CIC energiGUNE is developing a new long-term energy storage system based on liquid hydrogen sourced from biomass.

CIC energiGUNE is making progress in the development of an innovative long-term energy storage system using hydrogen carriers in liquid form. This technology eliminates the need for the current process of producing and managing gaseous hydrogen, while also opening up the possibility of obtaining high-value chemical products.

This is being done through the European PeCATHS project, which is funded by the European Commission Horizon Europe programme and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), and brings together CIC energiGUNE and six other European organisations. The project will enable hydrogen to be transferred directly from biomass to Organic Hydrogen Carrier Liquids (OHCLs) for storage, transport and distribution, without the need to produce gaseous hydrogen. This improvement will result in a significant optimisation of the sustainability and efficiency of energy systems.

To deliver these ambitious goals and meet the economic challenges associated with this technology, PeCATHS (Photoelectrocatalytic Routes for Long-Term Sustainable Hydrogen Storage) will adopt a cost-effective strategy that will leverage biomass as a source of hydrogen and solar power as a renewable energy source. Within the PeCATHS consortium, CIC energiGUNE is developing computational models and AI techniques to speed up the design of materials for biomass oxidation and long-term hydrogen storage. The contribution of the research centre ranges from materials screening and mechanistic modelling to the optimisation of catalyst composition and reaction conditions, ensuring the efficiency and scalability of the technologies developed.

Coordinated by the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, the project also involves CIC energiGUNE, Trinity College Dublin, the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, European Innovation Marketplace ASBL, Comet Global Innovation and the University of Zurich.

Source: Estrategia Empresarial