Delphi’s AI-Enabling Market Intelligence Engine: The Surprising Reason We Began with Electrolyzers
At Delphi Data Labs, we are building a digital twins of industrial b2b markets by integrating a range of advanced data technologies—web scraping, machine learning algorithms, geospatial modeling, graph databases, and LLMs. Our initial focus is the global electrolyzer market, mapping the entire technological and value chain landscape. Why go to such lengths? The answer lies in how electrolysis reaches far beyond hydrogen alone, touching every corner of industry and even the final frontier of humanity.
Historically, electrolyzers have been mentioned primarily in the context of hydrogen production, but in reality, their largest application has long been the chlor-alkali process. Electrolysis itself was first observed in 1800, shortly after Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile. The English scientists William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle used this new battery to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, sparking the earliest electrolysis research. Chemists like Humphry Davy soon refined these methods, isolating sodium and potassium from molten salts. By the mid-19th century, electroplating became one of the first large-scale commercial applications, coating metals such as silver or copper onto lower-cost substrates. However, it was the chlor-alkali process, growing significantly by the late 19th century, that truly propelled electrolysis to industrial prominence—turning brine into chlorine, sodium hydroxide, and hydrogen. Although the first formation of chlorine by brine electrolysis was noted in 1800, commercial-scale success arrived only in 1892, eventually making chlor-alkali the largest user of electrolysis by the early 20th century.
In parallel, early hydrogen ventures beyond chlor-alkali emerged. Beginning in the early 1900s, Norway leveraged its abundant hydropower for electrolysis at Rjukan (1911) and Notodden (1912), producing ammonia-based fertilizers well before climate concerns were on the radar. These facilities, operated by Norsk Hydro, eventually led to what is now Nel Hydrogen. Initially, Norwegian industrial nitrogen production did not rely on the then-new Haber-Bosch process but on the Birkeland–Eyde arc method, which was powered by hydropower and produced nitric oxide for conversion into nitrates. Over time, Norwegian plants adopted water electrolysis in combination with the increasingly commercial Haber-Bosch system, scaling up to yield ammonia-based fertilizers by the late 1920s. By 1940, Rjukan hosted the world’s largest hydrogen electrolyzer, producing more than 30,000 Nm³/hour, and in the 1960s, DEMAG installed electrolyzers at the Aswan Dam in Egypt to produce 40,000 m³ of H₂ per hour—yet fossil-based fertilizer routes ultimately dominated for most of the past century. Meanwhile, the chlor-alkali sector remained a cornerstone of electrolysis, splitting brine to generate chlorine for PVC, disinfectants, and myriad chemical syntheses, alongside sodium hydroxide for countless industrial uses. Hydrogen produced in this process was typically seen as a by-product rather than the chief commodity. This single sector consumed enormous amounts of power, illustrating electrolysis’s deep entrenchment in global chemical supply chains. Leaders in chlor-alkali, such as ThyssenKrupp Nucera and Asahi Kasei, today leverage this expertise for hydrogen-focused electrolyzers.
The metallurgical industry similarly depends on electrolysis: the Hall–Héroult process underpins aluminum production, copper refineries rely on electrorefining, and zinc, nickel, and magnesium are extracted at scale via electrowinning. Over time, this extensive reliance on electrolysis has solidified it as an energy-intensive yet indispensable force in modern industry.
Beyond these cornerstone applications, electrolysis has found valuable niches in swimming pools and ballast water treatment. On-site generation of disinfectants from dissolved salts helps keep pool water clean without the hazards of transporting chemicals. In maritime settings, electrolyzers convert seawater into biocidal agents that eliminate invasive microorganisms in ballast water, preventing ecological disruption when ships discharge ballast in foreign ports. Both use cases highlight electrolysis’s versatility and efficiency, as they integrate seamlessly with existing systems and minimize the movement of hazardous substances.
Regardless of feedstock or end product, electrolysis demands core competencies in electrochemical cell design, power management, electrode and membrane optimization, and reaction control under specific pressures, temperatures, and electrolytes. As material science advances—introducing more robust catalysts, membranes, and corrosion-resistant alloys—electrolyzers are expanding into novel areas such as low-carbon steelmaking, carbon capture, and decentralized chemical synthesis. Established fields like chlor-alkali and water treatment continue to refine large-scale electrolysis, feeding innovations back into emerging sectors. This cross-pollination accelerates R&D, creating a feedback loop that spurs breakthroughs and, in turn, broadens electrolysis’s already wide industrial footprint. Companies such as De Nora, Permascand, and Techcross exemplify how specialized electrochemical know-how can power a range of technologies across different industries.
Looking ahead, the future applications of electrolysis extend far beyond simply producing hydrogen. In metals, molten oxide electrolysis could slash emissions in steelmaking by skipping carbon-intensive blast furnaces, while CO₂ electrolysis stands to overhaul the petrochemicals landscape altogether. Emerging players like Dioxycle are pioneering systems that directly convert carbon dioxide into ethylene, bypassing the separate hydrogen generation step that a standard water electrolyzer would require. Similarly, Topsoe’s CO electrolyzers produce carbon monoxide from CO2₂, while Twelve’s OpusTM electrolyzer aims to streamline the route to valuable chemicals based on its novel CO2-reducing catalyst that electrifies CO2 and water, producing only oxygen, synthesis gas (also known as syngas: combination of CO + H2), and water as outputs.
Beyond these direct conversion technologies, electrolysis is finding new roles in carbon capture, whether drawing CO₂ from ambient air or seawater, and using electrochemical reactions to isolate and concentrate carbon species for sequestration or utilization. Lithium extraction also stands at the threshold of a major leap forward, as brine electrolysis could potentially lower energy consumption and environmental impact, compared to conventional evaporation ponds or chemical separation methods. Even the venerable Haber-Bosch process for fertilizer production may one day become obsolete, thanks to emerging direct ammonia electrolyzers that can reduce atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia through an electrochemical reaction. By eliminating the high pressures and temperatures required for Haber-Bosch and directly fixing nitrogen with the help of specialized catalysts, these new systems promise to cut both energy consumption and carbon emissions in fertilizer manufacturing. Each of these avenues eliminates or reduces process steps, which in turn cuts operational costs and carbon footprints. Taken together, they signify that electrolysis is on the cusp of redefining not just hydrogen production, but the entire chemistry of how we make steel, fuels, fertilizers, and base chemicals—heralding a future where electricity and electrodes power a vast spectrum of industrial transformations.
Finally, electrolysis-based processes will reach beyond Earth itself, becoming a pivotal technology for humanity’s final frontier.
From Apollo’s fuel cells—producing electricity and drinking water—to the ISS’s electrolyzers, space missions rely on electrochemistry for closed-loop life support. On the Moon or Mars, locally available water ice could be split into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel, drastically reducing the need for resupply missions. Electrolysis may also underpin on-site chemical synthesis, metals production, and advanced materials fabrication on other celestial bodies. Food production could follow the model of Finland’s Solar Foods, whose microbes feed on hydrogen (produced by electrolyzers) and carbon dioxide to create single-cell proteins. Such bio-electrochemical systems promise closed-loop agriculture, potentially enabling settlements that recycle water, air, and nutrients with minimal waste. In short, electrolyzers and fuel cells could evolve from supplementary spacecraft hardware to the backbone of self-sustaining off-world industries.
All these developments point to a wider, more decisive transformation. Personally, I am convinced, that humanity is on the verge of moving away from thermochemical processes—where we burn fuels to produce heat, mechanical force, and ultimately electricity—to a more direct, electrochemical paradigm that significantly reduces energy losses. Over the past two centuries, our reliance on combustion has consistently wasted 60–65% of potential energy as heat. Yet battery technology, solar photovoltaics, and electrolysis are jointly offering an alternative that more efficiently translates electricity into motion, power, and chemical transformations. Battery electric vehicles, for example, use about 80% of their input energy to drive the wheels, surpassing the efficiency of internal combustion engines. Solar power has also surged, delivering affordable, scalable clean electricity and creating an ideal foundation for electrolysis-centric processes. Notably, solar sector leaders such as China’s LONGi are branching into electrolyzer technology, while U.S. startup Electric Hydrogen—founded by former First Solar executives—builds on solar expertise to produce scalable & cost efficient water electrolysis systems.
This shift also parallels nature’s intrinsic emphasis on electrochemistry, from the way nerve signals transmit in living organisms to how photosynthesis captures sunlight. Embracing these nature-inspired pathways is becoming essential as environmental challenges intensify. In moving away from thermochemical inefficiencies, we open the door to integrated electrochemical systems that may define the core of production and power generation in the future.
This long view, from electrolysis’s origins to its anticipated future, explains why we at Delphi Data Labs have chosen to initially build a market intelligence platform dedicated to what may seem like a small niche. Far from being limited to hydrogen, electrolysis stands poised to reshape the fundamentals of how we generate fuels, produce chemicals, handle metals, and even establish off-world habitats. As we pivot from a centuries-old reliance on burning things to an era of electrified, electrochemically driven processes—and eventually to bio-electrochemical cycles—electrolyzers will likely be at the heart of the next industrial revolution.
