"The scientist, granddaughter of miners, is perfecting the production of clean energy from water and nanoparticles at the Fritz Haber Institute in Germany." that's how El País introduces Beatriz Roldán Cuenya.
The interview begins with an introduction about the life of Clara Immerwahr, the first woman in Germany to gain a doctorate in physical chemistry in 1900. Clara Immerwahr committed suicide, presumably also because she could not bear the fact that her famous and patriotic husband Fritz Haber, inventor of a revolutionary method of ammonia synthesis, became too involved in the First World War. The Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society is named after him. In recent years, another woman at the institute has made the headlines: the renowned physicist Beatriz Roldán Cuenya, the first female director of the institute and an outstanding researcher in the field of catalysis.
On the occasion of the awarding of the “ACES Margarita Salas” Award, Roldán Cuenya talks to El País about her scientific goal of achieving a new era of clean energy through the use of nanomaterials that enable efficient chemical reactions. She also talks about her work as an advisor to German politicians on issues relating to the energy transition and the production of green hydrogen. She clearly emphasizes that the energy transition will be a major, but unavoidable, effort that requires European and international cooperation.
When asked about the role that science plays in the energy transition, Roldán Cuenya replies: “One thing that is not talked about so much is advising your governments well." ... "It cannot be that energy policy changes every time there is a new government, but that is what happens in any country. Furthermore, they must understand that advances arise from basic research that bears fruit in the long term, not in two or three years. The technology on which green hydrogen is based was developed in 1780, but we are applying it now, partly because until now there has been no interest in it so far."
The interview was conducted by Nuño Domínguez and published on March 11: https://elpais.com/ciencia/2025-03-11/beatriz-roldan-fisica-y-directora-en-el-max-planck-espana-esta-en-una-situacion-privilegiada-para-fabricar-sol-liquido.html