Introduction from the Coordinator by Antonino Salvatore Aricò – CNR
The mid-term review meeting of HPEM2GAS was held at the FCH JU premises in Bruxelles on 19th December 2017. Dr. Nikolaos LYMPEROPOULOS (Project officer) chaired it with the assistance of two reviewers. This was an excellent opportunity for the HPEM2GAS Consortium to present the progress achieved in the project in the first period to the FCH JU and our plan for the second phase.
We received from both the project officer and the reviewers important comments and useful suggestions.
It was recognised that the Project has delivered relevant results on materials development with significant immediate or potential impact. In general, the work on the project is advancing well with some important results regarding the development of a stabilized membrane and a new ionomer dispersion specifically developed in the project for electrolysis applications. Another interesting result that attracted the interest of the reviewers was the establishment of a useful co-relation to foreseen the MEA degradation as a function of catalyst loading. This was published in Nano Energy Journal 40 (2017) 618-632. It was also observed that the project is supported by proper dissemination activities addressing different relevant audiences.
The demonstration of the improved electrolyser under real life conditions at Emden (Germany) having a wind energy surplus grid is expected to bring the message of the project nearer to the public and local authorities. Four industrial partners are working together very well to reduce capital costs of the electrolyser, increase balance of plant efficiency and are well focussed on commercially exploiting the project results.
The mid-term project assessment by the FCH JU has further stimulated our efforts in achieving the challenging targets of the HPEM2GAS project with the aim to significantly advance in the field of “green” hydrogen generation to make hydrogen the future energy carrier.
Antonino Salvatore Aricò
Coordinator HPEM2GAS
