By Hubert Gasteiger (Technical University of Munich)
‘The path towards sustainable water electrolyzers and hydrogenfuel cells must address both materials development as well as their integration in optimally engineered structures.’
Driven by global warming, the global community is seeking to expand and integrate renewable energysources and to decarbonize the transportation sector. A possible path towards this goal is the use ofhydrogen as energy carrier for temporary large-scale energy storage and for powering fuel cell electricvehicles (FCEVs). Proton exchange membrane (PEM) based water electrolyzers and fuel cells arecurrently the most promising candidates for the generation of high-pressure hydrogen and for poweringFCEVs. However, both technologies currently require excessive amounts of costly and supply-limitedprecious metals, which could restrict the large-scale implementation of PEM electrolyzers and fuel cells.This presentation will provide an analysis of their current development status and assess the various R&Dstrategies to develop sustainable, cost-efficient, and durable solutions for their large-scale commercialization.
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