Manuel Heitor, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES), João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister for the Environment and Climate Action (MAAC), and João Galamba, Secretary of State of Energy, participated in the second discussion session of the National Hydrogen Strategy (EN-H2). The event took place on June 26 at the Porto School of Engineering (ISEP). João Peças Lopes, INESC TEC’s Associate Director, was responsible for co-organising the event.
EN-H2 frames the role of hydrogen in the national energy system and proposes actions and incorporation targets for hydrogen into different sectors, in order to contribute to the decarbonisation of Economy by 2050. It also aims to determine investment requirements and the challenges to the adoption of this technology and its incorporation into different fields, thus encouraging the development of a hydrogen-based economy.
The session that took place in Porto focused on exploring the challenges and opportunities created by EN-H2 in the field of Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I), with members of the scientific and technological community and companies.
The biomass conversion technologies, the production of new synthetic fuels based on green hydrogen, new means of hydrogen transport and consumption, the impact on employment, health and safety and the regional development were some of the themes addressed at the session.
Paulo Ferrão, coordinator of the Energy Initiative at the Instituto Superior Técnico (EI-IST), was in charge of opening the session.
João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, introduced some of the topics and claimed that he was “more interested in hearing than speaking”, thus challenging the scientific community to develop low-cost solutions for green and renewable hydrogen production in Portugal, so the county can become one of the lead nations in this field.
João Pedro Matos Fernandes also opened the discussion with R&D&I, companies and associations representatives.
João Peças Lopes, Associate Director of INESC TEC, also participated in the session, focusing on research, development and innovation subjects within the competences of INESC TEC, thus addressing the implementation of the hydrogen strategy and the promotion of a carbon-free Europe by 2050
“It is time to implement an industrial cluster for hydrogen”, he claimed, while participating in a panel with representatives from Martifer, EIIA, Caetano Bus, NET4CO2, DouroGás, INL, CATIM, REN, TurboGás and INEGI.
João Galamba, Deputy Minister and Secretary of State of Energy, and Manuel Heitor, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, closed the session. The event is available online via streaming.
This is the second session under the supervision of MCTES, with the support of MAAC. The first took place on June 22, in Lisbon. The National Innovation Agency (ANI), the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) organised the event, with the support of different agents from the scientific and technological system and companies from different fields, part of the hydrogen value chain.
The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with UP-FEUP
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