Founder and Director of ZEM Fuel Systems Awarded CBE for His Services to the Green Economy

Professor John Irvine, Founder and Director of ZEM Fuel Systems has been awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to the green economy. John had his expertise recognised at the King’s Birthday Honours List 2024 on Friday 14th June 2024.

Professor John Irvine, FRSE, MAE, is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews and a high-profile researcher in solid state electrochemistry and energy materials. John has made a unique and world-leading contribution to the science of energy materials, especially fuel cell and energy conversion technologies. His research has ranged from detailed fundamental to strategic and applied science and has had major impact across academia, industry and government.  John led the delivery of Sustainable Hydrogen Supergen and is co-director of the Supergen Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Hub. He is the Principal Investigator of the Hydrogen Accelerator H2A programme, established by Transport Scotland focusing on hydrogen powered public transport. Throughout his career John has also led large Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) projects on energy materials and emergent nanomaterials and currently leads the Faraday Institution project on sodium ion batteries. He is the Editor in Chief of the highly successful open access Journal of Physics Energy. Recent awards include the Royal Society Hughes medal (2021), RSE Lord Kelvin Medal (2019) and the Schönbeim Gold Medal (2017).