Hydrogen: The Megatrend
The first hydrogen buses have been cruising the streets for quite a while now. Hydrogen-powered trains are in the testing phase. The initial concepts for hydrogen-powered airplanes have been introduced. In the future, entire city districts could be heated with hydrogen, which will help launch the climate turnaround. How to transport large quantities of hydrogen from producers to consumers, and how to use hydrogen as an important energy storage medium are complex topics of their own.
At the first HYDROGEN DIALOGUE, experts from business, science and politics were offered the ideal setting to exchange views on expectations and obstacles. One of the key questions was: What does it take for hydrogen, the beacon of hope, to become the guarantor of a successful climate change?
(in picture from left: Nuremberg's Lord Mayor Marcus König, event manager Jasmin Rutka and NürnbergMesse CEO Dr. Roland Fleck)
If we really want this, we need to set our course properly right now, and we’ll need markets where we can establish attractive business cases all along the value chain.
“The crucial factor will be how these activities interact at all levels,” says Prof. Veronika Grimm, a member of the German Council of Economic Experts and the National Hydrogen Council. She is referring not just to production, transportation, and use but also to science, business, and government. Experts from every step in the value chain gathered for the first HYDROGEN DIALOGUE 2020.
The new platform was kicked off digitally because of COVID and was organised by NürnbergMesse – since 2019 a partner in the Bavarian Hydrogen Alliance coordinated by the Bavarian Hydrogen Centre, Zentrum Wasserstoff.Bayern (H2.B). H2.B, the event’s honorary sponsor, is bringing together key H2 actors from Bavaria – many of them from the Nuremberg Met-ropolitan Region – to accelerate the launch of the hydrogen economy.
This event has a remarkable concentration of competencies.
The hydrogen community welcomed the first HYDROGEN DIALOGUE with great enthusiasm. Forty-five high-powered pre-senters – including Bavarian State Minister and honorary event patron Hubert Aiwanger, member of the German Council of Economic Experts Prof. Veronika Grimm, Schaeffler CEO Klaus Rosenfeld, and Nuremberg Lord Mayor Marcus König – met in November 2020 for the first digital summit on hydrogen. Seven hundred international participants from business, science, and government exchanged ideas on the digital platform, and introduced unique prospects for the global energy transfor-mation. At the same time, a networking app enabled attendees to communicate individually and make contact with exhibi-tors.
The second HYDROGEN DIALOGUE quickly followed in June 2021 – with even more digital features like Jump-in Discussions and virtual Round Tables.
Image credits:
Header: NürnbergMesse / Heiko Stahl