SDG 7. Affordable and environmentally friendly clean energy.
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The global environmental crisis, caused by the excessive use of fossil hydrocarbon resources for energy production, puts alternative and environmentally friendly sources at the epicenter of strategic and sustainable development in many countries. This is becoming a key criterion for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations (UN SDGs). The formation of a hydrogen economy, where hydrogen acts as a fuel, represents an effective solution to a number of global problems. Engineering solutions such as photo- and electrochemical devices for converting solar energy into fuel are a particularly interesting area. On this occasion, an extracurricular lecture by senior lecturers of the Department of Plasma Physics, Nanotechnology and Computer Physics R.E. Zhumadilov and S.S. Usenkhan on the topic "Application of carbon nanowalls for hydrogen production" was held for students of the Faculty of Physics and Technology of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, specialty "Electric Power Engineering". During the event, students shared their ideas and analyzed scientific papers on the potential for the development of achievements in the field of solar hydrogen, starting with the use of solar energy and ending with photoelectrochemical systems. Despite the fact that the efficiency of photoelectrochemical systems already exceeds 10%, there are problems and opportunities for further improvement in this area. These challenges include system configuration, electrode material selection, and performance improvement.