The JTEC has few moving parts, no combustion and no exhaust. All the work to generate electricity is done by hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe.[](https://www.ajc.com/business/2025/11/what-georgia-democrats-psc-wins-will-and-wont-mean-for-your-power-bills/)Engineers hover near a demonstration version of the JTC Energy device at the company’s headquarters on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. It’s still relatively early days for the company, but Lonnie Johnson and other JTEC executives think the future is bright. (Natrice Miller/AJC)
Inside the device, pressurized hydrogen gas is separated by a thin, filmlike membrane, with low pressure gas on one side and high pressure gas on the other. The difference in pressure in this “stack” is what drives the hydrogen to compress and expand, creating electricity as it circulates. And unlike a fuel cell, it does not need to be refueled with more hydrogen.
All that’s needed to keep the process going and electricity flowing is a heat source. As it turns out, there are enormous amounts of energy vented or otherwise lost from industrial facilities like power plants, factories, breweries and more.
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The JTEC has few moving parts, no combustion and no exhaust. All the work to generate electricity is done by hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe.[](https://www.ajc.com/business/2025/11/what-georgia-democrats-psc-wins-will-and-wont-mean-for-your-power-bills/)Engineers hover near a demonstration version of the JTC Energy device at the company’s headquarters on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. It’s still relatively early days for the company, but Lonnie Johnson and other JTEC executives think the future is bright. (Natrice Miller/AJC)
Inside the device, pressurized hydrogen gas is separated by a thin, filmlike membrane, with low pressure gas on one side and high pressure gas on the other. The difference in pressure in this “stack” is what drives the hydrogen to compress and expand, creating electricity as it circulates. And unlike a fuel cell, it does not need to be refueled with more hydrogen.
All that’s needed to keep the process going and electricity flowing is a heat source. As it turns out, there are enormous amounts of energy vented or otherwise lost from industrial facilities like power plants, factories, breweries and more.
Between 20% and 50% of all energy used for industrial processes is dumped into the atmosphere and lost as waste heat, [according to the U.S. Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/iedo/waste-heat-recovery-basics).