Episode 6
Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is not business readiness
Episode 6 of the Chade Hydrogen podcast: why high-TRL technology still stumbles on the road to market — the six places a proven technology quietly stalls, the readiness scales TRL leaves out (MRL, CRI, IRL), and the real-world cases that prove it.
Watch / Listen
Watch on YouTubeKey takeaways
- A technology that works is a technical result — not a business.
- Proven technologies quietly stall in six places on the road to market.
- TRL measures technical readiness only — manufacturing (MRL), commercial (CRI) and investment (IRL) readiness decide the outcome.
- Plug Power, the UK's hydrogen heating trials and Topsoe show that business readiness, not TRL, is what breaks.
- TRL doesn't break at the market. Business readiness does.
Episode guide
1 / 10
Related episodes
Episode 5
The hidden engineering challenges of scaling electrolysers
Open episode
Episode 4
Why hydrogen projects fail
Open episode
Episode 3
Scaling deep tech from lab to product
Open episode
Episode 2
Where hydrogen makes business sense
Open episode
Episode 1
Electrolysers: The battle for green hydrogen
Open episode