To achieve the climate targets, sector coupling and electrification based on renewable energies in the energy sector and industry must be optimized in a joint holistic approach. Up to now, 70 - 80 percent of basic chemical materials are taken from fossil sources. In the future, fuels and chemicals must come from renewable electricity for green hydrogen and renewable or recycled carbon sources such as CO₂, biomass or waste. 

In order to provide technologies, materials and processes for these challenges, the approximately 200 scientists in the "Power-based Fuels and Chemicals" subtopic are working together in six themes:

1. MIEC membrane reactors
2. Conversion of CO/CO₂-rich syngas
3. Technologies for LOHC - Liquid organic hydrogen carriers
4. Direct electrochemical synthesis (Electocatalysis beyond hydrogen)
5. Modular integrated plants
6. Plasma reactors / Plasma activation of inert molecules

Prof. Ulrike Krewer (KIT), Prof. Olivier Guillon (FZJ) and Prof. Wilhelm Meulenberg (FZJ) welcomed the participants. The presentations and the poster session with 43 posters gave the opportunity for discussion and exchange of new ideas. The program also included a tour of the institutes and laboratories at FZJ.

The next meeting of Subtopics 3.2 '"Power-based Fuels and Chemicals" will take place in June 2024 at KIT. Many thanks for the hospitality and the excellent organization and preparation of the event by the colleagues from Forschungszentrum Jülich.

The Hydrogen Researcher

"The energy of tomorrow is water, which has been broken down by electric current. The elements of water broken down in this way, hydrogen and oxygen, will secure the Earth’s energy supply far into the future”. For Jules Verne, this was a vision he wrote down in his 1875 novel "The Mysterious Island." Dr. Svetlana Korneychuk, however, likes to quote the French author because his vision is closer to reality today than ever before. With her work at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the researcher contributes to making hydrogen as an energy carrier affordable and suitable for everyday use.

Scientists of the Helmholtz programs ESD and MTET discussed scientific and technical issues of the grid integration of electrolysis and subsequent steps on May 12, 2023, at KIT Campus North. After a first scientific and technical exchange on the important key topics, working groups were formed to deal with the following issues in the future:

• What kind of transient data do we need/could we use? (experimental side)
• Co-simulation in open software sense (modeling)
• How to connect renewable energy sources to electrolysers in the most efficient way? The role of power electronics in connecting electrolysers to the grid.
• How to design electrolyzer systems? Operation of electrolyzer itself (SOH, interfaces,…)
• Dynamics of the downstream processes; role of storage as buffer

The workshop "Urban Resource Hub" took place at the ZEISS Innovation Hub focused on the current and future challenges of recycling in a circular economy from the perspective of manufacturers (Sto Group), recyclers (Nordmineral-Recycling, Heinrich Feeß GmbH, Becker Elektrorecycling Chemnitz GmbH, Remondis SE) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA).

• "Technology, logistics, time and money - an insight into recycling WDVS (external thermal insulation composite systems)"
• "Building material versus waste"
• "Legal framework of circular economy"
• "Circular economy in the construction industry"
• "Potential for recyclable materials in household collection"
• "Circular economy as a building block of the sustainability strategy"

After a series of keynote presentations on the topic from the various sectors and on the legal framework, an exchange between the participants in small groups was moderated in the further course using the World Café method. Afterwards the results of each table were presented and discussed together. This exchange enabled Helmholtz-researchers of the Topic "Resource and Energy Efficiency" from HIF, HZDR and KIT to understand what academia can contribute: to identify systemic links and technologies that can be further developed through joint projects and in collaborations.

In the last part of the workshop, ideas for specific projects and calls for proposals at national (AiF, BMBF, BMWK) and EU level were developed in small groups in a "funding market".

Many thanks for the fruitful discussions and the open exchange to all participating guests from the companies, from the Federal Environment Agency and from the Helmholtz Centers HZDR, HIF and KIT!

The new graduate school ENZo offers the next generation of young researchers the opportunity to apply interdisciplinary knowledge in application-oriented projects that can visibly contribute to the transformation of the energy system.
Future researchers are characterized not only by their desire to understand how developments and technologies can be embedded in the overall context of the energy system, but also by their desire to contribute to its sustainable design. MTET themes such as

• Renewable Energy,
• Sector Coupling Industry - Electricity, Heat, Chemical Energy (Sources), and
• Circular Economy - Use of Raw Materials and Energy

are holisticly combined in the "Real World Projects" with the important viewpoints and aspects such as

• Machine Learning and Digital Tools
• Technoeconomics Assessment, Interaction with Society, Acceptance and Social Developments.

Embedded in the manifold technological and scientific possibilities at the KIT Energy Center, ENZo creates a unique development environment for PhD students.