Q: Please could you briefly explain your role, involvement, and experience with regards to the hydrogen economy and this conference?
Adam Madgett, DNV (AM): Over a third of all UK emissions comes from heating our homes and businesses. Most of these emissions come from the 23 million homes that are connected to the gas network. The UK government, gas distribution networks and National Grid have all been exploring the feasibility of replacing natural gas with 100% hydrogen to reduce these emissions.
I am a hydrogen consultant with DNV, responsible for helping support customers in the gas industry with their aspirations for exploring the use of hydrogen in their gas networks.
John Hughes, Ricardo (JH): I am one of the chief engineers at Ricardo and my current role is in leading R&D projects relating to hydrogen ICE. We are developing core knowledge to understand the design, simulation and controls challenges as well as performance and emissions characteristics associated with hydrogen ICE.
Paul Turner, CMB.TECH (PT): I have been working on hydrogen vehicles since 2006, both combustion and fuel cells and it was my team that developed the Hydrogen Dual Fuel approach with the diesel engine. My team has been responsible for a wide range of Dual Fuel vehicle applications and more recently applications in the marine sector.
Ian Wilkinson, GeoPura (IW): I have been working in this field since 2014, looking at decarbonisation of our energy systems on a large scale and the role hydrogen plays in that, including energy vectors like ammonia and other zero-emission fuels. I led the team that designed and built the Siemens green ammonia energy storage system demonstrator at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, in the UK, and launched in 2018. I now work for GeoPura – a company offering clean energy as a service to off-grid, temporary and backup power users.
Thomas Beard, BMT Global (TB): I have worked in the hydrogen economy for nine years, starting with my doctorate in hydrogen safety. I now consult on ship integration of alternative fuels.
Q: What, in your experience, has been the biggest roadblock for utilising hydrogen in your sector?
AM: Currently, the biggest roadblock to utilising hydrogen in the gas industry is where the hydrogen will come from. The UK government has set a 10GW target of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030. However, a large proportion of this will be earmarked for use within industrial clusters identified in 2021. Therefore, the development of incentives and rapid deployment of hydrogen production will be essential. Outside of the gas industry safety has always been suggested as a significant problem with hydrogen conversion. However, research conducted by DNV is demonstrating that this isn’t necessarily the case. In addition to this, material embrittlement is also cited as a huge problem with people suggesting that the whole gas network will need to be replaced before hydrogen can enter service. Again, this isn’t necessarily the case. DNV has been involved with research that is providing evidence to the contrary. This is using existing standards such as ASME31.12, theoretical and practical studies to build this knowledge base.
JH: Data is a key enabler to understanding how a hydrogen ICE differs from more traditional diesel and gasoline variants. This then better equips us to understand how hydrogen ICE can be robustly utilised across numerous transport sector applications. To generate data, we need to do strategic testing and one of the initial roadblocks was the time and knowledge it took to safely convert test facilities to run robustly on pure hydrogen.
PT: The biggest road block for the hydrogen sector is a “political” belief that drives a narrative, that hydrogen is inefficient. Yes, on a straight energy balance kW into the tank to kW to the wheel H2 is less efficient than an EV, but where weight, range, recharge time and cabin heating are key drivers H2 can provide the most cost effective route to provide an alternative to diesel. Couple this to the ability of electrolysis to provide the grid balancing services needed for large scale renewables and H2 provides an answer for many hard to decarbonise sectors.
IW: It’s difficult to pick just one – the relative immaturity of the hydrogen industry; the (lack of) availability of equipment at appropriate volumes, scales and price points; market expectations when compared to incumbent fossil fuels; and public acceptance are all good places to start. All of these are challenges that engineers can help to overcome.
TB: The biggest roadblock for utilisation of hydrogen is the lack of suitable engines coupled with the lack of refuelling infrastructure.
Q: What key topics are you excited to discuss at this year's conference?
AM: The engineering challenges associated with other industries focussing on hydrogen. Such as, transport, aviation and maritime.
JH: At this year’s conference we are going to briefly discuss a project titled HIMET or Hydrogen in an Integrated Maritime Energy Transition. Led by EMEC Hydrogen in Orkney, HIMET aimed to progress an ambitious programme of activities centred around the decarbonisation of two key local maritime sectors: ferry services and cruise terminal operations. Ricardo’s role is to demonstrate that a traditional CNG engine can be converted to run on 100% hydrogen, and we will discuss some of the steps required to make such a conversion.
PT: I am excited to discuss the role that the internal combustion engine can play in a transition to and at zero emissions. The ICE is a very low cost device for converting stored energy into propulsion, and currently drives most cars, nearly all HGVs and all marine vessels today. The ICE has a full infrastructure for production, maintenance and recycling and the UK is good at developing them. The ICE is not the problem, the problem is the carbon based fuel, so let’s just change the fuel.
IW: I’m looking forward to discussions around the development of commercial business cases for hydrogen and how we can deploy these at scale to build on the momentum we have seen in the industry. The scale of the opportunity in the hydrogen economy is vast and the engineering community holds the keys to unlocking it.
TB: I am excited to discuss and learn from other industries to determine what collaboration and best practices I can use for the maritime domain.
Q: Regarding the utilisation of hydrogen, what would you say are the technologies or applications to watch for the future?
AM: Fast and accurate measurement devices for hydrogen. There have been interesting developments in this field, and it should be an area that will develop at pace in the coming years. In addition to this, the development of technology associated with hydrogen production should be an exciting area as the demand for such equipment increases.
JH: From an ICE perspective there are some steps to ensure some of the more traditional technologies used in diesel and gasoline applications are ready for mainstream hydrogen use. These include fuel injection systems, ignition systems etc. As more and more applications within the transport sector are interested in developing hydrogen engines, we can see R&D activity ranging from investigating feasibility of hydrogen powered high performance road cars, to on/off-highway applications, to marine and power generation applications. Each of these have their challenges and already have the benchmark of traditional fuels to be measured against.
PT: Obviously the Internal Combustion Engine. But apart from that, I am really quite excited by the development of the role pyrolysis can play in the decarbonisation story, taking hydrocarbon materials (both fossil and organic) and converting it to hydrogen gas and carbon powder. This provides a great route to using our waste resources to avoid methane emissions, capture carbon and make hydrogen.
IW: Of course, I would say GeoPura Hydrogen Power Units – they use fuel cell technology to provide zero emission electricity for off grid, temporary, back up and supplementary power applications. We are currently delivering power to some of the UKs biggest names and plan to scale rapidly in collaboration with Siemens Energy. Bulk carriers like ammonia and the technologies associated with these are also going to be key to providing hydrogen energy at the scales needed for nation-scale decarbonised energy systems.
TB: I think green hydrogen will be used to displace grey/blue hydrogen initially and then will be used in sectors where electrification is not suitable, e.g. heavy-duty land and some aspects of maritime.
Q: Who else are you most interested in hearing from on the programme?
JH: Given the nature of our work and the wide variety of possible opportunities to utilise hydrogen I am interested in hearing from all parties working with hydrogen.
PT: JCB, it will be really interesting to see where they are with their hydrogen engines.
IW: The line up of speakers is superb – I’m really looking forward to hearing from such a diverse range of experts from across the spectrum of hydrogen applications. It’s hard to pick just one, and I am excited for the discussion that will arise during the networking breaks. A great opportunity to collaborate and share ideas with those with shared interests, and I’ll be particularly interested to hear others’ views on the commercial challenges around the hydrogen industry.
TB: I am most interested to hear about hydrogen storage from other sectors as well as new methods of hydrogen production.
Q: Why is it important for engineers to join this conference?
AM: There is no doubt that there are engineering challenges with a hydrogen economy. But they are no different to the challenges of previous new energy developments. For example, the discovery of North Sea gas and the deployment of renewable energy technology. Learning about what these challenges are and how they can be addressed is essential in optimising the deployment of them.
JH: It’s always good to have events where engineers can meet and share different experiences. This conference is an excellent opportunity to focus on hydrogen’s exciting potential and help each other to move forward as efficiently as possible.
PT: Hydrogen will be a major element to our decarbonised future, and we are right at the beginning of a new era. I don’t think there has been a more exciting time to be an engineer since the start of the industrial revolution, we have so much to do and so little time to do it in. So it is vital that we all learn from each other.
IW: Engineering has so much to contribute to decarbonisation, including through hydrogen. The fundamental building blocks are there, we have the technology and the knowledge, but it needs to be scaled up and deployed at scale – and cost effectively - to have the desired impact: these are engineering challenges and they need our attention now.
TB: This conference provides the opportunity for engineers to discuss and learn about the technical challenges which we need to overcome to maximise the potential of hydrogen.
The Engineering Challenges in the Hydrogen Economy 2023 conference will be taking place on 14-15 March 2023 in London.
Join this conference to:
- Hear case studies from mature projects addressing infrastructure challenges for production, storage and distribution
- Identify bottlenecks and barriers in moving to a hydrogen economy
- Develop your understanding of the utilisation across different engineering sectors including rail, heavy-duty, aerospace, power generation, marine and more
- Hear from leading experts in the field and explore opportunities to collaborate on new projects
- Gain insight into gaps in the market and requirements for new technology
- Take away lessons learned from other innovative companies to ensure optimal development strategies
- Understand how your existing equipment or products can be deployed in the new hydrogen economy
To book your place, please visit the event website.