www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/1…

When I wrote this article, the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow was in its decisive stage. A day before came the exciting news that two of the countries emitting the largest amount of CO2, China and the US, agreed to cooperate in their efforts towards climate neutrality. One of the central statements of the participating parties was their commitment to extend the share of clean energies significantly during the coming decade.

Because of the well-known volatility of some of these clean energies, efficient energy storage and carrier technologies will be the key to ensuring a stable and reliable energy supply in the post-fossil fuel period. Therefore, hydrogen will play a very important role for that. In contrast to the existing production facilities for hydrogen, we have to be aware of a new safety-related situation. Unlike chemical and petrochemical plants where there is restricted public access and operations are controlled by specialists and skilled people, the new “hydrogen economy” will be widely distributed with a lot of potential public contact points and respective hazards. Therefore, there is a need for new safety concepts and special education programs for people who encounter hydrogen applications. Conformity Assessment can help to establish such elements of a new safety culture quickly and efficiently.