Hydrogen fuel cells and the ‘hydrogen economy’ are considered a big solution to our future clean energy needs. Fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity, with only water and heat as by-products. Although they offer the promise of a clean and secure energy future, a hydrogen economy requires major changes in the way we produce, deliver, store, and use energy. Currently it is accepted that there are various barriers to achieving this, (i) technological advancements (ii) bringing technology to market (iii) public awareness & education. HySchools seeks to provide a step change in education on the topic, driven by the university partners & supported by all partners to ensure its maximum impact on education and industry.

A Call for proposals from the Commission funded FCH Joint Undertaking (FCH-04-3-2017) sets out need ‘ a firm basis needs to be prepared for an EU-wide human resources development of scientists & especially engineers to feed the growing European fuel cell and hydrogen (FCH) industry. The SET Plan Education, established in 2012/2013, expected a human resource of 57,000 highly skilled staff required by 2020, and 190,000 by 2030 in the FCH business. Supplying this resource is a major challenge in reliably building the FCH value and supply chain.’ That specific Call’s focus is on HE & vocational training.

A Programme of practical educational resources for university students, teacher training departments and school teachers is required. In addition, due to the novel nature of the technology, it is important that industry is engaged and well equipped with the correct information/resources to interact with schools. This proposal will add value by providing HE led creation of school provision and resources which will enable this to happen. The HySchools partnership led by 4 universities and 4 wider partners is well placed to act as the initiator of this support. The combination of support/resources for schools through teacher training related activity and work with industry will help enable a hydrogen economy to be built on a local level skill set, whilst helping reduce disparities at the EU level.