SUSHy Project's Expected Impact
contributes towards United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Scientific Contribution
Overall Project
- The novel, risk-based, multi-disciplinary approach (RMDA) framework with a common language of risk to be developed can be utilised for resolving a variety of multi-objective optimisation issues, and can be applied in many other scenarios where new techniques or technical concepts need verification;
- The new RMDA framework can provide a model example for cross-sectorial collaborations involving humanitarian studies with quantitative data analysis methodologies;
- The new RMDA framework can be a pilot for establishing a standard procedure for planning different hydrogen production and fuelling projects; and
- The results of this project can provide guidance on data collection in the operations of hydrogen stations for risk monitoring.
Work Packages
- The risk identification procedure, involving several methods with multiple objectives—to be developed in WP1—can be used in other contexts to investigate and analyse the influence of uncertain factors on complex systems;
- The identified organisational and operational factors, as well as the key safety performance indicators—to be developed in WP2—can be evaluated and subsequently used towards building high-safety organisations in related energy industries;
- The new digital approach—to be developed in WP3—combining accident scenarios and protection equipment in a complex system with domino effects, can serve as reference material in other new and renewable energy research and development projects, such as for tide and solar energy;
- Integration of semi-quantitative societal studies methods on social welfare and public health with risk assessment—to be developed in WP4—can contribute to advancing risk management approaches in industrial projects; and
- The combinatory approach with deterministic, probabilistic, and artificial intelligence methods—to be developed in WP5—is expected to be a methodological contribution to multiple optimisation processes under uncertainties.
Societal Contribution
Community Impact
- Synergising low-cost hydrogen production and implementation of risk reduction measures, not only for fuelling stations of vehicles, but for other hydrogen applications, such as powering offshore platforms;
- Presenting investors in hydrogen technologies with evidence about the feasibility of new hybrid renewable energy-powered (HREP) hydrogen station concepts, and suggestions to facilitate their implementation;
- Supporting decision-makers with research-based standards for establishing and adjusting compensation policies on the development and operation of HREP hydrogen stations;
- Providing policy guiding information concerning critical requirements, procedures and regulations for hydrogen fuelling station siting, operation and management;
- Offering suggestions to the government and other responsible authorities for making relevant regulations of hydrogen stations, for example, for locations and minimum safety distances to other facilities;
- Establishing a framework to enable pre-assessment by local communities on hydrogen initiatives and projects to prevent and mitigate risks related to technology, environment and safety issues;
- Disambiguating the roles and respective contributions of engineers and project managers for environmental protection and climate change mitigation concerning HREP hydrogen technologies;
- Inspiring and informing new business development opportunities in building and managing distributed hydrogen production and fuelling stations;
- Alleviating the conflicts among communal satisfaction welfares, living quality of neighbours, local environmental concerns, and project economics; and
- Sharing with European and Japanese industries detailed, research-based information about mutual demands, requirements and regulations.
Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
SDG7: Affordable and Clean Energy
With the outputs of the SUSHy Project, the widespread implementation of HREP hydrogen production and fuelling stations is expected to be further enabled; thus, making such type of energy more cost-efficient, safer and fully ‘green’. WP5 of the SUSHy Project is focusing on how hydrogen can be provided to customers in an affordable way, while keeping a profit for the station owners.
For example, one of the priorities in the official Polish government strategy for the power generation industry towards 2040 is the decarbonisation of the Polish power system that relies heavily on hard coal and lignite. This goal is to be achieved through a dynamic growth of the renewable energy sources and wide application of hydrogen technologies. The excess of the energy available from renewables, as well as the processes of pyrolysis and biomass gasification, will be employed to generate hydrogen. This hydrogen can then be delivered among others to the hydrogen stations that are within the scope of this research project.
SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Safety of workers is a primary concern in terms of decent work. SUSHy Project, especially WP2 and WP3 are focusing on how operators and other staff working in hydrogen stations can be protected, and how accidents involving human injuries or even death, can be prevented or otherwise reduced. Establishing a safety culture and standardised operational procedures is key for ensuring a decent working environment for employees in the hydrogen industry.
In addition, the purpose of WP5 is to propose a business model for hydrogen production and fuelling stations. Enhancing the capacities of such businesses is expected to contribute towards increasing their revenues and profits, which in turn means additional employment opportunities and economic growth in the hydrogen industry and in the regional economy.
SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
A unique contribution of this project is to support SDG11. Since most of the hydrogen stations have either already been built or are going to be built in urban areas and in proximity with residential districts, they are expected to have extensive interactions with local communities. Minimising the risks and even preventing potential accidents that may directly threaten neighbouring residents and/or the surrounding natural or built environment is the main objective of SUSHy Project. This is a significant point in the pursuit of sustainable cities and communities.
Moreover, the SUSHy Project emphasises the importance of pursuing meaningful, two-way risk communication strategies with the public in terms of safety management and preparedness measures. Addressing public concerns, building stakeholder consensus and trust concerning hydrogen stations in the neighbourhood are also important factors for the sustainability of the local society.
SDG13: Climate Action
SUSHy Project is directly related to SDG13. Hydrogen—and especially ‘green’ hydrogen—has been widely acknowledged as a highly promising transitional solution to reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions in all the partner countries. For example, the Norwegian Government (in May 2020) announced their strategy for supporting and intensifying efforts with a focus on hydrogen-related research and technology development, as a way of meeting the Climate Change Act’s target. SUSHy Project’s central focus on HREP hydrogen production and fuelling stations contributes to the climate action goal by actively facilitating the implementation of such national initiatives.
SDG17: Partnerships for the Goals
The main aim of SUSHy Project is to build new and enhance existing partnerships between European and Japanese research organisations. In addition to strengthening cross-border collaborations between senior researchers in the field of hydrogen technologies, an additional focus of this project is on promoting mutual mobility and jointly supervising early-career researchers and university students. Master students, PhD students and postdoc fellows benefit from this partnership, while they are also expected to develop their collaborator network based on this platform and explore further research opportunities.
SDG1: No poverty
In an indirect way, the success of SUSHy Project has the potential to provide guiding frameworks related to SDG1, towards the objective of reducing poverty. Ultimately, the project aims at enhancing the economic viability of and enabling the widespread accessibility to HREP hydrogen production and fuelling stations, and in parallel contribute towards improving hydrogen safety. Among others, both goals are related to vulnerable groups, whose welfare conditions or household income may be affected by climate change actions.