Energy & Decarbonization

CCUS is a central part of every industrial decarbonization roadmap. At its heart, this is a separation challenge, which therefore brings about the question of whether membranes can be used.

In recent years, interest and activity in the hydrogen sector have accelerated, driven by governments recognizing hydrogen's role in the energy transition and companies worldwide capitalizing on emerging market opportunities through the supply of services, products, technologies, and projects.

Over 1GWh of batteries are now sailing on waters globally, reflecting 72% industry growth in 2022. Despite this, there have been several challenges that shipbuilders and maritime battery suppliers have had to navigate in recent years.

Thursday 10 August - Introduction to the hydrogen economy and hydrogen's market drivers; Overview of low-carbon hydrogen production; Hydrogen storage & distribution pathways, players and applications; Overview and comparison of hydrogen end-use sectors and fuel cells; Outlook on the hydrogen economy

The hydrogen economy envisions a future energy infrastructure where low-carbon hydrogen is utilized to decarbonize critical industrial sectors and long-haul transportation while satisfying the increasing demand for low-carbon energy.

For many decades there has been an extensive amount of materials science R&D focussed on developing next-generation gas separation membranes. However, to date, the market is still dominated by those polymeric materials that initially gained commercial adoption in the late 20th century.

Following several decades of research and development, fuel cells are beginning to enable the promise of low-emission power generation, with specific success seen for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).

By taking advantage of assembly line production, SMRs promise cost reductions and shorter construction times relative to their conventional counterparts. The first nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) are already operational in Russia and China, but widening adoption will require both technical and regulatory developments, including development in fuel supply chains and international licensing standardization.

Across the land-based electric vehicle sectors tracked by IDTechEx, there is mostly a transition to battery-electric propulsion systems over the next two decades.

Walk around the aisles of a local shop: aside from the prices, little has changed since the introduction of the bar code in the 1970s. While customers have smartphones in their pockets and there are sophisticated inventory management systems in the background, the digital revolution has yet to alter the packaging of most consumer items.