75 experienced and highly recognized scientists from 10 different countries participated when DTU Energy in April 2015 hosted the workshop “Manufacturing of Green Fuels from Renewable Energy”.
The workshop “Manufacturing of Green Fuels from Renewable Energy” at DTU Energy had 31 invited speakers from Danish and international universities and industry and 75 researchers participated in the workshop. The invited speakers presented recent results and overview talks on topics such as CO2 capture, Biomass as a carbon resource, Electrolysis at Low and High temperatures, CO2 reduction on nano-scale and how to make it all part of systems and applications.
"Not only did we succeed in bringing together world leading experts from both industry and science, we have also managed to establish new networks and foster new ideas that will influence the community"
Anne Hauch, senior researcher at DTU Energy and Workshop-coordinator
“We are all integrated into the system. Some are researchers, others are industry, but despite our different approaches, we all work on integrating these technologies into the smart grids and bigger systems”, said Professor Klaus Lackner from the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University, US.
“This makes the workshop a perfect place to talk with other people, exchange views and to get new ideas by getting exposed to other ways of doing things”, he continued.
Read the interview with Professor Klaus Lackner here
One of those listening very carefully was Christian von Olshausen from the German company Sunfire that uses high temperature electrolysis to transform sustainable electricity into valuable fuels. He came to hear the newest results, the details, and the technological challenges that still need to be addressed. He also told the workshop community how to turn the scientific efforts into reality.
“I bring them the industrial perspective, how to turn the great efforts into reality. I also try to motivate the researchers to talk about their research to the public and make people aware of its existence. We need their support”, said Christian von Olshausen.
Read the interview with Director Christian von Olshausen here
Others, like Jan Wurzbacher from the Swiss company Climeworks, working on CO2 capture, spoke about the experiences from moving from science to the industry.
“I made presentations on our demo-plant in both 2013 and 2014, and it was a real pleasure telling about the 20 months of operation and the economy behind it here at the workshop”, said Jan Wurzbacher. His presentation got a positive response that led to interesting discussions, just like the organizers had planned.
Read the interview with Director Jan Wurzbacher here
“Yes, I think most of us learned a lot, and as organizers we were very pleased with the participants in the sense that not only did the invited speakers present interesting stuff, it also led to fruitful discussions and networking during the breaks. This was in many ways the main purpose of the workshop”, said senior researcher Anne Hauch and Professor Mogens Mogensen, the organizers from DTU Energy.
The workshop program also included guided lab tours to DTU Energy facilities, including an advanced scanning probe microscope capable of investigating the details of electrochemical cells in real-life conditions, the extensive cell test lab including high pressure test rigs, mechanical test facilities and the process lab capable of producing thousands of electrolysis cells under controlled conditions.
The lab facilities impressed the workshop participants, and the lab tours also provided a good atmosphere for informal networking and initiated discussions on future collaboration.
“Not only did we succeed in bringing together world leading experts from both industry and science, we have also managed to establish new networks and foster new ideas that will influence the community. It was a very good workshop”, concludes senior researcher Anne Hauch, DTU Energy.