Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2023

Falling Walls Circle Plenary Table

Renewable Sources: Unlocking Pathways to a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy

Marius Brand, Bernd Rech, Philip Green, Philippe Tanguy, Juliana Chan

Engineering & Technology Physical Sciences

Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe. In this regard it is almost the exact opposite of fossil fuels, which are incredibly rare and hard to extract. So wouldn’t it be great if we could swap fossil fuels for renewable sources such as hydrogen? This Falling Walls Circle Plenary Table explores the challenges and opportunities that may arise from the successful deployment of hydrogen technologies aimed at building more resilient economies and energy systems.

While green hydrogen may play a big role in the decarbonisation of big industries, its production and acceptance remain stunted for now. “The principal problem is cost”, says Philip Green, “the solution is scale”. But in order to produce at scale, the supply chain has to adapt: Renewable sources such as wind and solar energy have to be scaled at the same time so that they can meet the demand of increased green hydrogen production. As Philippe Tanguy puts it: “Producing hydrogen is the easy part. It is the infrastructure and logistics in between that have to be dealt with very carefully.”

Closing the gap between producers and off-takers

Similarly, accessibility and acceptability of green hydrogen have to be addressed. Big industries, such as steel producers, truck manufacturers and heat providers, need to switch over to renewable sources. “The affordability of green hydrogen is critical in unlocking these industries and their resources”, says Marius Brand. To cut down costs and drive up acceptability, political incentives and subsidies may be needed to close the still existing gap between producers and off-takers.

The experts also address the involvement of the Global South: As they agree, a global energy transition cannot be a western thing, and in order to advance a strategically integrated energy system based on renewable sources, developing and emerging countries have to play a pivotal role.

Marius Brand

Sasol

Marius Brand is the Executive Vice President, Sasol 2.0 Transformation at the Chemicals and Energy company Sasol. Marius is responsible for the Sasol 2.0 programme – a group-wide transformation programme positioned to achieve the Future Sasol strategy. In addition, Marius is accountable for the new Sasol business unit, Sasol ecoFT, which will use Sasol’s proven Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals, from sustainable hydrogen and carbon sources. The initial primary focus of the new business venture will be to establish a global footprint in the power-to-liquid sustainable aviation fuel market. During his career at Sasol, Marius has worked at most of Sasol’s South African operating facilities. He has been exposed to a broad range of business activities, including roles in plant operations, asset capital project management, establishing transactional and site shared services, managing profit and loss businesses, heading group strategy, and leading group-wide transformation, sustainability and digital programmes. He was appointed to the Sasol Group Executive Committee in April 2019.

HZB/Phil Dera

Bernd Rech

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin

Bernd Rech is the Scientific Director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) and professor in the Photovoltaics Department of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Technische Universität Berlin.

He was co-initiator of the Energy Materials in-situ Laboratory EMIL at the Berlin storage ring BESSY II. Together with Prof. Robert Schlögl (Fritz Haber Institute) he leads the joint project CatLab, which uses BESSY II specifically for applications in catalysis and green hydrogen technologies.

Previously, he headed the Silicon Photovoltaics Institute at HZB from 2006 to 2017. The focus of his research has been on the development of both high-efficiency and low-cost thin-film silicon solar cells and new material combinations for tandem solar cells. From 2008 to 2020, he was the spokesperson for the Helmholtz Association’s Renewable Energies program. Bernd Rech studied physics at Heidelberg University and RWTH Aachen and received his doctorate from RWTH Aachen.

Bernd Rech also serves on numerous committees, such as the supervisory board of the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hameln and the board of trustees of the Baden-Württemberg Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research. He is a member of the board of the Energy Working Group of the German Physical Society, and since 2017 he has been an elected member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). In 2018, he received the Apple of Inspiration, an award of the President of Slovenia.

Philip Green

Australian Embassy, Germany

Philip Green is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently First Assistant Secretary, United States and Indo-Pacific Strategy Division. He has previously served overseas as Head of Mission in Singapore, South Africa and Kenya.

Mr. Green holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney.

Philippe Tanguy

POLYTECHNIQUE MONTREAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Philippe Tanguy is the President of Polytechnique Montreal technological university. As an expert in hydrogen and economy decarbonization, he has also been working with government shaping the energy transition and industry electrification strategy. Prior to joining Polytechnique, Philippe served as a top R&D executive for the broad energy company TotalEnergies in Paris and Berlin, focusing on international R&D corporate strategy, in relation with the energy transition, the hydrogen economy, and the energy-water-environment nexus. He previously pursued an academic career in several universities in Canada, including 15 years as an industrial research chairholder at Polytechnique Montreal. Philippe is presently the Chairman of the World Council of Chemical Engineering and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. His education includes a doctorate degree in physics (Paris), a Ph.D. in chemical engineering (Laval), and an executive management training (MIT Sloan).

Juliana Chan

Asian Scientist Magazine

Dr. Juliana Chan is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Scientist Magazine, published by Wildtype Media Group, Asia’s leading STEM-focused media company, spanning digital, print, custom publishing and events.

She received a BA degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD degree in Biology from MIT. Awards received include the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship, the Singapore Youth Award, MIT Technology Review’s 10 Innovators Under 35 (Asia), the ACS Nano Fellowship and Tatler Singapore’s Generation T list.

Juliana’s research into drug delivery and nanomedicine has been featured by The BBC, MIT Technology Review and South China Morning Post, and she is an inventor on four patents, one of which has been licensed for commercialization by Pfizer. Juliana is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and she serves on the WEF Technology Pioneers Selection Committee.

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