Further development of hydrogen technology through fiber composites

State Secretary Dr. Alt presents IVW with grant of €2.9 million

Hydrogen technology is one of the greatest hopes in the fight against climate change, for example on the way to sustainable mobility. The Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe (IVW) in Kaiserslautern, which is one of Germany's leading research institutes in the field of innovative materials, is making essential contributions to the success of this technology with its research work. As part of its latest research project in this field, the institute is receiving funding from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) totaling €2.9 million for the future development of novel pressure vessels made of innovative thermoplastic fiber composites for the storage and transport of hydrogen.
State Secretary Dr. Denis Alt from the Ministry of Science and Health in Rhineland-Palatinate, said at the presentation of the grant: "The state government promotes hydrogen technology out of conviction. It is a key technology for reducing CO2 emissions: The further development of hydrogen storage technology through the use of fiber composites as part of  IVW project represents an important step on the road to climate neutrality in the areas of transport and industry. At the same time, this project will provide important impetus for science and industry in Rhineland-Palatinate and nationwide. This shows once again how important and powerful IVW's research is not only for the region, but for our society."
Professor Ulf Breuer, Scientific Director of the Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe added: "With the funds from this grant project, we will not only be able to develop advanced structures for hydrogen storage and transport, but consequently also invest in the necessary equipment and testing facilities that will enable efficient design and manufacturing. This will take us, our partners and our industrial customers quite decisive steps forward."
Current hydrogen storage systems made of metal are too heavy for future mobile applications, and the lightweight solutions available to date are not sufficiently capable of large-scale production. For this reason, the basic knowledge and suitable infrastructure for efficient, large-scale production of hydrogen storage and transport systems based on particularly environmentally friendly and recyclable thermoplastic fiber composites will be developed in the future at IVW as part of the project "Infrastructure development for thermoplastic fiber composite pressure vessels for hydrogen storage and transport (TPC-H2-Storage)".