Germany is to become the lead market and lead provider for green hydrogen technologies, at least if politicians and the 2020 German National Hydrogen Strategy have their way. Some are of the opinion that these are so far no more than pious hopes. Kirsten Westphal German National Hydrogen Council also admits that there is no market yet. So how and when will the (green) hydrogen age really begin? What does it still need? And what about hydrogen imports? We talk about these and other topics with Prof. Dr. Christopher Hebling, Head of Hydrogen Technologies at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.
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Prof. Dr. Christopher Hebling studied physics at the University of Freiburg. After completing his doctorate in 1998 at the University of Konstanz on the topic of "The crystalline silicon thin-film solar cell on insulating substrates", he founded the "Microenergy Technology" group at Fraunhofer ISE in 1999. In 2001, he became head of the Energy Technology department, and in 2011, head of the Hydrogen Technologies business area. In 2018, he became co-director in the Energy Technologies and Systems Division. Since 2011, he has served as Director Business Division Hydrogen Technologies at Fraunhofer ISE. Since 2019, Hebling is Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town for the "Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment".
Fraunhofer ISE conducts application-oriented research and development for future-relevant key technologies. For this purpose, the institute is thematically broadly positioned and pursues a holistic, systemic approach. In this way, maximum synergy effects can be achieved between the five business units. In the business area Hydrogen Technologies and Electrical Energy Storage, ISE offers R&D services for the production, conversion and thermochemical processing of hydrogen. For battery materials, cells, modules and systems, it offers R&D services based on current and future technologies.
