18 December 2025
Hydrogen is considered an important component of the energy transition. It can help make industry, transportation, and energy supply more climate-friendly. At the same time, its use raises questions about safety for many people. To provide guidance in this area, leading German research and specialist institutions have founded the National Alliance for Hydrogen Safety (NAWS).
The aim of the alliance is to provide scientifically sound, independent, and understandable information on the safe use of hydrogen. This is intended not only to support the market ramp-up of new hydrogen technologies, but also to strengthen trust in society.
Hydrogen has been used safely in industry for decades. However, with its increasing use in new areas - such as energy supply, mobility, and buildings - new players and applications are emerging. Companies, authorities, emergency services, and consumers are facing new questions and challenges.
Hydrogen as a safe energy carrier
NAWS brings together the expertise of its partners on all safety-related aspects of hydrogen - from release and ignition to combustion, material behavior, and measurement technology. It sees itself as a central point of contact for politics, administration, business, research, emergency services, the media, and the interested public.
The participating institutions are Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the Fraunhofer Society, the Society for Plant and Reactor Safety (GRS), the Professional Association for Raw Materials and the Chemical Industry (BG RCI), and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg.
The National Alliance for Hydrogen Safety aims to establish hydrogen as a safe and accepted energy source and to promote its responsible use in Germany.
