2023 has been a year of growing and learning together. We have supported more countries than ever before in their quest to defossilise their industries. Each country – with its unique conditions, history, and expertise – is following its own path. We see this as an important evolution from the still prevalent discourse of  ‘green hydrogen trading’. Likely, not much hydrogen will be traded globally, but rather ammonia, methanol, green iron and steel, and molecules for the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.

We have strengthened our focus and broadened our expertise in the key industries of aviation and shipping. Neither can become climate neutral without synthetic fuels, produced from a renewable energy source, water, and sustainable carbon.

It’s not possible to defossilise such huge industries without strong partners. The International PtX Hub is now working closely with the leading organisations in Power-to-X (PtX) and green hydrogen.

At a global level, that’s the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the Hydrogen Council, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and many others. At a national level, it’s the Institut de Recherche en Energie Solaire et Energies Nouvelles (IRESEN) in Morocco, the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) in the Middle East and North Africa, the Centro de Estudios de la Actividad Regulatoria Energética in Argentina and the Energy Centre of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa to name just a few. And of course, our partners in Germany such as Agora Energiewende and Verkehrswende, Dechema, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and many others.

PtX is ready for the spotlight. No more letters of intent and memoranda of understanding! 2024 will see a huge increase in real PtX projects. And we are proud to say that the International PtX Hub is part of that change, for example by forming a consortium to build a Power-to-Liquid plant for sustainable aviation and maritime fuel in Jorf Lasfar, Morocco. We are creating real cases for green fertiliser, green steel, and sustainable aviation fuel to demonstrate that a new, fossil-free world is possible, economically viable, with all the benefits it brings to people and nature.

‘Concrete’, in its double meaning, is the word that we associate with 2024. It means building and constructing plants, but it also means creating tangible, realistic and practical solutions: application concepts for individual ministries and companies, action plans, roadmaps. For example, Kenya could soon replace its fertiliser imports with home-produced green fertiliser. And Brazil is the country with the world's greatest potential for producing Power-to-Liquid sustainable aviation fuel. The resources – renewable energy and sustainable carbon – are there. All that is needed now are viable and truly sustainable PtX concepts, both economically and environmentally.

Torsten Schwab and Frank Mischler, Directors of the International Power-to-X Hub