Fundación Repsol and Tecnun create a Hydrogen Chair to promote sustainable mobility

Tecnun, the School of Engineering of the University of Navarra, and the Repsol Foundation Repsol Foundation have launched a new Chair of Energy Transition focused on hydrogen, its technical options and strategic value, key aspects related to production, distribution and availability to the end user for sustainable mobility.

Video of the Tecnun-Repsol Chair presentation.

Directed by Tomás Gómez-Acebo, professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials of Tecnun, the chair will have expert teachers and researchers from the School who will address the key role of hydrogen as an energy source for the energy transition. During the first year, there will be an annual observatory, doctoral theses, final degree and Master's projects, training courses and webinars.

The chair was presented by Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, rector of the University of Navarra, and António Calçada, general director of Fundación Repsol, at a ceremony held this morning at Tecnun (San Sebastián).

The creation of the Chair of Energy Transition is part of the University of Navarra's Strategy 2025, focused on sustainability. It will be one of the innovative projects to be promoted in the coming years, aimed at reducing the environmental footprint and achieving sustainable development. Sánchez-Tabernero stressed that "the University has to address the major scientific-technological issues and challenges of society." "Many of these issues require multidisciplinary research, in whose financing and support public institutions and companies play an important role," he said.

For his part, António Calçada pointed out that Fundación Repsol considers it essential "to convey to society the importance and impact of the energy transition and to promote, with the help of science and knowledge, a rigorous debate on all the technological, regulatory and other factors that can contribute to its acceleration".

Tomás Gómez-Acebo explained that "hydrogen-powered vehicles are a key option for sustainable mobility as an alternative to the use of fossil fuels, but in order to implement them, it is necessary to carry out a detailed study of the alternatives that exist for their production, distribution to refueling points and availability to the end user".

Economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen

In a round table discussion entitled "The role of hydrogen in the energy transition" and moderated by Lourdes Pérez, deputy director of El Diario Vasco, Josu Jon Imaz, CEO of Repsol, highlighted the economic and environmental benefits that renewable hydrogen can bring to Spain and the European Union, such as the accelerated and efficient decarbonization of the economy, the creation of qualified employment, the development of technological and industrial capabilities and the capacity to generate wealth from Spain's natural climatic conditions. "At Repsol we are immersed in a process of transforming our industrial complexes into multi-energy centers, with the goal of producing 400 MW of renewable hydrogen by 2025," he said.

Arantxa Tapia, Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government, praised the launch of this new chair, as it is strongly aligned with the transformational challenges in which the Basque Country is immersed. "The energy transition and the fight against climate change, we assume them as an opportunity and a commitment of country for the promotion of a new model of fair and sustainable development that we call Basque Green Deal. The commitment to clean and renewable energies, as well as new solutions such as hydrogen, opens an opportunity that fortunately the Basque industry is taking advantage of, and in which the Basque Government will continue to support with intensive R+D+i policies", he stressed.

In the opinion of Ignacio Martín, independent advisor and collaborating professor at Tecnun, "the energy transition is a necessity and an opportunity". "Changes as important as the one we are living through happen at a distance in time and must be developed with a broad vision, taking into account the evolution of technology and society, measuring the environmental, social and economic impact," he said. He also stressed the need to "think in the long term, taking steps in the short term that allow us to reach the final objective, in addition to obtaining immediate benefits".