A unique solar reactor promises to overcome the high costs and transport difficulties involved in developing green hydrogen. The first pilot plant will go into operation in Switzerland in February 2024, but the innovation is also attracting interest abroad.

The parabolic dish installed on the campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) does not go unnoticed. With a diameter of seven metres and pointed towards the sky, it looks like a telescope. However, it is designed not to receive radio waves from space but to use sunlight and water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. …