On 09. and 10. November, the 5th Practical Conference on Hydrogen from Biomass and Biogas took place in Krefeld. The event showcased new business models and approaches for the decentralised provision of hydrogen — an important step for the the transformation of our energy system in a municipal context. The IOB was represented by Christopher Wünning.
This is the fifth time that the event has brought together municipal decision-makers, operators of biogas plants, employees of municipal utilities and energy supply companies, manufacturers of hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations as well as political decision-makers and research institutions. The event was organised by the H2-News team of Vulkan-Verlag-GmbH.
In addition to electrolysis, the conversion of biogas and biomass offers an alternative option for the production of green hydrogen. The event will focus not only on economic considerations, but also on technical issues, marketing, project planning for decentralised hydrogen production plants and the development of infrastructure and utilisation technologies.
In the pilot plant of the BMWK-funded BioH2Ref project, hydrogen is produced from biogas by means of steam reforming and downstream water gas shift reaction (WGS) and pressure swing adsorption (PSA). The IOB is providing scientific support for the BioH2Ref project. This includes the greenhouse gas and life cycle assessment of the process plant as well as investigating the potential utilisation of the captured CO2. Christopher Wünning presented the possible CO2 utilisation options in a presentation on the first day of the practical conference. The evening event was held at the Mercure Conference and Country Hotel for an exchange of experiences.
On the second day of the practical conference, there were further exciting presentations, including hydrogen refuelling station manufacturer MAXIMATOR Hydrogen GmbH and hydrogen vehicle manufacturer Toyota Deutschland GmbH. A hydrogen-powered waste vehicle, which is used by Entsorgungsbetriebe Essen GmbH, was also exhibited in the car park. The vehicle has four tanks with a total capacity of 17 kg of hydrogen, which supply two fuel cells. This means that the waste collection vehicle on display can easily complete a day’s journey.
The event concluded with a tour of the biogas plant and the BioH2Ref project test facility at Lefkeshof, a family farm near Krefeld with over 200 dairy cows.
We would like to thank the organisers for the conference with exciting presentations and discussions and the Schleupen family for the visit to their Lefkeshof farm.
