The universities of Genoa, Cagliari and Brescia united in the Promth2eus research project. An innovative electrolyzer will be used.
The energy transition begins with seawater becoming essential for hydrogen production. This is done through a system of innovative technologies with which the production, storage and use of energy that arises in a process under the banner of the green transition is envisaged.
This is the goal of a research project called Prometh2eus that aims to produce green H2 through an innovative solid oxide electrolyzer powered by seawater. It is an ambitious plan that is part of the initiative of the universities of Genoa (lead partner), Cagliari and Brescia as part of the Pnrr (“Green Revolution and Green Transition,” “Renewable Energy, Hydrogen, Grid and Sustainable Mobility,” “Hydrogen Research and Development”), and funded by the European Union-Next Generation Eu with a 3.5 million euro endowment.
Between decarbonization and transition
The research and experimentation project is part of the decarbonization and energy transition pathway, with which the focus is precisely on the production of energy from alternative sources, thereby reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
A challenge that starts from the universities and then finds concrete application in the field. It is no coincidence that the program in which the three universities participated included the implementation of fundamental research projects for the production of clean and green hydrogen, innovative technologies for the storage and transport of hydrogen and its transformation into derivatives and e-fuels, and fuel cells for stationary and mobility applications.
Focus is on innovative technologies
“The project,” says Vittorio Tola, scientific officer and professor at the University of Cagliari’s Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering (Dimcm), “is aimed at the development of innovative processes, systems and components for the production, storage and use of hydrogen from renewable sources.
Thus, upstream of the process aiming at green energy production is the exploitation and enhancement of natural resources within a path marked by innovation. “The characterizing aspect is the development of innovative technologies for the production of hydrogen from seawater so as to limit, in a perspective of green hydrogen production on a global scale, the use of respect water resources.”
