Meet the chemical engineer producing carbon-free fuel to keep our world running

Fossil fuels are running out. Fortunately chemical engineers like Yasmin Ali are not running out of ideas. On a Zoom call with Big Issue, Yasmin Ali laughs when asked what she does for a living. “Where do I start?” 

Between speaking engagements and her new book Power Up, Ali is one of the UK’s leading chemical engineers. She, and others in electrolytic hydrogen production, are turning water into hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen, says Ali, is “the most abundant element in the universe”. 

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The only catch? It’s generally found molecularly attached to oxygen in the form of water. Ali explains that “zapping” the water with renewable electrical currents produces a carbon-free fuel that could power cars, heat houses and keep our world running. 

Before entering the hydrogen field, Ali worked as a civil servant advising ministers on the transition to green energy. She admits that the politics of green energy are “challenging”. 

“We should as a society be tackling climate change together,” she says. “Focusing our energy on wars and politics, ultimately isn’t going to get us anywhere.” 

Ali and her family moved to the UK from Iraq when she was 11. The struggle for energy resources has shaped her life.

“Growing up in Iraq,” she says, “I regularly experienced power cuts – ironic for a country rich in oil and sunshine.” 

She describes herself now as a “child of the world”. “Even though I have a British passport, I feel like I’m not really wanted here,” she says. But she has, nevertheless, become one of our leading lights when it comes to energy transition. “How my life has gone all comes back to how the resources have been handled,” Ali says.

She thinks the key to making better choices is getting everyone involved in the solution. She hopes that by telling people – especially young women – that she loves what she does they might know it’s an option for them. “When I was younger it was a bit scary being the ‘other’ and it wasn’t just being a woman, but also being young, because some of the more traditional bits of the energy sector tend to be dominated by older people. 

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“Engineers design and build the environments that we live in, so it makes sense for the people doing that designing and building to be representative of society.” 

On writing her new book Ali says she “purposely tried to find female voices. Even if it inspires one person, I think it’s worth it”.  

One of her favourite pastimes is visiting different power stations. She remembers one such visit to a wind turbine called Tvindkraft in Denmark. Built in the 1970s by a group of teachers, the turbine still operates today. 

“The more people go out and see this stuff and understand it, the more informed and engaged they will become.” She suggests that we all consider how we can get involved. 

“What are your strengths? What do you like doing? And how can you use that strength to do something about this global issue that we’re facing?” 

Power Up by Yasmin Ali is out now (Hodder, £22). You can buy it from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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