On the evening of Wednesday 22 November 2024 the section welcomed Alexandra Kostereva from the European Gas Research Group (GERG) to talk to us about the use of ‘Hydrogen as an Energy Vector'. As usual the talk was hosted by the British School of Brussels in Tervuren.
Alexandra is Operations Manager at GERG based in Brussels and her talk introduced the relevance of hydrogen as an energy vector, and present a major project that GERG and partners have finalised this year: THyGA (Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Applications). This project looked at the impact of hydrogen/ natural gas blends on commercial and domestic appliances. It included a large testing programme with end-use appliances, and provided conclusions for future regulation and standardisation of this sector. Alexandra also outlined other aspects of the work of the European Gas Research Group in the energy sector.
Biography
Alexandra joined the European Gas Research Group (GERG) team in 2019 and has been actively involved in the full portfolio of its research activities including work on hydrogen, LNG, biomethane, and methane emissions topics. She has worked on several European-funded projects. In 2020, Alexandra completed a Blue Book internship at the European Commission’s DG Energy working on the European Methane Emissions Strategy.
Alexandra has a Master’s degree in Engineering from the French Grande Ecole Centrale Lille, with a specialisation in Energy, and a Master’s degree in Economics of Energy from Université Paris-Saclay.
YouTube Video
Alexandra's talk was recorded and can be found on our dedicated Youtube channel or as an embedded video below. Enjoy!
On the evening of Thursday 28 April 2022 RSC Belgium hosted a webinar talk from Andrei Goicea, Policy Director with FORATOM - The Voice of the European Nuclear Industry. The title of Andrei's presentation was 'Nuclear Energy at EU Level - Current State of Play and Outlook'.
Andrei talked about FORATOM and the status of nuclear energy at EU level. He outlined the benefits of nuclear energy and its future at EU level including new developments, such as the European Green Deal that will impact on the nuclear sector.
He looked at the potential of nuclear for sustainable hydrogen production and its role in European industrial strategy. Other topics included that were covered included security of energy supply, energy pricing and the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs).
The nuclear energy sector currently includes a fleet of over 100 reactors in the EU that supports over 1 million jobs and produces around 25% of the EU's electricity – the highest single source of electricity. Andrei highlighted that nuclear is an option for decarbonization and that few EU nations will achieve the 2030 carbon emissions targets with their current mix of power production. The exceptions being nations like France and Sweden with higher contributions of nuclear power.
In terms of its potential for hydrogen production, the characteristics of nuclear power production are well suited to running electrolysers at greater capacity than other low-carbon options, so so-called 'pink hydrogen' ('green hydrogen' is defined as hydrogen generated by renewable power - solar, wind etc) has better economics.
Andrei Goicea graduated in 2002 from both the University Politehnica of Bucharest - Faculty of Power Engineering as a nuclear engineer and the “Spiru Haret” University, Marketing and Foreign Trade Faculty as an economist. He also holds a masters degree from the University Politehnica of Bucharest - Faculty of Power Engineering in nuclear safety and radiological protection from 2003.
He started work with FORATOM - The Voice of the European Nuclear Industry - in May 2015 and is currently Policy Director. He previously worked at Nuclearelectrica in Romania (2003 – 2013) and on the Mochovce Units 3 and 4 Project in Slovakia (2013-2015).
On the evening of 25 November 2021 RSC Belgium hosted the last of its webinars for the year with a talk from Prof Jean-François Gohy from the Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences at the Université catholique de Louvain. Prof Gohy had previously presented to the section on advances in energy storage and this new talk focused on recent advances and opportunities for future battery technologies.
The improvement in performance and cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) over the past few years have made them the technology of choice for electrical energy storage. While established battery chemistries and cell architectures for LIBs achieve good power and energy density, Jean-Francois indicated that LIBs are unlikely to meet all the performance, cost, and scaling targets required for future energy storage, in particular, in large-scale applications such as electrified transportation and grids.
The demand to further reduce cost and/or increase energy density, as well as the growing concerns related to natural resource needs for Li-ion technologies have accelerated the investigation of so-called “beyond Li-ion” technologies. In his talk Prof Gohy discussed recent achievements, challenges, and opportunities for some of these “beyond Li-ion” technologies. While it is unlikely that any given new technology will fully replace Li-ion in the near future, “beyond Li-ion” technologies should be thought of as opportunities for energy storage to grow into mid/large-scale applications.
Range of options
Prof Gohy took the audience through a range of options for promising battery technologies that could provide the required energy density safely and at reasonable cost. Costs for LIBs had dramatically dropped from over $1000 per KWh to less that $150 and this trend was continuing thanks to massive investment LIBs by the car industry.
But next generation technologies were required. Lithium metal batteries are part of the family of All Solid State Batteries (ASSB) and previous significant safety concerns had now been partially solved. Other potential technologies included Li-S, Li-air, Sodium and Potassium ion batteries.
Li-metal based ASSBs could provide a path to achieve high volumetric energy density using established Li-ion cathode technology.
Sodium (NIB) and Potassium (KIB) batteries that rely on naturally abundant sodium and potassium resources are likely to provide a significant advantage in terms of cost for larger stationary applications such as storage for power grid management.
Magnesium-metal batteries are a wild card technology that could potentially provide a unique combination of high energy density and low cost as a "beyond Li-ion" battery technology. Mg metal as an anode is less prone to failure due to dendritic growth, but the most significant technical barrier to this technology is the achievement of high energy density Mg cathodes.
RSC video at COP26
During the COP26 meeting in Glasgow the RSC held a panel discussion on this topic that debated the cutting edge chemistry underlying next generation battery innovations, their potential, their limitations and their pathways to mass adoption.
The video was part of an initiative demonstrating chemistry’s role in understanding and tackling climate change covering next-generation batteries, hydrogen, agriculture, carbon dioxide utilisation, and more.
On 27 September 2017 RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to a demo lecture at the British School of Brussels (BSB) on Energetic Chemistry from Dr Matt Andrews of NATO. This lecture had been rearranged from earlier in the year and featured some of the more ‘vigorous’ aspects of chemical reactions. It was also the evening when we presented prizes to the winners of our Annual Chemistry Challenge competition for school students (see separate article).
Dr Matt Andrews' lecture was entitled: “Safety of Energetic Materials: Preventing Unexpected Bangs”. Dr Matthew Andrews is a Technical Specialist Officer (TSO) at the Munition Safety Information Analysis Centre (MSIAC) based at NATO with a specialism in Energetic Materials.
With over 16 years experience in the field of energetic materials Matt (pictured above) was well placed to take the audience in the BSB's Brel Theatre through numerous topics relating to energetic materials ranging from the fundamentals of the chemistry to the Forensic Investigation of Explosives.
His talk provided a brief history of explosives, the ever present safety risks, and what happens when accidents do occur. To comprehend the risk that energetic materials present, he emphasised the need to understand the different mechanisms that can result in the uncontrolled release of stored chemical energy, contained within all explosives. An understanding of these mechanisms allows scientists to design safer explosives, to better test and screen materials, and to define processes and procedures to manage the risk to acceptable levels. The talk went on to discuss some of these test methods and show how it is possible to handle, transport and use these materials safely.
A big thanks to everyone involved in organising the lecture - in particular to the Chemistry team at BSB, especially RSC Belgium exec members Jane Downing and William Darnley (above with Matt)
- for supplying the chemicals and logistics to enable the lecture to take place.
On 27 April 2017 RSC Belgium members and friends gathered at the British School of Brussels to hear Prof Jean-François Gohy from the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) give a very informative talk on 'Redox active polymers: the future for batteries?' Jean-Francois' presentation focused on modern battery technologies and advances that may be possible through research in polymer science.
The presentation described the development of novel energy storage systems with enhanced performances using original, organic, electro-active, material chemistry and engineering approaches. Jean-Francois' primary target is to decipher the fundamental flaws in current technologies and build better organic batteries.
His long-term goal is to develop sustainable all-carbon-based batteries. The research aims to design and develop novel electro-active organic materials and architectures in order to develop faster, safer, and longer-lasting organic batteries, capacitors, and their hybrids.
Jean-François Gohy is Professeur Ordinaire at UCLouvain within the Institute for Condensed Matter and Nanosciences and Bio and Soft Matter. His research interests include the synthesis of polymers including: “living” and “controlled” polymerisation techniques; ionic polymers; liquid crystals; surfactants; supramolecular chemistry; self-associating polymers, stimuli-responsive materials, nanomaterials; adsorption of polymers on substrates; nano patterned surfaces; lithium-polymer batteries; and sustainable and green processes for battery materials.
Jean-François was awarded his Master degree in Chemistry from the University of Liège and continued his studies at Liege under Prof. Robert Jérôme obtaining his PhD in 1999. Then following postdoc positions with the Belgian FNRS (Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique) and at Eindhoven University of Technology he moved to the UCL in 2002.
He is first author or coauthor of more than 40 papers in international journals. He is member of the "Research Centre in Micro and Nanoscopic Materials and Electronic Devices" (CERMIN) and member of the Steering Committee of the European Science Foundation SUPERNET programme (Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Complex Polymer Structures).
Energy is vital to our modern society. But where will our future energy supplies be sourced? How do we ensure an adequate energy supply while protecting our environment? And where do the chemical sciences fit into all this? These questions were the subject of a Café Chimique event organised by RSC Belgium on 28 January.
The event took place in the very convivial atmosphere of the Salle des Fêtes in Auderghem Cultural Centre. There an audience of well over 50 RSC members, friends and members of the public listened to short presentations from our panel of four speakers to help the audience understand the issues, possibilities and policy pros and cons.
Our first speaker was Peter Botschek (above), Head of Energy at Cefic - the European Chemical Industry body. Peter gave an overview of the energy scene in Europe and its evolution and possible impact on the chemical sector. You can find his presentation here.
Philippe Charlez (above), Unconventional Resources Development Director, from French oil and gas giant Total is an expert in hydraulic fracturing and was able to give an insight on the techniques used to liberate shale gas and oil. His presentation is here.
Jan Duerinck (above) from the Belgian Flemish research organisation VITO is an economist and expert on renewable energy technologies specializing in the development of techno-economic energy–environmental models. He was co-author of the study “Towards 100% renewable energy in Belgium by 2050” published in 2012 that was commissioned by the four Belgian ministers in charge of energy. His slides can be found here.
Finally Richard Ivens (above), Institutional Affairs Director at Foratom – the European Nuclear industry body - talked about the current status of the nuclear energy sector with a special focus on post Fukushima developments. Richard's presentation is here.
High level of debate
Following a short pause to refresh our glasses we launched into an audience-led debate on the future of our energy supplies expertly marshalled by our chairman Bob Crichton.
The questions from the audience were varied ranging from the environmental and economic issues of 'fracking' to the viability nuclear and some renewable technologies to achieve a truly low-carbon energy system.
The mix of technical, economic and political issues raised during the hour-long session kept our panel on their toes and they clearly enjoyed the debate. Commenting afterwards Philippe Charlez said: "It was really a pleasure to participate in this Cafe Chimique. I was impressed by the level of the debate and the quality of the questions."
The issue of how our future energy supplies will be provided is clearly very complex. But following the debate on 28 January RSC Belgium members and friends now have some valuable insights on the varied challenges and problems that need to be overcome to ensure we 'keep the lights on' across Europe!
The Belgium section of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) was established in 1989. It has around 120 professional members in Belgium and an extensive list of 'Friends of RSC Belgium'. The section organises lectures, visits and social events with a principal objective of promoting the chemical sciences to the public.
