Air Liquide, a world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health, is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees. In the time of climate change and energy transition Air Liquide acknowledges its responsibility and announced to reduce the carbon intensity of its activities by 30% by 2025 vs 2015. Air Liquide believes that low CO2 hydrogen applications will play a key role for reaching this target.

Together with internal and external partners the Air Liquide Forschung und Entwicklung GmbH, located on the Frankfurt Innovation Campus and one of the 9 research centers within the Air Liquide Group, develops innovations for the energy transition based on the 3 molecules H2, CO2 and CO.

Air Liquide in Frankfurt has a long history of expertise in methanol synthesis technologies. It has developed proprietary processes and technologies for the production of methanol and methanol derivatives, from syngas and CO2 feedstocks and combination of them. Today Air Liquide applies its experience to further improve the state of the art methanol synthesis technology via process intensification and it develops new technologies for unconventional feed sources such as CO2 rich gases.

With regard to electrolyzers Air Liquide can build on various experiences. It is operating more than 40 alkaline electrolyser as well as one PEM electrolyser (1.25 MW, HyBalance), another PEM project is under construction (20 MW Bécancour).

Within the project the Promet H2 electrolyser system will be installed at Air Liquides Innovation Campus in Frankfurt and the hydrogen produced will be used as feedstock within an existing CO2 to methanol pilot plant. 4000 h of simultaneous operation of the PEM electrolyser and the MeOH plant will allow to investigate the whole value chain from power to MeOH.

The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC) is a global leader in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts, and chemical solutions, providing its customers with solutions in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. Chemours ingredients are found in plastics and coatings, refrigeration and air conditioning, mining, and general industrial manufacturing. Our flagship products include prominent brands such as Teflon™, Ti-Pure™, Krytox™, Viton™, Opteon™, Freon™ and Nafion™. In 2019, Chemours was named to Newsweek's list of America's Most Responsible Companies. The company has approximately 7,000 employees and 28 manufacturing sites serving approximately 3,700 customers in over 120 countries. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol CC.

For more information, we invite you to visit chemours.com or follow us on Twitter @Chemours or LinkedIn.

CSIC is Spain’s largest public research institution and ranks third among Europe’s largest research organisations. Attached to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the CSIC plays a key role in scientific and technological policy in Spain and worldwide. Currently it has 120 institutes spread across the country. The CSIC supports research and training across a wide range of knowledge, from the most basic or fundamental aspects of science to the most complex technological developments including biology, biomedicine, physics, chemistry and materials, natural resources and agricultural sciences. It carries out research in all fields of knowledge, distributed in three global areas: Life, Society and Materia. The CSIC produces 20% of the national scientific output (over 10 000 publications in high impact international journals in 2017) and remains the first institution in Spain in the generation of patents, with around 200 patent applications in 2017. The CSIC has also a broad experience managing large and singular infrastructures. As of December 2019, the CSIC has obtained 643 projects in H2020, with a total EU financial contribution of 270 million euros and is listed the 1st organisation in Spain and the 4th participant by number of projects (E-CORDA). The CSIC is a main actor in the ERC programme, with a total of 112 projects signed as Host Institution in all areas of knowledge.

The group of Sustainables Energy and Chemistry Group belongs to the IPC-CSIC. This multidisciplinary group possess a broad experience in different fields of catalysis including electrocatalysis and heterogeneous catalytic processes for clean energy. They have a strong background in the synthesis and characterization of electrocatalysts for H2 production from electrolysis and for fuel cells.

The National Council of Research-Italy (CNR) is a public research organisation that carry out, promote, spread and transfer research activities in the main sectors of knowledge and use the research results for the scientific, technological, economic and social development of the Country. The Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies (ITAE), is located in Messina (Italy) and it belongs to the CNR Department: Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transportation. The institute has two locations, the main building and the testing Centre. Both cover about 7000 m2 and include laboratories, offices, conference rooms, library etc.

Since 1980, the CNR-ITAE develops and promotes innovative energy technologies able to conjugate the deep knowledge on electrochemical, catalytic and adsorption processes with the ability to design materials, components and energy systems. The energy technologies based on renewable sources play a central role in the novel energy system scenario, in which distributed energy generation will be combined with enhanced energy efficiency and technology integration will exploit synergies with the information and communication technologies (ICT).

The novel ITAE research topics are part of this new framework, which includes current needs for a sustainable development. The process sustainability represents the common target of all the different research areas of the institute including electrochemical and energy conversion devices such as batteries, devices for the conversion of biomass and CO2 into alternative fuels, electrolysers, fuel cells and thermal energy systems.

In particular, the ITAE expertise is linked to the development and characterisation of nanostructured materials that are essential components of the devices for energy conversion and storage. The Institute also develops components and system for mobile and stationary applications, from computer-aided and model-based design to testing of complete devices. The research on energy systems is completed by environmental and social Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies.

CNR-ITAE has been involved as both coordinator and partner in various EU-funded projects researching electrocatalysis, water electrolysis and fuel cells (H2020 ANIONE, H2020 NEPTUNE, H2020 LOTERCO2.M, H2020 HPEM2GAS, FP7 ELECTROHYPEM, FP7 DURAMET, FP7 IMPACT, FP7 QUASIDRY, FP6 AUTOBRANE etc.)

CENmat is a young and innovative chemical engineering spin-off from the DLR offering a broad range of services ranging from consultation, contractual research to nanomaterial synthesis, upscale and nanomaterial integration.

CENmat started as a nanomaterial company offering highly specialized and custom-tailored nanomaterials applying a holistic approach to fully understand the needs of our customers to design and synthetize the best fitting nanomaterials for their special product or technology.

Due to the proximity of the nanomaterials to other fields and applications and our expertise in these fields such as fuel cells, electrolysers, and other electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies we quickly broadened our services offering contractual research in these areas too. Today CENmat is engaged in multiple research consortia and contractual research projects.

The Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt -DLR) in Stuttgart, with further research facilities in Cologne, Ulm, Oldenburg and Hamburg, does research in the field of efficient energy storage systems that conserve natural resources, and next generation energy conversion technologies with a staff of 180 scientific and technical employees, engineers and doctoral candidates. The spectrum of activities ranges from theoretical studies to laboratory work for basic research and to the operation of pilot plants.

The department Electrochemical Energy Technology with a team of about 60 researcher develops efficient electrochemical storage and conversion devices, namely electrolysers, fuel cells, and advanced batteries. These technologies are becoming more important in future energy systems due to the transformation of the energy sector in Germany. Our activities range from materials development, cell design, stack development, manufacturing and advanced diagnostics up to system optimization. For specific innovative applications we develop demonstrators and prototypes. Scientific and technical challenges for electrochemical energy technology include finding solutions to conflicting goals of efficiency, durability, safety, reliability and cost reduction.

The Forschungszentrum Jülich is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers and is one of the largest interdisciplinary research centers in Europe. The Forschungszentrum Jülich employs more than 6,115 members of staff (2020) and works within the framework of the discipline’s physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and engineering on the basic principles and applications in the areas of health, information, environment and energy. The scientific objective of energy research is an energy system based on renewable energy which will help make the transformation of the German energy sector (“Energiewende”) a success as well as limiting climate change. The contributions to research and development made by the Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK) include energy conversion methods and energy storage technologies as well as the mechanisms of climate change. Scientists are exploring the mechanisms of photovoltaics and photocatalysis, developing and optimizing fuel cells and electrochemical storage systems such as batteries, and investigating further technologies by means of which power from renewables can be stored, for example in methane gas or chemical raw materials such as hydrogen (“power to X”). Here, Jülich scientists are contributing solutions from materials research. They also develop novel membrane structures and materials for the effective and energy-efficient separation of gases such as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the off-gases of power plants before they enter the atmosphere. The IEK-14 Electrochemical Process Engineering Institute led by Dr. Marcelo Carmo and Prof. Ralf Peters has more than 20 years of experience in electrochemical energy conversion, is at the forefront of these efforts. In collaboration with national and international partners from research and industry, we develop solutions for mobile, portable, and stationary applications, and conduct research into using liquid energy carriers as fuels as well as producing and using them in an efficient, environmentally compatible manner. In addition, we work on groundbreaking innovations for electrochemical conversion systems for the direct generation of hydrogen, syngas, and power by means of electrolysis, co-electrolysis, and fuel cells.

The Foundation for the Development of New Hydrogen Technologies in Aragon is a private, non–profit organization promoted by the Aragonese Government and several public and private entities. 75 organizations conform as of today its board of members, ranging from sector such as automotive, chemistry, power generation, finance, education, engineering, R&D and real estate.

Since 2003, the FHA has supported the regional strategy for the uptake of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, coordinating the Hydrogen Master Plan in Aragon (2007-2010, 2011-2015 and 2016-2020). The mission of the FHA is to promote the generation, storage and transport of hydrogen for its use in different applications. Its aim is to boost research, technological development and industrial adaptation.

The FHA facilities include hydrogen production units (PEM as well as alkaline electrolyzers), storage units, a HRS and several vehicles (BEV and FCEV).

The Aragon Hydrogen Foundation is committed to raising awareness about hydrogen as an energy vector among students. Therefore, dozens of visits are organized yearly and more than 1,000 students both from primary & secondary school and university visit its premises every year.

The SME iGas energy GmbH (iGas) from NRW in Germany was founded in 2016 as a former division of Everwand Druckgastechnik GmbH. iGas offers technical solutions for the whole spectrum of gas processes. The portfolio comprises the engineering, design and construction of systems for gas production, gas supply, gas consumption and gas mixing, which are commercialized to industrial customers as well as to academia. iGas is former licensee of CETH electrolyzer technology (France), before this company was merged with AREVA (AREVAH2Gen). Today, iGas holds a license for PEM electrolyzers based on hydraulic compression and, furthermore, exclusively commercializes PEM electrolyzer stacks of the company Giner (US). iGas designs and constructs PEM electrolysers with power ranges from 25 kW up to 20 MW.

iGas currently has 11 employees and since the foundation iGas was involved in several projects related to hydrogen production by water electrolysis. Key equipment of developed hydrogen generating systems is always a PEM electrolyzer unit. Currently iGas is participating in two EU projects and one funded project by the German Ministry of Energy.

In the Project PROMET-H2 iGas will perform the engineering and design for the PEM electrolyzer as well as the assembly and integration of all mechanical and electrical components for the electrolysis system in a container.

MONOLITHOS Catalysts & Recycling Ltd. has an eighteen -years’ experience in manufacturing, regenerating and recycling of automotive catalytic converters and Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs). The recycling capacity of MONOLITHOS process exceeds 40,000catalysts per year, while its collection network includes 1,335 collection points. The company possesses a fully equipped chemical laboratory capable of milling/grinding/homogenizing and determining the PGM content (with a calibrated XRF equipment) of spent automotive catalysts. Furthermore, MONOLITHOS is manufacturing conventional replacement catalysts for the aftermarket (more than 1,35 active clients/wholesalers) with its patented Prometheus technology (Copper based Polymetallic Automotive Catalyst) to be under homologation procedure (expected to be in the market in the 1st quarter of 2020). Finally, the company possesses a regeneration process capable in regenerating Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) and Ad-Blue Catalysts (SCR) both for passenger and Heavy Duty vehicles (including trucks, construction vehicles, off-road and marine applications).

The Research & Innovation Department of the company has developed three patented technologies and is part of 7 original per-reviewed publications. The facilities of the Department consist of semi and full-pilot reactors (from 1lt up to 150lts) capable of scaling up any production of polymetallic nano-catalytic powders and leaching critical raw materials (CRMs) containing secondary feedstocks. The R&I Department of the company is participating in 11 on-going European R&D projects (in three as co-ordinator).

Nel is a global, dedicated hydrogen company, delivering optimal solutions to produce, store and distribute hydrogen from renewable energy. We serve industries, energy and gas companies with leading hydrogen technology. Since its foundation in 1927, Nel has a proud history of development and continual improvement of hydrogen plants. Our hydrogen solutions cover the entire value chain from hydrogen production technologies to manufacturing of hydrogen fueling stations, providing all fuel cell electric vehicles with the same fast fueling and long range as conventional vehicles today.

The SME ProPuls is a spin-off company of Westfälische Hochschule in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. In 1999, the company was founded as an engineering office and these days it employs 15 persons. The core competencies of ProPuls are referred to automation and controls for energy systems as well as process simulation of components and energy plants. It can be referenced to many years of experience in the field of plant planning and realization in the innovative field of renewable energy generation and storage, accordingly.

One up-coming market in which ProPuls is more and more involved, refers to hydrogen energy systems. For many years, ProPuls realizes R&D projects in this particular field, especially on PEM fuel cell and PEM electrolyser stacks and systems. Together with its daughter company ProH+ GmbH, customized PEM fuel cell and PEM electrolyzer stacks are offered. Furthermore, test cells, individual solutions for PEM fuel cell and electrolyzer test systems as well as customized test benches belong to the portfolio. Within the scope of the European R&D project PRETZEL (http://pretzel-electrolyzer.eu/), ProH+ GmbH delivered the very first version of their PEM electrolyzer test cell based on hydraulic cell compression to several academic partners for harmonized small-scale laboratory tests. Further customers comprise academia as well as industrial companies involved in R&D on hydrogen technology. Furthermore, ProPuls recently realized automation and control systems for several hydrogen demonstration plants in Germany.