To galvanize decarbonization and combat climate change, the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Centre for Hydrogen and Carbon Innovations (CHCI), has established the Hydrogen and Low-Carbon Consortium (HyLoCC). The consortium, officially launched yesterday evening by Keith Tan, Deputy Secretary (Energy, Carbon and Corporate) of Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore, as part of CHCI’s Industry Day event, will kick off with four founding members, namely DBS Bank Limited, Keppel Ltd.’s Infrastructure Division (Keppel), Surbana Jurong Private Limited, and YTL PowerSeraya Pte. Limited.

In 2024, global average carbon dioxide emissions reached a new record high. As greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide envelope the earth and trap heat, global warming occurs – our planet is now heating up faster than any point in recorded history, fueling climate change and its rippling consequences such as increased frequencies of natural disasters, rising sea levels, destruction of food supplies, health risks, among many others. Undoubtedly, it has become increasingly imperative to find decarbonization solutions.

“Burning of fossil fuels to generate power is the biggest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions,” said Professor Yan Ning, Director of CHCI. “Projects at CHCI directly tackle this issue by researching on hydrogen, a promising alternative to fossil fuels, and developing innovative methods of carbon capture and transformation.”

When used to generate power, hydrogen produces only water as a by-product; no carbon dioxide is emitted. Prof Yan continued, “Our research on hydrogen production and utilization plays a vital role in curbing carbon emissions. However, translating these scientific innovations into widespread market adoption requires expertise beyond the laboratory. This is where HyLoCC comes in, by filling the crucial gap between academic research and industry. HyLoCC ensures that cutting-edge hydrogen and carbon innovations in the lab can be more readily translated into a reality.”

Forging a decarbonization powerhouse. HyLoCC aims to drive research commercialization of decarbonization solutions by building a robust ecosystem that connects research labs, start-ups, and companies to relevant stakeholders across the value chain to ensure end-to-end technology deployment.

Key activities and services of HyLoCC are as follows:

• Organize regular seminars featuring academic and industry speakers, targeted workshops, and networking sessions
• Facilitate collaborative research through personalized engagements between companies and CHCI researchers to solve specific problem statements
• Provide consortium members with access to CHCI’s integrated equipment and analysis platform to evaluate hydrogen and carbon utilization technologies, including techno-economic analysis
• Develop talent and expertise through CHCI’s Continuing Education and Training courses and through collaborative postgraduate projects and undergraduate initiatives conducted with consortium members, research partners and companies.

“HyLoCC is an avenue where leading experts from various hydrogen and low-carbon sectors can come together to brainstorm ideas and share dedicated resources and information to solve real-world problems,” said Prof Yan. “These synergistic collaborations would build up our arsenal of decarbonization solutions to fight against global warming and climate change.”