Sino-German Workshop Hydrogen on November 14, 2024 with over 5,400 participants

The workshop was moderated by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schade from TU Clausthal/Fraunhofer HHI and Prof. Dr. Michael Z. Hou, China Representative and initiator of China Week. In his opening speech, Prof. Schade emphasized that hydrogen is not only an essential component of the global energy transition, but also a key technology for long-term energy storage and the continuous use of renewable energies. He explained the strategic importance of green hydrogen in a future, low-carbon energy system and emphasized the need for innovative solutions.

Prof. Hou then warmly welcomed the guests from Europe and China and outlined the central themes of the conference. He emphasized that cooperation between Europe and China in the field of hydrogen technology could not only promote innovation, but also advance global climate protection.

Prof. Dr. XIE Heping, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Director of the Research Institute of Deep Geoscience and Green Energy at Shenzhen University, kicked off the conference. In his lecture "Create a new track for direct hydrogen production from seawater using offshore renewable energy", he presented his team's breakthroughs. He emphasized that hydrogen directly from seawater, as one of the most important clean energies of the 21st century, has the potential to revolutionize storage and propulsion solutions. His team has developed a technology that enables the direct electrolysis of seawater without prior desalination. The method is energy efficient and free of side reactions, and the technology has already been successfully tested under real conditions for more than 10 days. He announced plans to launch a demonstration project in Guangdong that integrates offshore wind energy with hydrogen production in a hydrogen production vessel "Eastern Peace.

Prof. Schade then presented the application of femtosecond laser technology in hydrogen storage. His research focuses on improving materials for the safe and efficient storage of hydrogen. By precisely controlling the material surfaces with ultrashort laser pulses, the performance of storage media could be significantly increased. The technology has already been successfully used in a Bavarian hydrogen train project.

Prof. Dr. XU Charles from the City University of Hong Kong presented innovative approaches for the production of methanol and formic acid from green biohydrogen and carbon dioxide. He explained how these chemical products can serve not only as industrial raw materials, but also as energy storage and clean fuels. The technology combines state-of-the-art catalysts and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of introducing green hydrogen on a large scale.

After a short break, two PhD students from Prof. Hou's team presented their current research results. For example, Ms. FANG Yanli is analyzing the challenges and opportunities of salt caverns as hydrogen storage in China as part of her doctorate. She emphasized that the unique geological conditions in China place special demands on the safety and long-term stability of this storage technology. Her research provides new models to assess the feasibility of such projects. PhD student WU Lin presented innovative approaches to biological methanation of hydrogen from numerous industrial by-products and carbon dioxide without a high purity requirement, which can be carried out in depleted oil and gas reservoirs. His work (abbreviated as CCCUS: Carbon Captur, Circular Utilization and Sequestration) combines multi-functions such as energy conversion from waste gases, renewable biogas storage and_{CO2 sequestration}, etc., and shows promising results in international field tests.

The conference attracted over 5,400 participants, both online and on-site. Prof. Hou emphasized that hydrogen technology is a global research focus and has great potential for the future. The discussions at the conference provided valuable insights into the possibilities of integrating hydrogen into the global energy transition. He appealed to the students: "You are the future, you are the hope - go ahead for your better future and a better world".