United Kingdom

As the US and British government press ahead with their hydrogen support projects, a team from Korea and the US has developed an iridium nanostructure catalyst, which decreased the amount of the chemical element. Meanwhile, hydrogen projects are proceeding in West Virginia, Denmark, Finland, and Japan.

ITM Power says it has restructured its business to shift its focus from hydrogen refueling to PEM electrolysis tech, while Stahlwerk Thüringen and gas network operator Ferngas have agreed to connect the Unterwellenborn steel mill in Germany to a hydrogen network by 2027.

New research from the United Kingdom claims that ground mounted PV facilities have a negative effect on bat activity. According to the scientists, the panels may be causing some bats to alter their flight paths, potentially resulting in further fragmentation of the ecological landscape.

Octopus Energy has agreed to invest $89 million to scale up Kensa Group, a ground-source heat pump business, while KfW IPEX-Bank has agreed to provide $129.6 million of financing to German heat pump manufacturer Valliant.

UK-based boiler specialist Ideal Heating has opened its first heat pump production in Hull, England. It said that it has invested around GBP 60 million ($76.5 million) in the new production line.

A UK-Chinese research group designed a dual-source heat pump (DSHP) that recovers the waste heat from the exhaust air along with absorbing the heat from the outdoor air. A prototype installed on the roof of a building in the UK showed remarkable results in terms of coefficient of performance and annual heating bill savings.

UK researchers suggested utilizing heat pumps to preheat hydrogen to very high temperatures, which they said could reduce the need for hydrogen by more than 20%. The process is also claimed to have the potential to reduce the European industry’s energy demand by approximately 200 TWh per year.

The world would have been a different place today had John Goodenough accepted the Shah of Iran’s $7 million offer, in 1974, to carry out solar research. Instead, he secured a job as the head of inorganic chemistry at the University of Oxford. During his tenure, he made a lithium-ion battery discovery that would affect the lives of almost everyone.

The German authorities have announced plans to double domestic electrolysis capacity to 10 GW by 2030, BloombergNEF has reported that green hydrogen became competitive with gray hydrogen earlier than expected, and Chinese researchers have presented new research on microbial hydrogen production.

Drax Group said it will expand the pumped hydro storage capacity of the Cruachan Power Station by another 600 MW to 1,044 MW. However, the project will require greater policy support.