Hydrogen Research Day 2025 highlighted the need for innovative research, policy changes and social justice
The research event that kicked off Nordic Hydrigen Week, had three themes this year: 1) Catalysis in hydrogen value chain, 2) Societal and economical aspects in hydrogen transition, and 3) Hydrogen in industrial processes.
The programme highlighted that hydrogen transition is not only about the innovative research done in the labs and brought into industry or the important networks we are building, but also there are questions of social justice that need to be considered. ️The programme opened with Rector Arto Maaninen giving welcoming words and recognizing the significance of hydrogen research and being part of the clean energy transition for the University of Oulu. The event was hosted by communications specialist Anniina Keiskander.
We gathered a summary on the day´s expert speeches in this article:
General introductions by Prof. Marko Huttula, University of Oulu
Keynote by Martin Pei, SSAB
Keynote by Julie Mougin,
Presentation by Prof. Ulla Lassi, University of Oulu
Presentation by Assoc. Prof. Tanja Kallio, Aalto University
Keynote by Cecilia Wallmark, CH2ESS at Luleå University of Technology
Presentation by Prof. Eva Pongracz, University of Oulu
Presentation by Prof. Peltonen Lasse, University of Eastern Finland
Keynote by Antti Arasto, VTT and Finnish Climate Change Panel
Presentation by Robert Weiss, VTT
Presentation by Prof. Juho Könnö, University of Oulu
Professor Marko Huttula: “University of Oulu is engaged in 27 hydrogen-related projects, worth about 27 million euros, and working with several national and global collaborations”
Professor Marko Huttula, leader of H2FUTURE research programme, University of Oulu, gave general introduction to hydrogen research, a profiling theme at the University of Oulu, and the wide variety of research projects and consortiums the university is involved with.
“University of Oulu is engaged in 27 hydrogen-related projects with a total portfolio of 27 million euros, focusing on areas such as catalysis, photocatalysis, methane pyrolysis, hydrogen reduction, and hydrogen chemistry”
H2FUTURE programme is a profiling research programme, funded by Research Council of Finland in the Profi7 initiative, and it has increased the resources to hydrogen research, one of the key research fields at the University of Oulu. Also, JustH2Transit consortium, involving around 50 experts from various fields and research institutes, is led by Huttula and the University of Oulu. Other forums that the university is part of include Hydrogen Research Forum that collaborates with 12 Finnish research organizations, facilitating dialogue between academics, industry partners, and policymakers for a green hydrogen transition.
“The university collaborates with several national and global stakeholders, universities, research institutes and companies for sustainable hydrogen innovation, and the goals of hydrogen research align with the University of Oulu´s strategic research agenda”, Huttula concluded welcoming everyone to start the Nordic Hydrogen week and the Hydrogen Research Day.
Dr. Julie Mougin: “As hydrogen has a key role in climate-neutral economy, it creates a need for scaling up the technologies as well as addressing the non-technical aspects”
Dr. Julie Mougin, Deputy Director of CEA and Board member of Hydrogen Europe Research, gave a keynote Low-carbon hydrogen production at European level: Status, opportunities, challenges and trends of development.
In her keynote, Dr Mougin gave an overview of the global and European hydrogen needs, highlighting the importance of hydrogen in achieving deep decarbonization and its various industrial applications.
“There are several European policies and strategies supporting hydrogen research and innovation, including the European Green Deal, EU Climate Law, EU Hydrogen Strategy, and the RePowerEU Plan,”
Mougin focused on different hydrogen production routes, with a particular emphasis on electrolysis technologies, which covers direct solar splitting, thermochemical processes, electrolytic processes, and biological processes. She also made a comparison of the different electrolysis technologies, based on indicators such as Technology Readiness Level (TRL), carbon footprint, energetic efficiency, and cost of hydrogen produced.
Mougin highlighted a need for gigafactories for electrolyser manufacturing and the trends in development for emerging technologies like Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolysis (AEMEL) and Proton Conducting Ceramic Electrolysis (PCCEL).
"Hydrogen has a key role in the future climate-neutral economy. That creates a need to scale up hydrogen technologies, improve competitiveness, and address non-technical aspects such as regulation, permitting, and certification”, Mougin concluded.
Professor Ulla Lassi: “Methane pyrolysis is a CO2-free, cost-effective method for hydrogen production that has been demonstrated scalable at the pilot scale”
Professor Ulla Lassi, Sustainable Chemistry, H2FUTURE research programme, University of Oulu, gave a presentation called Thermocatalytic processing of sustainable hydrogen and carbon that focused on methane pyrolysis, a thermocatalytic decomposition process to produce hydrogen and solid carbon without CO2 emissions.
“Methane pyrolysis is a CO2-free, cost-effective method for hydrogen production. It is scalable and has been successfully demonstrated at the pilot scale”, said Lassi.
To succeed, developing efficient catalysts for methane pyrolysis is crucial. The catalysts need to be cost-effective, made from non-precious metals, and derived from low-value industrial sidestreams. Ensuring consistent performance and efficiency at larger scales is essential for widespread adoption.
“The solid carbon produced can be upgraded and used for various applications, including electrodes. Ensuring high-quality carbon for specific applications requires careful control of the process parameters”, Lassi continued.
Although the process is cost-effective, its economic viability depends on various factors, including the availability of methane, the cost of catalysts, and the market demand for hydrogen and carbon products. These challenges need to be addressed for its successful implementation, Lassi concluded.
Martin Pei: “There is a great demand for fossil-free steel and it is an opportunity to create a more sustainable future”
In his online presentation SSAB’s Transformation to a Fossil Free Steel Company with HYBRIT Martin Pei, Executive Vice President & CTO at SSAB AB, walked us through the advancements SSAB has taken in last years.
”When we started with our fossil-free steel HYBRIT, there were a lot of people wondering would this work both technically, economically? They were worried would there be a market for fossil-free steel? The main challenge now has moved from that to the questions of can we provide enough fossil-free steel quickly enough”, said Pei.
SAB has launched a plan to move to fossil-free production 15 years earlier than previously intended. In this advancement Pei saw the opportunity, in northern Sweden, to create a brighter future within value chain and through huge investments create the foundation for a long term, sustainable welfare nation.
Assoc. Prof. Tanja Kallio: “We are developing alternative electrocatalysts made from more abundant materials for sustainability”
Associate Professor Tanja Kallio, Chemistry and Materials Science, Aalto University, shared a presentation Towards more sustainable electrolytic water splitting in low temperature electrolyser. The presentation highlights the increasing demand for critical raw materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite for clean energy technologies by 2040.
Kallio presented Aalto University´s research and various electrolyzer technologies, including Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers (PEMEL) and Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers (AEMEL), focusing on their efficiency, purity of hydrogen, and dynamic operation. Alternative electrocatalyst materials are key to more sustainable technology.
“The research includes developing alternative electrocatalysts made from more abundant materials to improve efficiency and lifespan while reducing inactive material", said Kallio.
Dr. Cecilia Wallmark: “Finland and Sweden, as well as Oulu and Luleå share many similarities in their clean hydrogen transition potential”
Dr. Cecilia Wallmark, Director of CH2ESS at Luleå University of Technology, started the second theme “Societal and economical aspects in hydrogen transition” with her keynote We are like sisters! that reflected on the similarities in between Luleå University of Technology and University of Oulu. Both northern universities at the Bothnian Bay work closely with regional industrial frontrunners on hydrogen production, storage, distribution, and fossil-free steel production.
“Finland and Sweden share many similarities in their clean hydrogen transition potential. The neighbouring countries lead the Baltic Sea region in renewable electricity projects currently in the pipeline, with 125 GW and 120 GW, respectively, as well as both countries have numerous biogenic CO2 point sources, positioning them well for P2X applications”, Wallmark said.
Societal justice means considering many aspects; Wallmark introduced Women in Green Hydrogen: A global network to increase the visibility and amplify the voices of women working in green hydrogen. She concluded her presentation by addressing the importance of social acceptance, land use for renewable energy projects, for example the impact on reindeer herding, defence, national parks, and infrastructure.
Professor Eva Pongracz: “Hydrogen investments should not come at the cost of broader sustainability goals”
Professor Eva Pongracz, vice-head of the Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering research unit, University of Oulu, gave a presentation Discourse analysis of Hydrogen and the Social License to Operate: Understanding public perception, stakeholder engagement, and the role of discourse in Hydrogen adoption.
The presentation of Prof. Pongracz highlighted that the discourse in mainstream media about hydrogen has been mostly positive, focusing mainly on economic opportunities and climate benefits. She reminded that an overly positive discourse can be misleading and potentially dangerous.
"Ignoring the challenges will not make them disappear, it will only make it more difficult to handle them later" Pongracz said.
The importance of climate action has created a sense of urgency to accelerate hydrogen tranision, but it should not come at the expense of justice. To gain the Social License to Operate from local communities means lasting trust and acceptance, not just an initial approval. Balance between optimism and realism is needed in communications.
“Transparency upfront is crucial for maintaining credibility. Hydrogen investments should not come at the cost of broader sustainability goals. An honest and transparent discourse is the only path to a sustainable hydrogen transition", Pongracz concluded.
Professor Lasse Peltonen: “Social acceptance is a crucial but often neglected dimension in the green transition”
Professor Lasse Peltonen, Environmental governance, conflict resolution, University of Eastern Finland, gave a presentation Social acceptance and conflict risk in the green transition. The presentation discusses the importance of social acceptance and conflicts in the green transition, particularly in the context of hydrogen research.
Peltonen used as an example ongoing projects such as the STN Phoenix project (2024-2030) led by LUT, focusing on the social acceptance of wind power in Finland. Peltonen identified three dimensions of social acceptance: local acceptance, market acceptance, and socio-political acceptance.
Conflict dimensions include geopolitical tensions, competition over resources, regional competition, local disputes over land use, and resistance to change. Social acceptance is a crucial but often neglected dimension in the green transition
“Conflicts have direct and indirect costs of conflicted projects, such as interrupted production, delays, legal costs, reputation damage, and loss of investor trust. Understanding risk perceptions and addressing conflicts are key to the success of green transition projects”, Peltonen concluded.
Antti Arasto: “Hydrogen plays a crucial role in de-carbonizing, particularly in the iron and steel industry”
Antti Arasto, Vice president Finnish Climate Change Panel, started the third theme “Hydrogen in industrial processes” with his keynote Hydrogen – pathways to decarbonize process industry. Cement and steel industries account for over 40% of global industry emissions. Arasto presented various strategies for decarbonizing the iron and steel industry, including fuel switching (biomass, natural gas), electrification, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen-based reduction processes.
“Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that can be produced from various resources and used in multiple applications. It plays a crucial role in sector coupling, particularly in the iron and steel industry”, Arasto said.
Emission reduction technologies include replacing hydrogen from steam methane reforming (SMR) with clean hydrogen and implementing CCS. Arasto concluded that while hydrogen plays role in decarbonizing the industry, it might be the only solution for certain processes. There is still need for significant technological advancements and the integration of hydrogen into existing industrial processes.
Robert Weiss: “Finland has a huge opportunity with P2X and RFNBO-H2, but identification for the correct products and markets is essential”
Robert Weiss, Senior Scientist, Hydrogen applications at VTT, gave a presentation Renewable H2 based industrial products and RFNBO – outlook for P2X production in Finland. Weiss focused on renewable hydrogen-based industrial products and Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO). He referred to large amounts of wind power projects and investments in Finland, and the correlation between wind power production and wholesale market prices.
The integration of hydrogen and P2X production with renewable power could enhance wind power profitability. The presentation provided insights into the cost-optimal dimensions for electrolysers, H2 compressors, H2 storage, and renewable power sites. The flexibility of downstream P2X units is highlighted as a significant factor in providing seasonal storage for hydrogen and power.
“Finland has a huge opportunity with P2X and RFNBO-H2, but careful identification and lobbying for the correct products and markets are essential”, Weiss concluded.
Professor Juho Könnö: “I would suggest a mixed fleet approach, with battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles”
Professor Juho Könnö, Vehicle and Mobile Machinery Engineering, University of Oulu, gave the last presentation of the event Role of H2 in the on- and off-road heavy-duty ecosystem. Könnö shared how heavy-duty trucks and buses contribute significantly to global transport CO2 emissions, 35%, with the EU targeting a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions from these vehicles by 2040.
Presentation compared the current efficiency and CO2 footprint of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs), hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and methanol ICE vehicles. BEVs have the highest efficiency after accounting for grid, charging, and powertrain losses, and the lowest CO2 footprint. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis shows that BEVs have the lowest vehicle cost, followed by methanol ICE vehicles, hydrogen ICE vehicles, and FCEVs. There is a demand for hydrogen vehicles too in emission reduction.
“Hydrogen is advantageous for long-haul trucking, areas with insufficient charging infrastructure, cold climates, industries requiring high payloads, and off-grid operations. I would suggest a mixed fleet approach, with BEVs as the mainstay and hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles for special applications”, Könnö concluded.
The event ended with posters session by emerging researchers and lively conversations around the topics of the day. See other photos of the event below this article.
