Dutch-German Collaboration on Hydrogen for Energy Transition Policymakers and Authorities from the Netherlands and Germany met at Euregio Rhine-Waal in Kleve, Germany earlier this month, to advance the role of hydrogen in building a sustainable future. Prof. Sadegh Seddighi from HAN University of Applied Sciences highlighted that hydrogen production is now mature and ready for full commercialization. The discussions focused on unlocking new markets and improving the economic viability of hydrogen applications across industries. ???? Key takeaway: Regional collaboration is essential to fully harness hydrogen's potential for a greener, more connected future. ➡️ Next steps: Strengthen partnerships through pilot projects and joint research, while exploring practical applications to accelerate hydrogen's adoption and market growth.
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One potential renewable energy resource is green gas production throughanaerobic digestion (AD). However, only part of the biogas produced (up to50-60%) contains the combustible methane; the remainder are incombustiblegasses with the biggest being carbon dioxide. These gasses are often not usedand expelled in the atmosphere. Through the use of BIO-P2M where hydrogenis mixed with the remaining CO2 additional methane can be produced,increasing the yield and using the feedstocks more effectively. Within thisresearch the environmental sustainability and effectiveness of BIO-P2M isevaluated using the MEFA and aLCA method, expressed in; net green gasproduction, efficiency in (P)EROI, emissions in GWP100, and environmentalimpact in Ecopoints. The functional unit is set as a normal cubic meter ofGroningen quality natural gas. Results indicate a net improvement of allindicators when applying BIO-P2M in several configurations (in situ, ex situ).When allocating the production of renewable energy to the BIO-P2M systemenvironmental impacts for wind the results are still positive; however, whenusing solar PV as an energy source the environmental impact in Ecopointsexceeds that of the reference case of Groningen natural gas. An additionaloption for improving the indicators is optimization of the process. When usingBIO-P2M combined with heat and power unit for producing the internalelectricity and heat demands all indicators are improved substantially. On anational scale when utilizing al available waste materials for the BIO-P2Msystem around 1217 MNm3/a of green gas can be produced, which is 3% ofthe total yearly consumption in the Netherlands and around 60% more thanwhen using normal AD systems. Within the context BIO-P2M is an interestingoption for increasing green gas output and improving the overall sustainabilityof the AD process. However, the source of green electricity needs to be takeninto account and process optimization can ensure better environmentalperformance.
Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) represent a green chemistry alternative to utilization of common hazardous organic solvents. They were introduced by Abbott et al. [1], and were found to have a wide range of compositions and favorable properties. NADES are typically obtained by mixing hydrogen-bond acceptors (HBA), with hydrogen bond donors (HBD), leading to a significant depression of the melting point. The availability of components, simple preparation, biodegradability, safety, re usability and low cost are the significant advantages that call for research on their analytical applications. Three methods are most commonly used for preparing NADES: a) heating and stirring: the mixture until a clear liquid is formed; b) evaporating solvent from components solution with a rotatory evaporator; c) freeze drying of aqueous solutions.The common solvents for the extraction of anthocyanins are acidified mixtures of water with ethanol, methanol, or acetone. The anthocyanins extracts are susceptible to degradation due to high temperature, and the solvent properties (e.g. high pH) and the whole process can often be time-consuming. Extraction of anthocyanins from red cabbage by four NADES was investigated. It was demonstrated that NADES have comparable extraction efficiencies with conventional method with 0.1 M water solution of HCl. This indicates a possibility of utilization the Green chemistry extraction processes as a promising new green-extraction technology with low cost efficiency and environment friendly technology for production of safe food additives.
In this proposal, a consortium of knowledge institutes (wo, hbo) and industry aims to carry out the chemical re/upcycling of polyamides and polyurethanes by means of an ammonolysis, a depolymerisation reaction using ammonia (NH3). The products obtained are then purified from impurities and by-products, and in the case of polyurethanes, the amines obtained are reused for resynthesis of the polymer. In the depolymerisation of polyamides, the purified amides are converted to the corresponding amines by (in situ) hydrogenation or a Hofmann rearrangement, thereby forming new sources of amine. Alternatively, the amides are hydrolysed toward the corresponding carboxylic acids and reused in the repolymerisation towards polyamides. The above cycles are particularly suitable for end-of-life plastic streams from sorting installations that are not suitable for mechanical/chemical recycling. Any loss of material is compensated for by synthesis of amines from (mixtures of) end-of-life plastics and biomass (organic waste streams) and from end-of-life polyesters (ammonolysis). The ammonia required for depolymerisation can be synthesised from green hydrogen (Haber-Bosch process).By closing carbon cycles (high carbon efficiency) and supplementing the amines needed for the chain from biomass and end-of-life plastics, a significant CO2 saving is achieved as well as reduction in material input and waste. The research will focus on a number of specific industrially relevant cases/chains and will result in economically, ecologically (including safety) and socially acceptable routes for recycling polyamides and polyurethanes. Commercialisation of the results obtained are foreseen by the companies involved (a.o. Teijin and Covestro). Furthermore, as our project will result in a wide variety of new and drop-in (di)amines from sustainable sources, it will increase the attractiveness to use these sustainable monomers for currently prepared and new polyamides and polyurethanes. Also other market applications (pharma, fine chemicals, coatings, electronics, etc.) are foreseen for the sustainable amines synthesized within our proposition.
Groenvermogen is een nationaal groeifonds programma dat de waardeketen van waterstof wil ontwikkelen. In WP3 wordt er in een consortium gekeken naar toepassingen van waterstof. The direct use of hydrogen in various sectors shares common challenges and needs to accelerate its deployment and reduce its costs. Firstly, there is a need for extensive research and development to: - Maximize energy efficiency with minimal pollutant emissions; - Maximize robustness by meeting dynamic performance requirements (especially linked to mobility and local integrated energy systems with intermittent renewable energy generation or energy demand); - Enable a gradual fuel transition and therefore focus on fuel-flexible technologies; - Shorten time-to market of green hydrogen technology - Maximize the life time of energy conversion technologies; - Reduce investment costs.
Green Hydra main scope is to improve policies from 10 regions of different types and levels - national, regional or local - to establish support initiatives and measures for opening the access of SMEs to green H2 development projects, from research programmes to development strategies, awareness-raising schemes, and pilot investments especially focused on involvement of SMEs across the whole hydrogen value chain, including R&D, engineering, manufacturing, consultancy, human resources upskilling and design.The specifc objectives are:- probing the conditions for using green H2 in the key sectors involving SMEs- identifying the potential key factors to activate the involvement of SMEs around the green H2 value chain- supporting for the creation of a production chain involving SMEs- developing new skills, knowledge and communication for green H2 for SMEs- easing SMEs access to fi nance in the fi eld of green H2- upscaling innovations for SMEs related to green H2 products and services
