Startup's Electric Heat Pump Replaces Fossil Fuel Boilers

For nearly 200 years, factories have relied on the same basic technology to make steam: burn stuff. That's finally changing.

AtmosZero, a startup based in Colorado, has cracked the code on industrial-scale electric heat pumps that produce steam without burning a single drop of fossil fuel. The company just partnered with R.F. MacDonald, a 70-year-old boiler supplier, to bring this technology to factories across the country.

The breakthrough solves a problem that's stumped engineers for decades. Traditional steam boilers guzzle natural gas or oil to heat water for everything from brewing beer to processing food. Heat pumps work great in homes, but scaling them up to industrial temperatures seemed nearly impossible.

AtmosZero founder Addison Stark and his team figured out how to overcome the thermodynamic limitations. Their system cycles heat from ambient air into a liquid transfer medium, which evaporates refrigerant and recovers heat as it cools. The result uses 50 percent less electricity than electric resistance boilers.

The company started small in 2023 with a pilot project at New Belgium Brewing in Colorado. By 2024, they landed a $3.1 million Department of Energy grant to develop systems that deliver 200°C steam. Now they're manufacturing 100 units at their new "Boiler 2.0" campus in Loveland, Colorado.

What makes this exciting for factory owners is simplicity. AtmosZero's modular systems drop right into existing setups without requiring expensive renovations. Manufacturers get cleaner energy without changing their daily operations.

R.F. MacDonald sees huge potential in serving customers who need steam but face restrictions on gas-fired equipment. CEO Jim Lowell says the partnership positions them to advance the entire boiler industry with hybrid solutions that save energy and cut emissions.

The Ripple Effect spreads beyond individual factories. Steam boilers power critical industries including papermaking, food processing, chemical manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals. Replacing fossil fuel systems across these sectors could eliminate millions of tons of carbon emissions annually while cutting energy costs for manufacturers.

The timing couldn't be better. As residential heat pumps gain popularity for home heating and cooling, industrial versions are proving the technology works at any scale. Quilt, another heat pump innovator, recently expanded to 90 certified partners across 16 states and five Canadian provinces, showing strong market appetite for electrification solutions.

AtmosZero's success proves that century-old industrial equipment doesn't have to stay stuck in the past.