MOAZ BİLTO

From Steel to Scramjets: Where Hydrogen Delivers and Where It Doesn’t

Abstract

Global hydrogen demand hit about 100 Mt in 2024, but less than 1% comes from low-emission sources. Over 60 countries have hydrogen strategies and there are 1,700+ projects announced, yet the viable pipeline has actually shrunk—from 49 to 37 Mtpa since 2022—because natural gas prices dropped while electrolyzer costs went up, pushing the green-grey cost gap past $3/kg in most Western markets. This presentation cuts through the hype with a sector-by-sector look at where hydrogen actually works and where it doesn’t. Across refining, ammonia, steelmaking, transport, power generation, and aerospace, we assess what’s commercially ready, what’s too expensive, and what’s genuinely promising by 2030. The answer is clear: hydrogen’s biggest impact is in sectors that simply cannot electrify—steel via H2-DRI, green ammonia for fertilizers and shipping, and long-duration storage beyond 13 hours. On the aerospace side, hydrogen’s thermophysical properties—2.8x the energy density and 7.2x the specific heat capacity of kerosene—make it the only fuel that works for scramjet propulsion above Mach 8. We also address the real barriers: hydrogen
leakage as an indirect greenhouse gas, iridium supply limits for PEM electrolyzers, and water stress in the regions best suited for green hydrogen production. Five research priorities are laid out for closing the gap between announcements and actual deployment.

Biography

Moaz Bilto is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas. His research focuses on computational fluid dynamics and turbulence modeling, with emphasis on large-eddy simulation of geophysical boundary layer flows, as well as hydrogen energy systems and renewable energy integration across industrial and aerospace sectors, with particular interests in high-speed aerothermodynamics and hydrogen propulsion applications.