Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Unimore is the leader of a European project on hydrogen fuel cells

Unimore is the main player in the research on hydrogen fuel cells, a topic that is winning increased attention in the development of renewable energy sources.

The challenge is launched by a group of researchers and professors of the Department of Education and Human Sciences of Unimore, that as leader of the European project FCHgo (Fuel Cells HydroGen educatiOnal model for schools), financed by Horizon 2020, in the past weeks has promoted an important national meeting at the University Premises of Reggio Emilia, which saw the attendance of the main universities involved in European research projects in the field of hydrogen fuel cells.

The meeting highlighted the role of hydrogen fuel cells in reducing the environmental damages caused by the use of traditional energy sources such as oil and coal, and pointed out the need for people to be supported by proper scientific and technologic knowledge in order to develop lifestyles and behaviours increasingly careful in curbing the environmental impact.

Coordinated by the Department of Education and Human Sciences, the FCHgo project deals with training students and teachers on renewable energies,  specifically focusing on the potentials of hydrogen fuel cells.

Unimore researcher and project coordinator, Tiziana Altiero, states that “this project is aimed at disseminating a greater scientific knowledge among European students belonging to all types and levels of school also through the production of an education tool kit that will be available on a dedicated web platform”.

The meeting saw the participation of Giovanni Cinti (Unipg), professor  Enrico Bocci (University “G. Marconi” of Rome), professor Massimo Santarelli (Polytechnic of Turin) and professor Enrico Corni (Unibz). Unimore professors involved were Tiziana Altiero, coordinator of the FCHgo project, Alessandra Landini, project manager of the FCHgo project, and professor  Marcello Romagnoli of the Enzo Ferrari Department of Engineering (DIEF), representing Unimore in FCH-JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking), the public and private partnership supporting research and innovation activities in Europe relating to hydrogen fuel cells.

At the meeting,  Tiziana Altiero underlined the importance of disseminating the ecological thinking from early childhood, and professor Federico Corni presented the narrative-metaphorical approach to the teaching of sciences, useful to promote the ecologic awareness in young students by also fostering a basic knowledge of the key technologic application of the future.

Professor Marcello Romagnoli of the Enzo Ferrari” Department of Engineering believes that ”all projects of the various universities are aimed at developing and improving the knowledge of hydrogen fuel cell technologies. However, there is the need for a greater cross-cutting and vertical continuity in the field of training and technical design of FCH in the European territory. The opportunity that brought us together highlighted the potential synergies among the projects of the main universities dealing with the issue, and is also extremely useful to set shared future objectives.

Unimore boasts several research groups dealing with this topic, to the extent that a few years ago an interdisciplinary team was established, in which scholars and experts of extremely different subject areas joined together, as the skills required are many and often not only belonging to the scientific field, but also of human nature.

Categorie: International - english