Research Group Leader, PVcomB, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Germany.
By Dr. Sonya Calnan, Research Group Leader, PVcomB, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Germany.
Green hydrogen is expected to contribute significantly to the de-carbonisation of a wide range of economic sectors including energy, chemicals, heavy industry as well as transport. Presently, the largest contributor to green hydrogen production is electrolysis driven by electricity from a renewable energy source. In this field, research efforts are focussed at scaling the production capacity in an effort to achieve a levelized cost of hydrogen production comparable to that of steam methanol reforming These goals hinge on the ability to enhance system efficiency and durability while reducing the system lifetime costs. This contribution focuses on the progress of green hydrogen technologies reported for prototype and technology demonstrations that use solar energy to drive electrolysis as well as emerging technologies in this field. Topics that shall be covered include the development of electrocatalysts with reduced or exclusive of noble metals, development of new system configurations, improving durability and reliability of performance under dynamic operating conditions.
Biography
Sonya Calnan is a Research Group Leader at the Competence Centre Photovoltaics Berlin (PVcomB) Institute in the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin. She investigates how renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics can be integrated with (electro)-chemical reactions for low net carbon fuels. Since 2009, Sonya has led and contributed to several (inter)national projects focusing on technology transfer as well as research and innovation in the field of renewable energy. She has a PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from Loughborough University (UK) and Masters of Business Administration from Leicester University (UK).