Structural change in the Rhenish mining area
Why here?
The Rhenish region is the largest lignite mining area in Europe. The three still active opencast mines Hambach, Garzweiler and Inden and the power plants provide thousands of jobs and secure the electricity supply for many millions of people. Because lignite-fired power generation results in the emission of climate-impacting gases such as CO2, Germany is phasing out this technology in order to make a contribution to the fight against unnaturally rapid global warming. The Rhenish mining area must therefore reinvent itself. HC-H2 is contributing to this by focussing on technologies that accelerate structural change in the Rhenish mining area and the energy transition in Germany. This is another reason why it is important to utilise existing infrastructure. In the future, new jobs will be created here, among other things, because technologies for climate-neutral energy will be developed, demonstrated on a large scale and ultimately exported. Hydrogen is one of the key technologies here.
What role do we play in the energy transition?
Energy transition is the term for the plan to switch from fossil and climate-damaging energy sources such as coal, oil, and gas to regenerative sources such as solar, wind, and water energy. One of the key issues that must be resolved is how to store the energy. Whereas coal-fired power plants, for example, are operated around the clock and can thus supply electricity 24 hours a day, the sun does not shine all day, nor does the wind always blow. Therefore, the surpluses that can be generated from renewable sources must be stored. As with the renewable sources (sun, wind, water), there is no single, golden path for storage methods. Currently, work is being done at full speed on more climate-friendly batteries and heat storage systems, for example. Hydrogen will certainly be an important pillar of storage.
Researchers in Jülich are working on all the components of the so-called hydrogen value chain. They are constantly working on making photovoltaic systems more efficient in order to generate more electricity from sunlight. Others are researching on making electrolysis more efficient so that more green hydrogen can be produced from solar and wind energy. Still others aim to further optimize fuel cells so that in the future we can recover electricity from hydrogen even more efficiently during periods of little sun and low wind. INW and HC-H2 sit, figuratively speaking, between the electrolyzer and the fuel cell. We are working on making hydrogen available to everyday life as close as possible.
With the help of our technologies, we ensure that hydrogen can be stored and transported with as little effort as possible.
INW founding director Prof Dr Peter Wasserscheid compares the idea of chemically storing hydrogen in a larger molecule with a deposit bottle. This is meant symbolically. Hydrogen is stored in the deposit bottle and thus functions either as a large seasonal storage facility or is transported to the end consumer in smaller batches. Once the hydrogen has been released from the larger carrier molecule, it can be reloaded with hydrogen using the returnable bottle principle.
We are working on different types of this deposit bottle and want to make a contribution so that everyone can use hydrogen without having to go to disproportionate technical expense. In addition, hydrogen should be safe and easy to handle with our returnable bottle system.
Why us?
The Jülich Research Centre, which is part of the Helmholtz Association, is located between the still active Hambach, Garzweiler and Inden opencast mines. The research centre is one of the world’s leading institutions in the fields of climate and energy research. The knowledge of how the energy of the future can be produced in a climate-neutral way is available here on site. In the Rhenish mining area, the past, present and future of energy supply can be found in one region. This is why the Helmholtz Cluster for a Sustainable and Infrastructure-Compatible Hydrogen Economy (HC-H2) is emerging from the research centre. The people behind HC-H2 want to show how hydrogen can become a key to the climate-neutral energy supply of the future that is suitable for everyday use – and a job engine for the Rhenish mining area.