The 9th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS 2021) will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on 21-23 September 2021 under the auspices of the International Association for Hydrogen Safety (HySafe). The first eight ICHS biennial conferences ran from 2005 to 2019, attracting experts from all over the world, and providing an open platform for the presentation and discussion of new findings, information and data on hydrogen safety - from basic research to applied development and from good practice to standardisation and regulatory issues.
Hydrogen is now beginning to play a greater role in the transition to clean, safe and sustainable energy systems as part of Net Zero. Applications for hydrogen will include industrial heat and feedstocks, commercial and domestic heat, energy storage & energy transportation, and decarbonised clean transport throughout regions and across continents.
In May 2019 the Scottish Government announced the ambition to become Net Zero by 2045. This further reinforces Scotland as one of the leading locations for deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell solutions into developing low carbon energy systems. Highlights include the expanding hydrogen bus fleet in Aberdeen and hydrogen vehicles in Glasgow, along with many other innovative projects in locations such as Fife, the Western Isles, and the Orkney Islands. These projects are leading the way with a 'learning by doing' approach, and are willing to share best practice and experience.
The overarching theme for ICHS2021 is Safe Hydrogen for Net Zero and will address a wide range of hydrogen safety topics including: safety of large production and supply chain infrastructure, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier behaviours, physical effects, consequence and risk analysis, incidents, accidents and near misses, hydrogen effects on materials and components, safety of energy storage, power to gas/gas to power related safety issues, safety solutions for the implementation of hydrogen technologies, risk management, best practices, regulations, codes and standards, as well as communication strategies for wider public awareness and acceptance of hydrogen.
A more detailed list of ICHS 2021 Themes and Topics will be published in June 2020, and all contributions to ICHS 2021 will be evaluated for their scientific content and relevance to the wider uptake and deployment of safe hydrogen as part of the transition to a low carbon energy system.