IZES presentation empowering students for H2 learning pathway
As part of the communication and dissemination activities of the GenComm project Dr. Bodo Groß from the German GenComm Partner IZES gGmbH visited St Malachy’s School in Belfast on Tuesday 15th October and on Friday 18th he visited the Abbey Grammar School in Newry to present to students from the Abbey, Our lady’s Grammar School and St Paul’s Secondary School.
Spreading the green message, Dr Groß presentation centred on alternative mobility concepts and low emission alternative fuels for the future. Dr Groß said: “The main reason why we are working in this field is that we have to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector rapidly.” Dr Groß explained that when comparing the three sectors electricity, heat and transport in terms of their share of renewable energy in total demand, the transport sector is the most undeveloped. Electricity as well as Hydrogen produced with renewable energy present two opportunities to reach this goal within the next two decades by using battery (BEV) or fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). A third opportunity could be synthetic fuels such as RME or HVO. As a conclusion Dr. Groß pointed out, that with the case of BEV the amount of new registered cars in recent year’s increases rapidly. On the one hand, this is due to the well developed infrastructure today, especially the increasing number of charging stations, and on the other hand to the increasing number of different models in different vehicle segments. In case of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) at present, only a few cars are available in Europe. Most of the new registered FCEV are coming from Korea or Japan. In both cases, the core technology (battery and fuel cells) comes from outside Europe, as well as from Korea and Japan.
The Head of CEIAG (Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) at Abbey CBS, Annelise Reynolds, said: “The opportunity to hear from industry and research partners is the link between class based and work related learning which allows students to realise what is available to them in education and the wider world for their careers.”
GenComm Project Manager Paul McCormack who attended the presentation said : “The biggest barrier to driving transitions to the emerging low carbon economy is skills shortages. As we scale up the use of low carbon technologies especially in mobility, it requires people with the right set of skills to adapt them. The presentations by Dr Groß highlighted emerging technologies and provided information for the students to make informed choices in their future studies and careers.”
Green jobs help reduce negative environmental impact, ultimately leading to environmentally, economically and socially sustainable enterprises and economies. Green jobs also contribute to the reduction of energy consumption and use of raw materials, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, minimisation of waste and pollution and protection of ecosystems.
Green skills are those skills needed to adapt products, services and processes to climate change and the related environmental requirements and regulations. They will be needed by all sectors especially in the transport sector as it transitions from fossil fuels to battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and at all levels in the workforce.
Dr. Bodo Groß
IZES gGmbH