6 June 2025
The founding phase of the Institute for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy (INW) at Forschungszentrum Jülich has been completed. Prof. Peter Wasserscheid took on the role of director of the institute division Reaction Engineering for Chemical Hydrogen Storage (INW-3) in May. INW's four scientific institute divisions are now headed by renowned researchers.
"INW has left the runway behind, successfully completed its climb, and is now well on its way to achieving its important goals," says Prof. Peter Jansens, member of the Board of Directors at Forschungszentrum Jülich who is responsible for the energy division. "We are delighted that Peter Wasserscheid, the founding director of INW, has agreed to take on this role in this very important area of research. INW-3 combines surface and catalyst research with process and plant engineering at the Institute for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy."
Involved from the outset
Peter Wasserscheid was a key figure from the very beginning for INW. He was founding director and head of H2 Demonstration Projects (INW-D) when the institute was set up at the end of 2021. Taking over as head of INW-3 will allow him to redirect his focus back to his scientific work: designing high-performance reactors for chemical hydrogen storage.
"This task is more exciting than ever before. When hydrogen binds to carrier molecules, heat is released and volume is reduced. When hydrogen is released, the opposite happens. For hydrogen storage to be high-performance, cost-effective, and efficient, the conversion equipment must be optimally designed. This equipment is the heart of chemical hydrogen storage. For example, one aim is to release as much hydrogen as possible from a reactor the size of a shoe box as quickly as possible. That's the kind of challenge I really enjoy."
Focus on strong collaboration within the institute
Peter Wasserscheid is particularly looking forward to scientific collaboration with the other institute divisions of INW. "With Prof. Hans-Georg Steinrück at INW-1, Prof. Regina Palkovits at INW-2, and Prof. Andreas Peschel at INW-4, we have a great scientific leadership team at INW. We are now picking up speed together to achieve the ambitious scientific and technological goals of our institute. We want to implement the best findings and solutions - and make our contribution to structural change in the Rhenish mining area."
The topic of technology demonstration is one that Peter Wasserscheid, as head of INW-D up to now, will continue to be involved with. "We are realigning INW-D to focus in future on the development of business models and application scenarios for innovative hydrogen technologies in the Rhenish mining area. The technological concepts will come from all scientific areas in INW as well as from other areas within Forschungszentrum Jülich. It goes without saying that we continue to expect many highly interesting proposals for demonstrators from companies, local authorities, and academic institutions in the Rhenish mining area."
Personal background
Peter Wasserscheid (born in 1970) has been professor for chemical reaction engineering at Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) since 2003 and institute director at Forschungszentrum Jülich since 2013. At Jülich, he is based at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg, and, since 2021, also at the Institute for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy (INW). He helped establish both institutions as founding director. In 2025, he is moving within INW and taking over leadership of the institute division Reaction Engineering for Chemical Hydrogen Storage (INW-3).
He studied chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, before going on to complete a doctoral degree in 1998. He then worked for six months as an industrial postdoc at BP Chemicals in the UK. After this, he returned to RWTH Aachen University, where he completed his habilitation in technical chemistry. His research focuses on the development of processes for a zero-emission energy supply of the future and a more sustainable production of chemicals.
His group are world leaders in chemical hydrogen storage with LOHC (liquid organic hydrogen carrier) systems. His scientific work includes catalyst and reactor development, system design, demonstration plants, and technology transfer.
Wasserscheid has received numerous awards for his research, including the Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation (2006), two Advanced Grants from the European Research Council (2010, 2018), and the German industry innovation award in the category for startup companies (2003, 2016). He has contributed to over 550 scientific publications and is co-inventor of more than 120 patent families.
