From wind power and hydrogen to decarbonised aviation, projects aimed at making that happen were front and centre at IMechE Focus: Sustainability and Decarbonisation (8-12 September), a webinar series sharing cutting-edge expertise from industry and academia.
Here are the key messages from three of the six sessions.
‘Radical’ solutions needed for aviation emissions
In 2019, air transport was responsible for about 900 megatonnes (million tonnes) of carbon emissions. That represents 2.1% of CO2 emissions from all human sources, said Dr Ken Hart from the University of Hertfordshire.
That amount could skyrocket due to increased demand, however, despite gradual improvements to fuel efficiency. “We’ve got to do something more radical,” said Hart, who shared analysis included in IMechE's recent Aero 2050: Flying More Sustainably report.
Greener energy sources could include batteries, hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but each have their own drawbacks, from low energy density and feedstock availability to storage challenges.
With supply unlikely to meet demand by 2050, Hart suggested that engineers aim even higher. “You’re going to need aircraft configured with a variety of fuels, propulsion systems, and that will depend on the distance they’re flying and how many people they carry,” he said.
“Those fuels will consist of battery-electric, hybrid – which is a mixture of hydrogen, perhaps, and battery-electric, or battery-electric and standard gas turbines – and the sustainable aviation fuel.
“So the key challenge is really a development certification of new aircraft fuels and propulsion systems, and the production of these sustainable fuels in quantities needed to meet the future demand.”
It’s time to build the hydrogen workforce
The hydrogen economy of the future could have a huge number of jobs, according to George Jenkins, project leader for the Hydrogen Skills Alliance (HSA) – but they might not fall into simple categories. “When we talk about hydrogen, we’re not just talking about one specific sector that needs focusing on. It really is a huge mix,” he said.
Other challenges include uncertainty around the total workforce demand and how the technology will evolve. “We still don’t know 100% how current roles are going to be impacted,” Jenkins said. “Additionally, there’s a huge amount of competition for the sorts of skillsets that people working in hydrogen might need; competition from other sectors, from oil and gas, from wind.”
One thing is clear, however – a skilled workforce will be needed. Earlier this year, the HSA launched a strategic plan with four main points. “Firstly, we need to understand what the problem is, what the likely demand is, what’s already out there. We then need to maximise what’s already there.” The next steps are analysing gaps in provision and developing a new curriculum, followed by positioning hydrogen as an aspirational career destination.
The alliance is starting to make that happen with the development of a new framework, which breaks down the roles that might be affected by hydrogen, such as aerospace engineers. The organisation conducted research with industry to understand the roles and the skills they will need in future. That can then be used by industry to understand what should be included in qualifications.
The HSA is also launching the Hydrogen Skills Accelerator programme in the South West and North West of England, which aims to develop open-source training content for the UK hydrogen workforce.
It’s not going to be easy – but there are opportunities to take
Skills gaps, investment uncertainty, policy implementation – industrial decarbonisation is far from easy. A cross-industry panel explored those challenges, and how they might be tackled through effective use of industrial clusters, sector coupling and new technologies.
“Collectively, all the developers, investors and government policymakers need to create a friendly and also high-growth opportunity environment for the workforce, allow them to stay in the energy transition sector and support long-term growth,” said Dr Shengke Zhi from AtkinsRéalis.
“From the skills workforce perspective, there’s a huge gap. So that also means an opportunity for all people – if you have transferable skills, if you have aspirations supporting energy transition, we can guarantee there is a big opportunity for you. You can then have a long-term career in the energy transition market.”
If you were not registered for the event but would like to watch the sessions on-demand for free, please contact the IMechE Event Enquiries team at eventenquires@imeche.org.
Register now for IMechE Focus: Aerospace and Defence (13-17 October). Join this free webinar series to explore technology trends, multiphysics simulation, 3D printing, distributed and on-demand manufacturing, industrial assets adaptation planning, and career insights from engineers on frontline military deployment. Learn more and register here.
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