Abstract 

“A first” is a word that applies to hydrogen energy in a host of interesting ways.  This relates first to the special chemical properties of “the first” element, most notably the one that gave it its Greek name: “to make water (=hydrogen)”, i.e. the strong and peculiar form of bonding in its oxide.  Also, and perhaps more relevantly in terms of current societal needs, it points to the quest for a new beginning, “a first” in establishing fuel technologies that will be an integrated component of a contemporary, sustainable power generation portfolio.  The talk will review the opportunities that hydrogen and synthetic fuels provide in terms or renewable energy, as well as the technical and economic challenges that the introduction of these technologies can entail.  It will be argued that especially synthetic fuels can have a substantial role to play as a means of  long-term energy storage, as well as a fuel for specialized applications such as aviation and marine transportation.  However, the economics is such that this potential only becomes relevant when the international community decides that greenhouse-gas emissions will cost a lot to their producers.  This is because breaking hydrogen through electrolysis in order to generate “green” hydrogen is going to be expensive and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the same will hold for capturing CO₂ emissions during “blue” hydrogen production.  As a result, “being the number 1” of hydrogen energy is a difficult and potentially risky endeavor, something that has halted the progress of the related technologies so far.  Finally, it will be suggested that KSA ise uniquely endowed and equipped in order to provide international leadership in the field, to be “number 1” in the area of synthetic fuels.  

Biography 

Dimitrios C. Kyritsis is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Technology and Design at NEOM University and the Director of the Hydrogen and e-Fuels Advanced Research Institute (HEFARI) in the Education, Research, and Innovation Foundation at NEOM. His research interests develop in the fields of synthetic fuels, reactive flow, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and laser and optical diagnostics.  He holds a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and a Dipl. Ing. In Mechanical Engineering from the National Techncal University of Athens. Before joining NEOM, he was the Chair of the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi (2013-2024), a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2002-2014), and a post-doctoral associate and a lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yale University (2000-2002). During the period 2005-2010, he served as the co-director in the US-Department-of-Energy-funded Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Center of Excellence on Automotive Biofuel Combustion Engines at the University of Illinois.  From 2020-2023, he served as the deputy director of the Research and Innovation Center on CO₂ and Hydrogen at Khalifa University.  He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Energy Engineering.  He has received several awards, including the CAREER award of the US National Science Foundation, the Accenture Award for excellence in student advising, and the Ralph R. Teetor Award of the Society of Automotive Engineers.  He has also served on the editorial boards of Combustion & Flame and the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute.