Wilhelmina Iimene
Filled with inspiration, passion and motivation, eight NUST engineering students, who are set to graduate this year, came together late last year with the aim of exploring the green hydrogen concept.
The idea occurred to the students after their November final exams in 2021 when they first read a newspaper article, which indicated that Namibia is set to become one of the largest producers of green hydrogen in the world by the year 2050.
“We then started discussing further and planning forward how we could be a part of the whole idea as the youth, since the concept is in its implementation phases in the country and by doing so contributing to the global society,” said civil engineering student Patrick David.
They then formed the Namibian Youth Green Hydrogen Task Force (NYGHT), of which David is the chairperson.
The seven other members are civil engineering students Jullian Sanandwa, Costa Kayama and Amutenya Iishidhimbwa. Two electrical engineering students, Kavenamuua Kgosiemang and Alyocius Hauwanga, mechanical engineering students Ernest Ngomayachiza and Immanuel Shifidi.
They aim to do more research on green hydrogen to learn and provoke thinking of green hydrogen grey areas to ensure improvement and sustainability.
Green hydrogen is pure hydrogen that can be produced through water electrolysis by using an electric current to split water into hydrogen and oxygen with no greenhouse gas emissions. The hydrogen produced by this process can be used for long-term energy storage, substitution for heating and mobility sectors, and can be used as clean feedstock for food industries.
The task force chairperson told Youth Corner that due to its abundance, hydrogen is one of the key replacements for fossil fuels, which will reduce carbon emissions. He further stated that the demand for hydrogen technologies is on the rise globally, given their potential to accelerate the transition to forms of energy that are more suitable while still making use of current energy models together with all their regional variations.
“A green hydrogen rush is underway around the world, and many companies, investors, governments, and environmentalists believe it is an energy source that could help end the reign of fossil fuels and slow the world’s warming trajectory,” David said.
Their research will be of significance, as it mainly focuses on green hydrogen in the Namibian context, how best it will be suitable for the country, and to ensure the sustainability of the concept for future generations to come.
On his part, Kayama said: “More so, this could provide opportunities for us the youth to work together with the world leaders in green hydrogen to tackle challenges in the respective area of green hydrogen. In addition, Namibia has a lot of potential in various sectors, perhaps this could also encourage the youth to embark on such capacity building projects”.
It is believed that the green hydrogen industry has the potential to create local value and jobs, strengthen Namibia’s renewable energy footprints and solve the country’s energy access problems.
The eight students believe that the youth should be considered pinnacle during the green hydrogen undertaking the country is embarking on because they are going to be the future stakeholders and leaders in the industry. Thus, involving the youth in different Task Forces for extra research and development concerning green hydrogen in Namibia can further improve the status quo of the country. This can be achieved by attaching youth from various fields to respective research and development task forces. – imenewilly@gmail.com