Today's world is powered by oil, gas and coal. 80% of all our energy consumption – including fuel for vehicles, heating and electricity for all kind of purposes and industrial product – is based on fossil fuels, leading to dramatic changes in our climate.
The needed transition into an energy supply based on renewables is the biggest challenge for the years to come. The available solar power exceeds the global demand on energy by far. However solar power is very unevenly available: only during daytime and mainly in regions with high solar irradiation. With this, easy to store, to transport and to use energy carriers are necessary.

The dominant energy carrier of the future will be hydrogen.

Many companies have started the industrialization and high-volume production of hydrogen fuel cell drive trains and power supply units. Nevertheless, there is large room for new and optimized technologies.

Exemplary topics for the science include:

- High performance, durable and low-cost catalysts for the oxygen evolution (electrolyzer) and oxygen reduction reaction (fuel cells)
- Non-fluorinated, high performance proton conducting electrolyte membranes with strong temperature and humidity tolerance
- Advanced hydrogen storage technologies for overseas shipping and truck transportation as well as for onboard hydrogen storage
- Efficient and robust technologies to capture CO2 from air and convert it with hydrogen into easy to handle derivates like methanol

This session will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Werner Tillmetz (University of Ulm and alumni of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings). He worked for 30 years in industry and science on batteries, hydrogen and fuel cells.

Mr. Nobuhiko Koga (Chief Officer of Frontier Research Centre at Toyota Motor Corporation) will talk about climate change, energy security and the nature recovery for a sustainable planet. The automotive sector is one of the key sectors in energy usage and is facing disruptive changes such as electrification, supply chain issues and many others. He will share his view on how to achieve carbon neutrality from an automotive industry, to move from fossil fuels to electricity and hydrogen, with his unique experience in Europe and Japan.