The 6th RD20 (Research and Development 20 for Clean Energy Technologies) Conference will be held for the first time outside of Japan in New Delhi, India from December 2-6, 2024. New Delhi is home to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India’s central research institution. Last year’s RD20 Conference was held in Fukushima. We talk to Dr. Hirohide FURUTANI, Director-General of the Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute (FREA) at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), about efforts for this year’s RD20 Conference.
FREA was established in April 2014 with its mission to support reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake and promote cutting-edge research on renewable energy. FREA’s remit covers the renewable energy chain, from power utilization, including wind, solar, hydrogen, ground-source and geothermal, to evaluation, device and system production, as well as storage, transportation, and network connectivity. As well as government subsidies, FREA also receives joint research funds and contract research funds from private companies to roll out all of its demonstration experiments on renewable energy.
In 2023, the Gigaton Hydrogen Workshop, hosted by Dr. Furutani, was held in Tokyo before the RD20 Conference took place in Fukushima. The Gigaton Workshop was originally carried out through discussions with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, but this time from RD20 members, many other countries have participated, including the EU’s JRC (Joint Research Centre), Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Office), the University of Oxford in the UK, Indonesia’s BRIN (National Research and Innovation Institute), Saudi Arabia’s KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), and India’s TERI, which will be the host of the 6th RD20 Conference. Overall, everyone agreed that the use of hydrogen is very important in achieving carbon neutrality. Expanding hydrogen energy is crucial, and discussions need to span across the entire process from production and storage to transportation and use. But every country has its own strengths and weaknesses, so each country will carry out in its own way and appropriate size. Essentially, while everyone has acknowledged that there are differences among countries, all parties have aligned towards the same goal of scaling-up hydrogen production in a direction that benefits all.
Researchers from other countries attending the RD20 Conference also visited FREA in Fukushima. Those visiting for the first time were impressed with the systematic integration from renewable energy to hydrogen network. However, it wasn’t the first time researchers from NREL and Fraunhofer had visited FREA. Having had many such discussions before, there was no surprise with their interest in FREA’s new equipment.
At the Gigaton Workshop held in Tokyo last year, the need for collaboration was strong. When it comes to carbon neutrality, there was a focus on the growth potential through electrification and converting renewable energy sources like solar and wind into electricity. However, challenges remain, particularly in factories that require fuel combustion. In such cases, hydrogen will likely be the alternative. Given the substantial hydrogen demand this would create, many participants stressed the importance of collaborative efforts to accelerate power generation. Key discussion topics included not only the systemization and scaling up of electrolytic cells but also the efficient use of precious materials like nickel, iridium, and platinum.
As a special discussion, it seems that a certain direction has been seen regarding the organofluorine compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have recently been a topic of conversation. For example, fluorine-based materials are used in PEM-type water electrolytic cells, but it is unlikely that the water from these cells would be used as drinking water. The measures for PFAS in cells used for drinking water should be different from those for cells that are not used for drinking water. It is considered somewhat of an achievement that a direction has been seen not to tighten regulations on PFAS in hydrogen generators. In other words, many people may believe regulations will be strengthened for PFAS in the things we eat, but not for the purpose such as hydrogen generator the regulation does not need to be strengthened.
In fact, the first Gigaton Workshop was held seven years ago as an international conference in Tokyo, focusing on projects utilize hydrogen. However, the second Gigaton Workshop, which was to be held in Germany, was put on hold for a while due to the pandemic. With the advent of RD20, the growing demand for hydrogen technology, including large-scale hydrogen electrolytic cells (Figure 1), and the discussion of the need for collaboration globally, last year’s Gigaton Workshop effectively became the second conference. Last year, discussions started in the form of a review of the conference from six years ago, and now the discussions from that time are being put on paper. NREL is leading the writing of the paper, which will be published in the near future.
Research institutions in Japan, the United States, and Europe are all separately working on the production, storage, and use of hydrogen energy, but common aspects will be standardized through international cooperation. FREA is also spending its budget from the Green Innovation Fund on international standardization activities, positioning standardization through international cooperation as one of its core pillars.
Europe has for a long time introduced large-scale electrolysis devices, but more recently, the United States has begun to focus on scaling up its equipment. The Global Zero Emission Research Center (GZR) is playing a central role in RD20 with close contact on hydrogen-related matters.
Japan is a country with few resources and limited energy sources, so it is not feasible to meet its energy demands domestically. With imported sources of energy, such as hydrogen, it is important to properly evaluate their renewable and decarbonization potential before using them. And deciding how to transport hydrogen—whether under high pressure, as ammonia (NH3), or as methane (CH4)—is crucial. Laying the foundations for discussions based on scientific evidence to maintain carbon neutrality is essential. In this regard, the discussion forums provided by RD20 and the support from NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) are indispensable.
As a general rule, international cooperation is possible in the early stages, but as projects get closer to commercialization, it becomes more difficult, but we can collaborate in common areas and standardization. “Since only the United States can achieve energy independence, Japan, together with Europe, must standardize the interface for transporting hydrogen in various forms. And this is something that we need to start working on now,” says Furutani. There are various forms to consider, such as e-fuel, e-methane, and ammonia, and FREA is looking at and testing all of these different options.
“The transition from coal to oil took 30 years, and from oil to natural gas also took another 30 years. But we cannot wait that long for the transition from natural gas to hydrogen. We need to act faster, so we must do everything we can now,” asserts Furutani. For discussing such matters, forums like RD20 and Gigaton are incredibly important. As RD20 is a place where national research institutes come together, it also serves as a platform to garner understanding from various governments.
As for expectations for this year’s RD20 Conference, Furutani concludes, “We only have 6 years left until 2030. I hope that overseas countries and Japan can come together to collectively emphasize the importance of research and development on reducing CO2 emissions. At first, we made progress in curbing our CO2 emissions, but now it seems as if emissions are on the rise again with the outbreak of conflicts and wars. Since RD20 is a gathering of national research institutes, it is crucial to ensure that governments worldwide understand the need to cut emissions based on scientific evidence. While the increase in emissions is a concern, conveying a scientific message is paramount.”
Kenji Tsuda Editor in Chief, Semiconductor Portal