Editorial 1 Tribologie + Schmierungstechnik · volume 71 · issue 3/ 2024 DOI 10.24053/ TuS-2024-0011 To achieve greenhouse gas neutrality, it is necessary to decarbonize the energy and raw material supply, which is still largely based on fossil fuels. According to the German National Hydrogen Strategy, which began in June 2020 and progressed in April 2022, hydrogen is to make a major contribution, and the federal government wants to use it to promote the use of climate-friendly hydrogen technologies. Classically, hydrogen was produced early on from coal gasification, but with the exploration of natural gas and crude oil, it was replaced by steam reforming. This is the most economical and most widely used method of producing hydrogen. However, the carbon dioxide balance is the same as the direct combustion of fossil fuels, unless biomass is used. So far, hydrogen has been used primarily in the chemical industry, for example to produce nitrogen fertilizers or in the cracking of hydrocarbons in oil refineries, which currently amounts to around 55 TWh annually in Germany. These applications must be converted to green hydrogen-based production as far as possible. Green hydrogen, in contrast to grey hydrogen produced using fossil fuels, is hydrogen produced using excess renewable electricity by means of electrolysis. Of course, there are other areas of application for green hydrogen in addition to the existing ones, such as the steel industry and transport. In mobility applications, it is possible to use fuels obtained through Power to X in conventional combustion engines or hydrogen directly in vehicles powered by fuel cells. This mobility is an alternative for applications where the direct use of electricity is not sensible or technically not feasible, such as in air and maritime transport. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, as the scientific and technical federal authority in the business area of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, is dealing in detail with the challenges of a new hydrogen economy within its “H2Safety@BAM Competence Centre for Hydrogen”. The question “TRIBOLOGY - Which lubricants do we need when using hydrogen? ” is discussed there. Hydrogen environments place demands on components such as bearings, piston rings, seals and joints, as, for example, in metallic materials, once the originally protective oxide layers have been rubbed off, they are no longer renewed. This can lead to increased wear and such fresh surfaces also encourage hydrogen to penetrate metals, significantly deteriorating their mechanical properties. To answer the initial question, one should look at the global annual figures for population, gross domestic product and energy consumption over the last 70 years. These have risen steadily with very few exceptions. In comparison, however, the consumption of lubricants has remained flat over the last few decades. This can only be explained by the innovative power of the lubricant industry in cooperation with its users, when more people are moved, and more money is made with the same amount of lubricant. This lubricant industry will also succeed in making energy consumption more sustainable in the future through better lubricant technologies, and remember Tribology is everywhere. Your editor in chief Manfred Jungk Will the lubricant fall by the wayside in the National Hydrogen Strategy?