H2 Talk Series
"I have learned you are never too small to make a difference." - Greta Thunberg
In the twentieth century, we have witnessed an increased concern and emotion towards the environment, especially post the COVID-19 pandemic and the global state of affairs. The hype for renewables and energy security, self-sufficiency amongst nations has ramped up. One can say that, without a doubt, Millennials and Gen Z folks are pledging their unflinching loyalties towards EVs and Hydrogen (H2), dreaming about a sustainable future and planet.
The separately positioned element of the periodic table is indeed a unique one. Similar to its hunger to stay stable with 2 electrons and a molecular state rather than an atomic state, H2 likes to be surrounded by discussions regarding its deployment in the industry, involving safety, economic, and technical feasibility issues. In the world of growing misinterpretation of facts and the gap between academic and industrial sectors, we at EIT InnoEnergy CommUnity (CU) took a small step to bridge the gap and educate ourselves with the right knowledge about H2 hype by organizing an online H2 Talk Series and inviting diverse experts from various parts of the value chain.
All the talks followed a pattern of 5 minutes of CU Intro + 40 minutes of Talk + 15 min of Q&A. All the events were organized by the Turin CommUnity. Additional support was provided by the Eindhoven & Lisbon CommUnity teams.
The 1st talk was given by Mr. Erik Rakhou, Associate Director, Energy and Regulation Policies Expert, BCG, Amsterdam, on the 7th of Dec 2022. He enlightened us about the intense policies in place for Green Hydrogen and the investment pledges in place by the EU. The impact of geopolitics and consumer agitations on decarbonization was discussed. He urged the energy engineers to believe in green hydrogen and work to further amplify its effects. The session saw a turnout of 50 participants coupled with multiple requests for the recordings.
The 2nd talk was hosted by Dr. Hugo Silva, Senior Process Engineer, Power-To-X, Ramboll Copenhagen, on January 11th, 2023. It was a deep-dive session exploring the possibilities of alternate carriers for hydrogen such as ammonia, methanol, and other fuels. Special emphasis was given to sustainable production and storage methods to achieve Power-To-X. The audience's interests were piqued up further when the speaker referenced Ramboll’s current & future projects (DynAmmonia, World’s first artificial energy island at VindØ, etc.).
Subsequently, the 3rd talk was jointly chaired by Mr. Roberto Di Molfetta, EIT InnoEnergy SELECT ’21 alumnus, Senior Consultant, Energy & Industrial, BIP, Milan, and Mr. Alfonso Barco Nùñez, Senior Manager, Strategy & Operations, BIP, Madrid, on January 25th, 2023. The talk aimed at addressing the present situation and the FID of hydrogen. Infrastructure readiness was discussed along with the possibility of blending hydrogen with natural gas (NG) and the modification of NG pipelines for this blend. A detailed sector-by-sector analysis highlighting the major challenges of the entire supply chain from production to transportation to consumption has been presented. Relevant case studies from Spain and Italy have been provided as evidence to better explain the issues and their counter-tactics.
After a short break, the 4th talk was held on April 12th, 2023. The team decided to extend the scope beyond the EU now. The MENA region seemed the obvious first choice. The speaker was Mr. Hesham Nasr, EIT InnoEnergy Energy Transition’19 alumna, Project Developer, Power-To-X, Scatec ASA, Cairo. The session focused on project management and opportunities for green hydrogen-based aviation and maritime activities in MENA and the world. Intensive conversations were held about ammonia off-takers along with the possible pipelining between MENA and EU to transport green hydrogen or other fuels derived from hydrogen. Recent policies such as the US Inflation reduction act, EU Hydrogen Bank, etc., were touched upon at the end.
Following the EU & MENA, we wanted to explore the depth and width of hydrogen in the biggest economy of the world: The USA. The team invited Mr. Simon Walker, Director, National Accounts, Fuel Cells Expert, Plug Power, Latham, New York. On May 4th, 2023, Simon briefed the audience about the reliability and efficiency of fuel cells and the kind of role they can play in warehouses. The current state-of-the-art projects Plug has been developing in the US and the status quo of the collaboration projects between the US-EU & US-Rest of the world were explored. The session had an extensive extended Q&A session with some high-octane discussions regarding the materials used in manufacturing the electrolyzes/fuel cells and the capabilities of supply-chain disruption or monopolies by nations.
Finally, we would like to thank all the organizers from the various local CommUnity teams and our CommUnity Manager, Mrs. Eylem Tasdemir, for her constant support and motivation to keep this series growing and getting better. We once again would like to iterate the fact that the ongoing break is just a comma and not a full stop. More talks on H2 with experts from different parts of the world shall be joining us in the coming months. Thank you, everyone, for participating!
If you would like to watch the recording of the H2 Talk Series, please click on the links below:
Sankar Pranav Govindaraju, EIT InnoEnergy SELECT ‘23
Local Manager, Turin CommUnity