Meet H2FUTURE Professor Pasquale Cavaliere: "Promoting new technologies is fundamental for accelerating their application in energy and industry production”

Professor Pasquale Cavaliere is a distinguished researcher, who obtained his PhD in Materials Engineering in 2002. He has an extensive background in academia, having worked in Italy as Assistant and then Associate Professor from 2001. His journey also includes a stint as a visiting scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2005 to 2007 under the Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship.

oining the H2FUTURE research programme and the University of Oulu, Cavaliere saw an exciting opportunity:

"This is a possibility to work in one of the best Process Metallurgy groups in the world. The reason that through the development of hydrogen technologies for the 'hard to abate' industries we can contribute to saving our environment," he said.

Cavaliere sees that versatility of hydrogen can be employed in many applications to become the crucial actor for the close sustainable future

Cavaliere's main research interests in H2FUTURE focus on the effect of hydrogen during the reduction of metallic oxides. His work aims to improve reaction kinetics and process energy efficiency while reducing carbon dioxide emissions from metallurgical processes. He is passionate about the potential of hydrogen and sustainable energy technologies, noting that last year, 37 billion tons of CO2 were produced globally, mainly from energy consumption and “hard to abate” industries.

"We absolutely must reduce CO2 through sustainable energy sources and new energy vectors. This is the case of hydrogen, that given its versatility can be employed in so many applications to become the crucial actor for the close sustainable future," he emphasized.

Reflecting on the broader societal impact of his work, Cavaliere highlights the growing sensitivity of society toward a more sustainable life, amplified by the observation of increasing natural disasters worldwide.

"Promoting new technologies, especially for young generations, is fundamental for accelerating their application in energy and industry production. Scientific research is the first step in this long process, and I´m very proud to be part of this in the H2Future project," he states.

Looking forward to his position as Professor of H2FUTURE, Cavaliere is eager to leverage his experience in sustainable routes in Process Metallurgy to create a research group where hydrogen technologies supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning will help “hard to abate” industries find new sustainable solutions.

"We hope to build important milestones in the next future through our research outputs," he says.

To balance out work life, outside of his research, Cavaliere enjoys walking, travelling, fishing, and cooking.

“Innovation is strongly related to huge investments, making industry support fundamental for academia activities in hydrogen technologies”

Cavaliere's long-term vision for his research group within H2FUTURE involves a strategic outlook on hydrogen employment. He stresses the importance of efficient hydrogen utilization due to its high energy consumption during production. His group is devoted to solving environmental issues through hydrogen while continuously working on its sustainable usage.

"My long-term goals are giving a sound contribution to these issues through very high-level research and creating a group of professional scientists capable of helping industry and society with new technologies," he explains.

Cavaliere sees collaboration between academia and industry as vital for advancing hydrogen research.

“Innovation in this field is strongly related to huge investments, making industry support fundamental for academia activities in hydrogen technologies. I hope that industry-academia joint actions will continue growing in the future," he says.

For early-career researchers interested in hydrogen research, Cavaliere encourages and advises approaching and working in this field for a very good reason:

“It is one of the most important fields to save our planet.”