One of Bill Gates’ latest forays into the world of clean power could turn out to be anything but. Seattle-based Modern Electron’s heat-to-power system, while taking strong steps towards decentralization, must avoid reliance on natural gas’ diminishing role as a bridge fuel, if it is to secure a part of the future hydrogen economy. As part of its oversubscribed Series B funding round, Modern Electron has raised a total of $30 million. Funding will be dedicated towards deploying pilot projects for decentralized hydrogen production that “demonstrate affordable decarbonization of gas heating without any new infrastructure,” while also integrating its technologies into existing heating appliances. The company’s primary offering has been its small thermionic converter that captures waste heat from gas…