Hydrogen-based technologies will play a crucial role in the energy transition. The Embassy of Italy in Washington is dedicating a webinar to the topic on 9 September at 11:00 am. The Italian Ambassador, Mariangela Zappia, and the Director of the US Department of Energy, Sunita Satyapal, will open the webinar. The discussion, moderated by Rachel Franzin (The Hill), will be attended by Robert C. Armstrong (MIT), Rod Borup (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Andrea Pisano (ENI), Cosma Panzacchi (SNAM) and Filippo Bartoloni (ENEL Green Power).
The event is open to the public subject to registration at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZksS5cF6Ro2BffecAbempw
According to the International Energy Agency, global energy supply has grown by about 130% between 1973 and 2018, with the percentage of coal use essentially unchanged, a reduction in oil from 46.2% to 31.6%, a significant increase in natural gas and nuclear power, and a growing, but still marginal, use of renewable sources. Global energy demand is expected to increase by 4.6% in 2021. Demand for fossil fuels is set to grow significantly in 2021 and coal demand alone is expected to increase by 60% compared to all renewables combined, implying an increase of emissions of almost 5%.
According to the recent “Climate change 2021 – Physical Science base” report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the average global temperature is expected to rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level by 2040, and to continue rising for another ten years. However, it is still possible to limit global warming by accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
Technology will be the key to speeding up this transition. In particular, hydrogen-based technologies will play an ever increasing and crucial role. In the short term, up to 2030, hydrogen will become progressively competitive in specific applications, such as chemicals, transport, oil refining; in the long term, up to 2050, it could support decarbonization together with other low-carbon technologies, especially in “hard-to-abate” sectors, such as energy-intensive production processes.
The discussion will focus on the prospects for hydrogen technologies, with a focus on the aspects that most interest Italy and the United States, together with Italian and US experts from industry, academia and institutions responsible for energy policies.
