International shipping carries most of global trade and already accounts for around 3 % of global CO₂ emissions. With long‑lived vessels and energy‑intensive deep‑sea routes, maritime is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize—and green fuels are essential to avoid locking in fossil technologies for decades.

This keynote introduces why green fuels for marine, such as ammonia, methanol, hydrogen and e‑fuels, are central to the global climate agenda, and how they fundamentally change the operating conditions for components and systems. Higher temperatures and pressures, new combustion chemistries and more aggressive or “cleaner” media place new demands on materials and surfaces.

The talk will provide a high‑level overview of the PtX value chain from power, electrolysis and fuel synthesis to storage and use on board, and highlight how surface technologies—coatings, corrosion protection and functional thin films—are key enablers for safe, reliable, and scalable green shipping.

Green fuels are good for the global environment but they can challenge the different components used for internal combustion engines in the maritime industry. The pressures and temperatures in the combustion chamber are increasing, which calls for materials with reliable high temperature properties. The cleaner fuels result in less deposits on components which expose the surfaces to the harsh internal environment existing inside the engine. Various surface coatings have been developed to obtain reliable operation of the engines and some of these coating solutions need further development to maintain resilience during green fuel operation. This presentation will provide examples of thick and thin coatings used in present and future two-stroke marine engines.

Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) technology is a cornerstone for efficient Power‑to‑X pathways, enabling the production of green fuels and chemicals such as ammonia and methanol. SOEC cells feature a complex architecture of thin films and layers: a dense electrolyte membrane for ionic conductivity, porous electrodes for electrochemical reactions, and barrier layers that prevent interdiffusion of elements during high‑temperature sintering and long‑term operation. At the stack level, metallic stainless‑steel interconnects are protected by coatings, chromium‑blocking and corrosion‑resistant films, that minimize degradation. This presentation will demonstrate how these engineered layers collectively minimize performance drift under harsh operating conditions.

This talk will examine the intersection of corrosion issues of accessory materials used for alkaline electrolysis process and efficiency of hydrogen production. The discussion will focus broadly on why corrosion control is important for green transition technologies’ sustainable performance, while providing specific examples of corrosion issues related to materials used in alkaline electrolysis systems and preventive measures.

Today, PVD technology is largely considered irrelevant for protecting metals under corrosive loads, where electroplating (e.g., hard chrome) remains the state of the art. This presentation introduces single-layer PVD-TiMgGdN and TiAlMgGdN coatings that protect mild steel for over 1,000 hours in the aggressive salt spray test with only a 5 µm thickness. Their superior stability in acidic (pH 5) and alkaline (pH 8.5) environments—attributed to the synergistic effects of Mg and Gd—offers significant potential for green fuel applications, particularly for components exposed to aggressive media like ammonia. The talk will evaluate how microstructural design and alloying with Mg and Gd enable this game-changing performance.

FORCE Technology will share insights and practical experiences on challenges for components in hydrogen atmospheres. These experiences are based on building, commissioning, and running hydrogen test facilities, which mimics the challenges faced in industry. Focus will be on test of hydrogen permeability through coatings and metallic samples. Additional issues with related to leakage such as decompression damages in gaskets will be discussed.

The day concludes with a guided tour at Everllence test facilities, offering a unique opportunity to witness these technologies in action.