-synthetic-methane) (Catalyst)

## Citing this page

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