Stanford Hydrogen Launch Symposium Report

The Stanford Hydrogen Initiative was formally launched with an amazing event on Monday, May 2, 2022 in the MacKenzie Hall on Stanford campus. There were keynote presentations by Tom Linebarger, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Cummins Inc., and by Sunita Satyapal, Director, U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, along with a fireside chat between Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Professor Arun Majumdar. The program included panels on Hydrogen Generation, Hydrogen Distribution and Storage, Hydrogen Utilization, and International Perspectives on Hydrogen, and finally, Research Showcases on Stanford University research and start-up companies. There was general global consensus and excitement on the role that hydrogen can play in deep decarbonization to mitigate climate change while ensuring energy security, affordability and reliability, and a sense of urgency to accelerate its deployment. Significant/material challenges remain, including the cost of renewable hydrogen generation, lack of an existing infrastructure for distributing hydrogen both locally and globally, and finally storing hydrogen at scale. However, the potential for renewable hydrogen to decarbonize our society for both legacy applications such as fertilizer production and new applications such as transportation and steel making is compelling. The Hydrogen Initiative will tackle the complete hydrogen value chain: generation, distribution, storage and utilization. We have over 35 research groups exploring the various aspects of this chain, driving toward impactful innovation, and sponsoring new start-ups through its entrepreneurial spirit. Read the report.