Climate change and environmental degradation are threatening our future. To overcome these challenges, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal, an action plan to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy and to restore biodiversity and cut pollution. This would mean achieving climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050.
Spurred by this European initiative and its national counterpart, over 50 agents operating in the Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre areas have created the South Catalonia Green Hydrogen Platform. The goal of the platform is to promote the introduction and consolidation of Green Hydrogen as a sustainable fuel to meet the challenge of the energy transition in the face of climate change. The challenge is not trivial: despite being the lightest and most abundant element in the universe, the current hydrogen production as an energy vector still relies on the use of fossil fuels. “This multi partnership, gathering many players in our area, will be fundamental to transform Tarragona into a European leader for the transition towards a green and decarbonized energy cycle” explains Emilio Palomares, ICIQ Director and group leader and ICREA professor.
Sustainability is part of ICIQ’s DNA. The institute’s research groups investigate and develop new technologies to transform solar energy into electricity and/or fuels thus contributing to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. ICIQ’s researchers are developing new strategies and devices for splitting water into its components: hydrogen and oxygen. The so-called Green Hydrogen, when obtained from water and a renewable energy source, can be used as an environmentally-friendly, zero-emission fuel – although further research will be needed for this alternative to be competitive in terms of costs and scale.
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