Green hydrogen presents a promising pathway to the decarbonisation of our economy. However, its production often relies on increasingly scarce resources, such as clean water. This problem extends beyond hydrogen – the production of other renewable fuels and chemicals and mineral mining should source sustainable water, to avoid the depletion of treasured reserves, needed for human consumption. 

This workshop will explore sustainable solutions to minimise the water impact of large-scale production plants. 

The joint lunch-to-lunch workshop will bring together a multidisciplinary group of experts from academia, industry, start-ups and policymaking to discuss the pressing question of sustainable sourcing of water impact for the production of hydrogen, renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO), chemicals, and minerals. Overall, the goal of this workshop is to explore sustainable sources, such as seawater, as a direct feedstock for water electrolysis and a source for valuable minerals. Additionally, the talks and participative panels will explore 'circular economy' concepts, including co-capture of water from the air, together with carbon dioxide, for the production of renewable chemicals and fuels. Other solutions could cover the exploitation of the desalination concentrates, known as 'brines', for the recovery of minerals.

Furthermore, the results of the workshop will contribute to the creation of both a white paper and an ambitious agenda on low-impact water sourcing in Europe. Among other things, the agenda will feature a 'pitch session' to hear about innovative ideas and promising projects in the field of sustainable sourcing of water and generation of renewable fuels, including hydrogen.