Did you know that the SCCS Secretariat’s expertise includes Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training? In collaboration with senior academics in our partnership, we recently set up a brand new CPD course, “An Introduction to Hydrogen for the Public Sector”, specifically designed for the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government’s ambition to achieve Net Zero by 2045 necessitates the integration of clean hydrogen as an energy vector across industry, transport, heating, and power sectors. This transition is already underway, with Scottish Enterprise estimating that Scotland will produce 25 GW of renewable or low-carbon hydrogen by 2045. To support this transition, a clean hydrogen supply chain is developing, spanning production, storage, transport and diverse end uses. Public sector planning teams across Scotland’s 32 local authorities are increasingly involved in processing proposals for the infrastructure and systems essential for the buildout of clean hydrogen.
The importance of this transition is underscored by the UK's broader context. Recent figures from the Committee for Climate Change show that the UK’s current annual hydrogen demand is 27 TWh. This is met mainly using “grey” hydrogen, sourced from fossil fuels by steam reformation of methane, which generates CO2 pollution as a byproduct. With the UK’s hydrogen demand projected to increase to 37 TWh by 2030, according to figures published by BEIS in 2021, there is an urgent need to transition to cleaner alternatives. To meet climate targets, grey hydrogen will be required to be replaced by clean hydrogen, whose two main classes are termed “blue”, where SMR is decarbonised using carbon capture and storage (CCS), or else ”green” made from electrolysing water using renewable energy.
Our course, “An Introduction to Hydrogen for the Public Sector,” is designed to pro-actively equip public sector professionals with the necessary knowledge and tools to navigate these complexities and help facilitate Scotland's clean hydrogen ambitions. It features state-of-the-art expert content that covers essential background and practical considerations of hydrogen, including fundamentals of the planning, regulatory & legal framework, safety & environmental, and socio-economic considerations. The course offers a flexible learning experience through two hours of online lectures, complemented by an interactive 90-minute webinar featuring Scottish hydrogen projects as case studies, along with a live Q&A session. This comprehensive approach prepares participants to support the approvals process for hydrogen infrastructure and actively contribute to Scotland's clean energy future.
As we look forward to extending the learner cohort, we intend to widen the availability to more audiences. If you are interested in taking this course, please contact info@sscs.org.uk for more information.
Visit our CPD Opportunities page to find out more about other short courses available, including our half-day course "Introduction to CCS".
Thank you to our academic contributors:
Professor Katriona Edlemann (Personal Chair of Sustainable Energy at the School of Geoscience, University of Edinburgh)
Dr Ali Hassanbouryouzband (Chancellor's Fellow in GeoSciences at University of Edinburgh)
Professor Tavis Potts (Professor in Sustainable Development at University of Aberdeen)
Professor Gioia Falcone (Rankine Chair of Energy Engineering and Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainable Solutions at University of Glasgow)
Professor Julia Race (Vice Dean (Academic) Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering at University of Strathclyde)
Dr Priya Bhagavathy (Team lead and acting Deputy Director of R&D at PNDC, University of Strathclyde)
Dr Arash Badakhsh (Hydrogen Specialist at PNDC, University of Strathclyde)
