The Hindu Business Line : Global hydrogen meet to focus on storage aspects

HYDROGEN has been identified as the best alternative energy carrier by scientists in the pursuit of clean energy sources. The challenges in converting this into practical mode include cost-effective hydrogen generation, storage, delivery, conversion and application.

While there are viable schemes being explored for hydrogen generation, transport of hydrogen is a major issue. Materials scientists and engineers have been making breakthroughs that could eventually enable us to use stored hydrogen to achieve energy conversion without upsetting ecology or even the air quality.

In addition to transport where hydrogen can fuel IC engines and fuel cells, a wide variety of applications is possible for hydrogen storage systems such as batteries, power augmentation and management, waste heat recovery, freon-free refrigeration, sensors, heat pumps etc.

There has been an unprecedented expansion in energy usage around the world. It has become imperative that we develop hydrogen based energy systems in the coming years. This will call for storage and delivery of hydrogen as a major facet.

In this background, the International Conference on `Solid state hydrogen storage - Materials and Applications' organised jointly by the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, the Asia Pacific Centre for Energy and Environment, and the Institute of Nuclear Technology and Energy Systems (IKE) an institute of the University of Stuttgart, Germany, on January 31and February 1 at Hyderabad assumes significance.

It would focus on recent advances in various aspects of hydrogen storage materials, according to its Convenor, Dr R. Sundaresan of ARCI.

Prof V.S. Ramamurthy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, would be the chief guest while Dr K. Kasturirangan, M.P. (Rajya Sabha), Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, would inaugurate the conference.

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