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An Australian entrepreneur has developed a proprietary hydrogen-on-demand technology that he believes could help address the country’s growing energy security challenges while positioning Australia as a contender in the clean energy transition.
Rick Parish, Founder of deep-tech company Kinetic7 Technologies, has built a system that produces hydrogen gas on demand using water, solar and battery power – eliminating the need for the costly infrastructure and volatile storage that have long hindered hydrogen’s viability as an energy source.
The company, headquartered in Abu Dhabi with offices across Europe, London, Australia and the US, has spent six years and A$18 million on research and development to reach this point.
Australia’s gas supply concerns
The technology arrives against the backdrop of mounting pressure on Australia’s energy infrastructure. The federal government has faced criticism over its plans for future energy security following the Gas Market Review and reforms. At the same time, Canadian infrastructure firm ATCO has announced plans to shut down and decommission its gas supply to Albany on Western Australia’s south coast.
ATCO confirmed the gas network is ageing and too old to maintain safely, with an estimated A$80 million required to upgrade it. The company stated it was “disappointed” to be decommissioning the Albany network but stressed there was “not an economically viable solution.” The decision leaves roughly 40,000 people without a gas supply and has raised concerns across the state about the future of gas energy.
Parish argues that hydrogen on demand could offer a practical alternative for communities facing exactly this kind of infrastructure gap.
“Australia needs to secure its current and future energy production and supply while also being focused on the delivery of clean energy,” he told journalists. “Hydrogen on demand represents that future and critically it is carbon free.”
How the technology works
While hydrogen gas as a concept is not new, making it viable as an alternative clean energy supply has remained an obstacle for the industry. Conventional hydrogen production requires expensive infrastructure and storage facilities, and the gas itself is volatile when stored.
Parish explained that Kinetic7 took a different approach by re-engineering the production process entirely.
“Experts have been unable to make this viable as an alternative clean energy supply. This has been due to the fact that hydrogen gas production requires expensive infrastructure and storage once the gas is produced,” he outlined. “So, at Kinetic7, we re-engineered the process using our proprietary technology to produce hydrogen on demand rather than producing the gas and storing it. We create the hydrogen gas on demand at the point of use when needed, making it safe to use.”
From portable stoves to commercial units
Kinetic7’s product line has grown from humanitarian-focused portable cooking stoves to commercial energy units. The company’s first products were the Tribe and Nomad portable cook stoves, designed for use in developing nations and the Commonwealth where families continue to cook on wood-burning stoves.
Both stoves use a small amount of water, solar power and a small battery to produce carbon-free gas at the point of use. The Nomad stove, built for rapid deployment, has applications across military operations, emergency services and federal disaster management. It is attracting interest from foreign governments, NGOs and various disaster agencies.
The technology was previewed at the 2024 Paris Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) at UNESCO headquarters. At the Four Seasons Hotel in Paris, Executive Chef Simone Zanoni used the portable Nomad stove to cook a carbon-free meal as a demonstration of the technology’s capabilities.
Kinetic7 has since developed its first commercial unit, the HODbox hydrogen-on-demand system, designed for commercial kitchens and restaurants.
Off-grid residential energy
Parish confirmed the company is also working on a standalone plug-and-play HODbox unit for residential energy supply. The unit is being designed for homes that are off-grid and not served by main gas supply networks, providing clean hydrogen-on-demand gas energy for cooking, hot water and ambient heating.
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For communities like Albany, where traditional gas infrastructure is being decommissioned, such a unit could potentially fill the gap left by departing energy providers.
“Australia can secure its energy future by looking at hydrogen gas on demand as a solution to providing cheap, clean energy that also tackles the growing issue of climate change,” Parish remarked. “This will also help to secure Australia’s energy sovereignty and reduce reliance on foreign imports of energy and fuel.”
A humanitarian mission shaped by personal loss
Parish’s drive to create Kinetic7 was shaped by personal tragedy. Following the death of his four-year-old son, Elliot, from brain cancer, Parish channelled his grief into humanitarian work. His travels in Africa showed him how many families were cooking on primitive wood-burning stoves, with young children suffering the effects of indoor household air pollution and inhaling toxic fumes.
According to Kinetic7, cooking on inefficient wood-burning stoves contributes to 3.2 million deaths each year from household air pollution and respiratory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, eye damage, heart conditions and cancers caused by inhaling toxic smoke and carbon particulates. More than 237,000 of those deaths are attributed to children under the age of five.
Parish witnessed women and children walking up to 10 km a day to collect firewood, and could see the direct impact on deforestation and climate change.
The Carbon Free Kitchen
As part of its humanitarian work, Kinetic7 has developed what it calls the Carbon Free Kitchen. Designed using a modular shipping-container system, the portable kitchen provides large-scale carbon-free cooking using hydrogen gas on demand. It is intended for humanitarian purposes and for use in schools across Africa.
“With Kinetic7, we have not only developed a solution for creating clean, carbon-free hydrogen-on-demand energy, but we can also reduce the 3.2 million premature deaths caused each year by household air pollution, while helping to reduce the impact of climate change and large-scale deforestation,” Parish added.
He pointed to the potential for collaboration between private-sector philanthropy, NGOs and partner agencies such as UNICEF and the United Nations to address energy inequality in Africa and other developing nations across the Commonwealth.
Parish’s background
Parish is a former Australian SASR operator and Founder of the Marine & Offshore Group. He has spent more than 30 years building international businesses across energy, safety, security and training in the oil and gas industries.
He has spoken publicly about his admiration for King Charles III’s longstanding commitment to environmental and humanitarian causes, including the Sustainable Markets Initiative, The King’s Foundation and the Harmony Project.
“His Majesty, as the former Prince of Wales, was so ahead of his time many years ago on the environment, climate change and deforestation, and nobody was prepared to listen,” Parish reflected. “Only now, as climate change dominates our very existence, is the world waking up to his wisdom and philosophy of Harmony, understanding the importance of the symbiotic relationship between mankind and the natural world.”
Kinetic7 Technologies is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, with entities in the UK, Australia, Italy and the US. More information is available at www.kinetic7.com.
Last Updated on June 16, 2026 by Nick Ross
