Editorial comment
As I write this comment, the BMW PGA Championship is underway – an annual men’s professional golf tournament on the European Tour. The ‘Festival of Golf’, as it has become known, usually grabs attention as it combines world-class golf with a sprinkle of glitz and glamour. As well as live music, the event includes a Celebrity Pro-Am, where numerous stars from other sports and show business play alongside some of the biggest names in golf. There is extra press attention on the event this year, with the entire European Ryder Cup team competing in the tournament, just weeks before the start of the 44th Ryder Cup.
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Global Hydrogen Review has its own reasons for reporting on this year’s Championship: it is the first ever sporting event to have its television production powered entirely by green hydrogen.
European Tour Productions, the DP World Tour’s in-house production company, and its exclusive production and distribution partner, IMG, are working with UK-based clean energy company, GeoPura, to supply two hydrogen-powered generators (HPUs) that will be positioned on the fairway of the sixth hole at Wentworth Club in Surrey, UK. The HPUs work by utilising green hydrogen to generate emission-free electricity, which is being used to power the broadcast compound. GeoPura estimates that relying on HPUs will save a total of 16.4 t of CO2 compared to the 2022 tournament.
What’s more, the golf buggies at the tournament will also be recharged using electricity generated via hydrogen for the first time.
These innovative developments form part of the DP World Tour’s ‘Green Drive’ initiative, which has seen it become the first professional golf tour to commit to being fully net zero carbon by 2040. Richard Bunn, Managing Director of European Tour Productions, has confirmed that the plan is to roll out hydrogen power across multiple tournaments in 2024. He added: “We also want to share what we have learnt with our industry peers, as tackling the climate emergency must be a collective effort.”
And this point is key: knowledge sharing is essential to the future of this burgeoning sector. This issue of Global Hydrogen Review is packed full of interesting case studies and technical articles exploring the technology and solutions that will help green (and blue) hydrogen fulfil its massive potential as a driver of decarbonisation.
And in the spirit of knowledge sharing, we’d like to invite all of you to join us for the third edition of our Global Hydrogen Conference, taking place on 2 November. This free-to-attend virtual event will include insightful presentations from industry experts including Wood Mackenzie, Baker Hughes, Siemens Industry Inc. and H2scan, covering a wide array of topics such as the long-term outlook for hydrogen, the use of control valves, and how digital transformation is revolutionising the hydrogen sector. You’ll also have the opportunity to pick the brains of our expert speakers during live Q&A sessions, and network with hundreds of industry professionals. Sign up for free here.
