Spain must promote hydrogen as an energy vector

“Hydrogen is the fuel of the present and future, and Spain has the opportunity to produce it by taking advantage of the low cost of renewable energy”. Arne Ballantine, CEO and co-founder of Ohmnium, was categorical during his speech at the conference "Green Hydrogen: Clean Fuel for a Climate Neutral Economy", organised by the Chair for Low Carbon Hydrogen Studies at Comillas ICAI.

Ballantine -who stimulated the audience with a brilliant speech, was optimistic about Spain's economic and strategic future- and stressed that we must concentrate on university talent to exploit synergies in the fields of Technology and Engineering, as well as Financial Management, in order to boost the development of hydrogen as an energy vector. In addition to this, he considers it key for our country to use its strategic location to promote the commercialisation of hydrogen. According to the speaker, “Spain is going to play a key role in the move towards a carbon neutral economy”.

The Chair, co-directed by Rafael Cossent and Isabel Figuerola-Ferretti, invited Ballantine as a recognised veteran in the hydrogen industry, with more than 20 years of experience in the commercialisation of products for hydrogen and electric energy production based on PEM technology and solid oxide.

Ballantine was Vice-President at Systems Engineering in Bloom Energy, where he led the design of the Bloom Box solid oxide fuel cell server. He was also an Engineering Officer in the US Navy, a professional in the thin-film semiconductor industry and an advisor to the Public Utilities Commission in Palo Alto.