The transportation sector currently produces roughly 20% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and, based on current policies, it is estimated that emissions from transportation will rise by 60% between 2015 and 2050 globally. So, finding more sustainable sources of energy for the transportation sector is paramount in combatting global warming. This calls for further investment in efuels as the demand and supply is created.

Renewable fuels are one important technology to reach the climate protection targets in the transport sector. They are needed in addition to a broad uptake of electric batteries and hydrogen/fuel cell mobility. Therefore the German government supports renewable fuels with a toolset of different strategies and measures. E-Fuels are for example one important element in the German Hydrogen Strategy. Implementing measures for E-Fuels include funding for R&D, investment support as well as a regulatory framework to ramp up the use of E-Fuels.

The presentation would consist of an introduction in our hydrogen development topics, a comparison between Fuel Cell and H2-ICE applications and some more detailed results from prior H2-ICE investigations.

Sustainably produced hydrogen carriers simplify the transportation and storage of hydrogen and have advantages considering their energy density compared to compressed or liquefied hydrogen. However, both the synthesis of these storage materials and the subsequent extraction process of the hydrogen at the consumer’s site require an integrated design to achieve a high overall efficiency. Since the beginning of the millennium Fraunhofer IMM is developing decentralised concepts for the synthesis and extraction of sustainable hydrogen carriers such as methanol, ethanol, ammonia and a variety of alternatives. Microchannel methanol reformers and reactors for ammonia decomposition will be presented in the power range up to 100 kW. An overview of the different technological aspects of the process chain will be provided.

In a CO2-neutral future, eFuels will be needed in many areas, such as transport and off-road, energy supply and industry. The technology to produce eFuels is ready and can be supplied by many companies all over the world but also in the EU. Major challenges are ahead: How can we trigger the uptake of industrialized production of eFuels? How can we shape a market design in the EU? What should a proper regulatory framework look like? This presentation wants to give some insights to these major challenges.

Based on plans for a carbon-neutral economy in 2050, this session will highlight a holistic framework to assess the real potential of e-fuels its future and stakeholder engagement necessary to continue momentum and accelerate growth an investment.

Everfuel offers green hydrogen (H2) for emission-free mobility at economic conditions throughout Europe. The company is headquartered in Herning, Denmark. In the core markets, including Germany, separate companies have been founded. One of these is Everfuel GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary based in Cologne. By serving the entire H2-value change includes both the supply of green hydrogen and the construction and operation of the filling station infrastructure competitive prices are possible. Offering a complete solution for customers, lowers the entry hurdle for fleet operators significantly. In our module, they only pay for the hydrogen dispensed and can continue to focus fully on their core business. Issues such as the approval process, planning and construction of the H2 filling station are handled by Everfuel in consultation with the public transport company. The same applies to the operation of the station, including maintenance and delivery of green hydrogen. Due to a holistic view of the hydrogen economy - from production to the delivery of hydrogen at the filling station - there are, among other things, economic advantages. This allows Everfuel to offer potential customers a permanent transition to a zero-emission, one-to-one conversion of fleets and industrial plants currently powered by fossil fuels at competitive operating costs. In our view, this approach offers many advantages for public transport customers, among others. From our experience and many discussions with public transport and logistic companies, we have repeatedly noticed that the H2 infrastructure in particular represents a high barrier to entry. This we need to tackle jointly with consumers. Among other things Everfuel is also currently developing a mobile/flexible H2 refueling station solution for fleet operators who initially want to start with a few vehicles or demonstration projects. This solution is also designed to facilitate the entry into hydrogen mobility.

An overview of the developments at NLR (Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre) in the Netherlands is given about the progress made within the hydrogen research program. The feasibility of having high pressure hydrogen (GH2) on board of a fuel cell powered drone is demonstrated with the HYDRA 1 &2 drones. The liquid hydrogen infrastructure at NLR is ready to support a planned first demonstration flight on LH2 end-off 2022.

Hydrogen from Propeller the Propeller covers Siemens Energy’s complete story line from wind generation – hydrogen production – re-electrification – electric distribution on ships for propulsion.

This presentation focuses on hydrogen readiness of distributed power and CHP solutions. in order to avoid carbon lock-in investments, gas power plants, if large or small in power output, should be ready for conversion to renewable fuels such as hydrogen when becoming available. Distributed power solutions are installed at sites where both power and heat are used and therefore achieve very high fuel utilization rates of 90% and more. Combined with heat storages and back-up boilers, distributed CHP solutions can operate very flexible and run only when not enough renewable electricity supply is available. INNIO has demonstrated the conversion of a 1 MW CHP plant from natural gas to hydrogen operation with plant operator HanseWerk Natur in Germany. Achievements such as output, efficiency and emissions when operating on hydrogen fuel will be discussed. INNIO has developed a hydrogen readiness concept that is applicable for all distributed power and CHP plants. While some engines are already available to run on 100% hydrogen fuel, others will follow the next couple years. Another hydrogen CHP example from South Korea will be presented as well.

Combustion of hydrogen in an internal combustion engine is a pathway to near-zero tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions. The automotive industry is rapidly shifting towards a fully electric future, especially for smaller vehicles. However, a gap remains for larger vehicles where batteries would be too large, too expensive, and take too long to charge for some commercial applications. Low carbon fuels are seen as a potential solution for larger vehicle classes, and hydrogen is the ultimate low carbon fuel when considering just the tailpipe. Hydrogen is a unique fuel, it has several properties which make it an excellent choice of fuel for an IC engine. However, it also has several properties which lead to challenges with IC engine combustion.

An important aspect of overall systems design is to conduct concept studies in which a suitable systems architecture is to be determined based on the top-level aircraft requirements (TLAR). This includes the evaluation of several architecture concepts based on relevant key performance indicators, for example energy consumption, mass, cost, and ecological balance. For this purpose, the GeneSys software framework is being developed at the Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering (Hamburg University of Technology), which can be used to perform the overall systems design for conventional aircraft as well as for modern, hydrogen-powered concept aircraft. The scope of current research projects includes the preliminary design of fuel cells and their peripheral systems (e.g. air supply, hydrogen supply, thermal management) for both electric propulsion and aircraft on-board systems power supply concepts. A concept for a hydrogen-based regional aircraft, which is powered by fuel cells, has been derived based on existing aircraft models. This hydrogen-based concept aircraft has ten propulsion units in total. Each unit contains a hybrid fuel cell system, the peripherals, an electric motor, and a propeller. The GeneSys software framework is used to define and design different systems architectures for the aircraft. Here, the focus lies on power supply strategies for the aircraft on-board systems. The presentation will briefly introduce the GeneSys framework for overall systems design. Moreover, the preliminary design of the mentioned propulsion units is presented. This includes important findings, such as sensitivities of system parameters, which may arise due to different power supply concepts. Finally, the complexity during the conceptual design phase due to the high number of interfaces and dependencies between the systems are shown.

Achieving the long-term climate goals requires vehicle propulsion systems in all sectors with a CO2 and emissions footprint close to ZERO. Hydrogen as energy carrier and the corresponding fuel cell propulsion are a promising cornerstone for future ground transportation as well as for the aviation industry. Fuel cell propulsion systems introduce hybrid topologies with very complex operating strategies and many components interacting with each other.

In an effort to limit global warming, the use of fossil fuels must be drastically reduced. The use of green electricity and green hydrogen in particular is currently being discussed as a substitute. However, a complete defossilization of the economy can only succeed if hydrocarbons made from renewable electricity and CO2, so-called e-fuels, are also employed. In addition to the possibility of long-term storage and easy transport of green energy via e-fuels, these offer the possibility of significantly reducing emissions from the transport sector. Moreover, when used in the chemical industry e-fuels can also significantly reduce the CO2 footprint there. A promising renewable molecule that meets many requirements is methanol. The production costs of renewable methanol are drastically depending on factors like plant size and operation strategy. But also local boundary conditions such as the given CO2 source and electricity price have a significant impact on the business case. These, however, are heavily depend on local average wind speeds and solar irradiance strength. In order to be able to make investment decisions it is therefore necessary to optimize the plant's operation strategy as well as the individual component sizes to determine a plant's full potential at the given site. Based on Power-to-Methanol plant simulations using GT-SUITE, FEV has developed different concepts for the synthesis of renewable methanol, e.g. for the use of biogenic sewage sludge as well as CO2 from unavoidable sources.

The main focus of this session will highlight CAC's proprietary technologies for the production of synthetic fuels (gasoline and kerosene) derived from (e-)methanol. The start of development of the Methanol-To-Fuel technology goes back to the year 2008 and led to a market-ready state to produce synthetic gasoline in industrial-scale plants. A brief overview on the history, the process scheme, the gasoline properties and practical applications will be presented. In addition, CAC will give impressions of their Methanol-To-Jet Fuel technology for the production of SAF and therefore the introduction of a new SAF production pathway.

The Clean Aviation programme has defined three major “thrusts” for its 4.1bn€ research programme: (hybrid-)electric regional aircraft, ultra-efficient short/medium range aircraft, and hydrogen-powered aircraft in order to make the required “skip a generation” shift in aircraft performance within the coming decade. Clean Aviation (a public private partnership under the European Union’s Horizon Europe flagship Research and Innovation Framework Programme) will develop and demonstrate aircraft technology that will enable net CO2 reductions of up to 90% compared to today’s state-of-the-art aircraft when combined with the effect of drop-in sustainable fuels [SAF], or “true zero” CO2 airborne emissions when using hydrogen as fuel.

This session will provide an insight into how students currently experience as well as aspire to contribute to the energy transition in the aviation industry. Despite us lacking the years of experience and knowledge veterans in this field do have, we believe surprisingly many and valuable lessons can be learned from students, and that we can and should play a critical role in this energy transition.

From nations, corporations, and energy and utility enterprises to start-ups, the industry has placed their bets on the e-fuels as the future energy carrier that will replace fossil energy. Based on plans for a carbon-neutral economy in 2050, the session will discuss e-fuels usability and assess the real potential of e-fuels and why they deserve greater attention.

Hydrogen as sustainable e-fuel has unique properties providing both opportunities and constraints. 100 years of carbon combustion technology development is not the best starting point for future hydrogen usage in aviation. COMOAB has a new engine concept that builds on the opportunities provided by hydrogen and avoids the constraints hydrogen fuel usage poses to existing combustion engine technology. Zero carbon commercial aircraft propulsion solutions need to provide a long cruise range and high thrust at take-off at the lowest possible weight. A hybrid solution with a (small) battery electric propulsion with hydrogen combustion engine hybrid generating electricity fits these requirements. Avoiding the low efficiencies of jet and reciprocating engines, the COMOAB design provides a lower cost, lower weight design with a efficient conversion of hydrogen to torque.

Reducing climate change is a critical challenge worldwide. With the imperative to reduce carbon footprint, hydrogen propulsion has the potential to play a major part of the aviation decarbonization. One key component for realizing the potential of hydrogen is the collaboration through the digital continuity, from organizations to leaders and jurisdictions but also across all hydrogen programs. Using a single source of truth accelerates product delivery, enabling system integration among all program partners and suppliers. It also supports decision-makers and investors in deploying hydrogen at scale, by accelerating innovations, reducing costs and developing the workforce of tomorrow.

In this session we will elaborate on our recently developed circular, waste-free method to regenerate the solid hydrogen carrier NaBH4 through the electrochemical recycling of the NaBO2 spent fuel. This discovery lays the groundwork for the large-scale application of sodium borohydride as sustainable hydrogen storage medium, and thus opens up exciting opportunities for importing hydrogen an a large, commercial scale.

Optimal production sites for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from green hydrogen are often far from points of consumption. SAF produced from green hydrogen is thus likely to be traded internationally. Both the private sector and policymakers have shown interest in a Book and Claim-based tracking model to allow for a faster, broader uptake of SAF in the energy system. What can be the role of Book and Claim?

This session shares insights from a hydrogen integrator perspective. Synergy of batteries with hydrogen and the use of hydrogen in heavy & duty industry.