Hydrogen News
Hannover Fair 2005
At least in Germany the Group Exhibition „Hydrogen and Fuel Cells“ held in the framework of the Hannover Fair remains the standard in terms of exhibitions. 117 exhibitors (last year: 114) from 21 (20) countries met for the 11th time in the energy hall; for Armenia it was the first time.
The public interest in the topic remains high. The quality of the discussions has increased in comparison to earlier years. A lot of VIPs were seen. Juergen Trittin, federal environment minister, tried a bicycle for the lazy, and the federal ministry for economy and Labor was represented by secretary of state Georg-Wilhelm Adamowitsch.
The expansion of the field was obvious this year again. There were not only specialists present, but also suppliers of metallic or polymeric materials or carbon as well as specialists for certain processes or services.
The French company PaxiTech displayed a helmet for work and leisure with a headlamp getting its energy from a hydride cartridge and a fuel cell. Since the lamp is equipped with LEDs it will give light much longer than comparable products. The same company also showed a generator for electric fences on farms which will run almost the whole year without maintenance.
Platform
The second annual event of the Technology Platform „Hydrogen and Fuel Cells“ of the European Commission (see. No. 1/04 „Platform“) was held on 17. and 18. March in Brussels. More than 500 experts and high ranking representatives of the economy discussed the development of the field and the way to introduce the clean energy technology in the market. Two documents were published and discussed: the Strategic Research Agenda mentions important fields where more research is necessary, while the Deployment Strategy deals with the way into the market.
Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for Science and Research, opened the meeting by stressing the necessity for common action: „It is time for industry to step up its commitment. The research community needs to create knowledge. The Union needs to foster a favourable political environment and when commerce sees all these elements in place, the real money will flow. I pledge my support and count on you all to help make it happen.“
For the next ten years the following development programmes were presented to the participants which are to help Europe to remain at the top of the field or to come to it:
- reduce fuel cell system costs by a factor 10 (up to 100 for transport applications);
- enhance the performance and durability of today's fuel cell systems by a factor of 2 or more for the various applications;
- reduce the costs of hydrogen delivered (compared to today's fossil based carriers) by a factor of 3 or more;
- and to achieve competitive hydrogen storage densities consistent with vehicle operating range and design requirements.
Jeremy Bentham, Advisory Council chairman, said: „It is crucial that the cumulative RTD spending, including from a European JTI [Joint Technology Initiative], the member states and regions at least matches current RTD funding levels of major global competitors - especially the USA and Japan - corresponding to at least €250m /year meaning at least doubling the present effort.“ Early markets for hydrogen products such as portable power generators could realistically be established by 2007 to 2010, with mass markets for hydrogen transport becoming a reality before 2020, Bentham said. But: „One thing's for sure - nothing remains static in the fast moving world of hydrogen and fuel cell technology.”
USA
The increased interest in hydrogen energy in the USA manifests itself also at the annual meeting of the National Hydrogen Association and the associated exhibition. About 1000 persons were present, and the list of speaker was lead by Secretary of Energy Bodman. One participant joked that the list of speakers appeared to be longer than the list of participants in 1993, when he attended the first time.
In the exhibition market-ready technologies were shown by 65 international exhibitors to 1100 delegates. The spectrum of vehicles included everything from a BMW racing car to a three-wheel one-cylinder small transporter from India. Most of the cars could be test driven on a test parcours. The expo showed the whole chain from hydrogen production to the compression or liquefaction and storage of the gas, to its distribution at hydrogen fueling stations. Also on display were fuel cell technologies, materials and components for the design and manufacture of the clean energy converter, test stations and complete systems for applications in transportation, stationary energy supply and portable, grid-independent power.
EHA
The General Meeting of the members of the European Hydrogen Association was held on 19. April in Brussels. It was the first General Meeting after the change of statures last autumn which aimed at a stronger industrial participation (see DWV press release No. 1/05 of 31.01.2005). The focus was on the state of the preparations for the European hydrogen conference in Zaragoza and the world conference in Lyon.
Daimler
Starting from about 2012 DaimlerChrysler will sell its hydrogen cars to normal customers. This was said by Prof. Dr. Herbert Kohler, Vice President of the Body and Powertrain research unit at DaimlerChrysler, on occasion of the annual meeting of the hydrogen and fuel cell technology platform in Brussels. Among the problems not yet solved he listed reliability, durability, start at sub-freezing temperatures, range, and above all the costs.
Iceland
Almost two years ago three fuel cell buses started operation in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik (see No. 2/03 „Iceland“). Last April a meeting was held there to look at the results. Almost 150 experts listened to what was reported.
The official objective of the government is to convert the country to the first hydrogen society. Even the president of the republic Grímsson (s. Nr. 5/00 „Island“) tried the new experience when the project started. So Prime Minister Ásgrímsson himself came to open the conference. He said that greater progress had been made than anybody had imagined in 1998 when the bus project was first considered. Further legal initiatives to facilitate the path to hydrogen fuel are in preparation, for example in terms of taxes and tariffs. Whether this is an unrealistic objective? Well, you have to be a bit unrealistic occasionally.
In all presentations the project was judged as a success. Not everything went smoothly, as it is normal for a test operation. But all problems could be managed, and valuable experience was gathered which could not have been gained in the laboratory or the test track. Most problems did not concern the core components anyway, like hydrogen tanks or fuel cells, but peripheral elements. Both the bus drivers and the passengers were very satisfied with the new technology. The majority would even pay a bit more than for the normal stuff. This really means something, because Iceland is one of the world leaders in terms of fuel prizes. About 2000 visitors from 25 countries, among them 400 media people, had visited the project. The filling station built by Shell Hydrogen has meanwhile become a tourist attraction.
The Icelanders appeared very satisfied with the effect of their small country on the rest of the world, and they have plans for the future. Creating an infrastructure for hydrogen fuel for the road for the Reykjavik region (with 2/3 of the country's total population) with three to five filling stations will cost about 10 M€, and for the whole country with about ten more stations 20 to 30 M€. Another item is the conversion of the fishing fleet. Hydrides like NaBH4 are considered as possible hydrogen storages for this purpose. The water necessary for hydrogen generation could as well be sea water.
Rally
For the first time the „Rallye Monte Carlo Fuel Cell and Hybrids“ was held in early April. Five out of 13 cars were equipped with fuel cells. They were supplied by Opel, Hyundai, and DaimlerChrysler. The winner of this group was the Opel HydroGen3, which is another success in an endurance test. The car scored third among all participants.
The hydrogen Opel was driven by German racing car driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Formula 1 vice champion in 1997. His impressions were very positive: „I was impressed of the torque which the HydroGen3 has from the very beginning.“ Head engineer Udo Winter will let the car undergo further endurance tests: "Our fuel technology is now in a development phase in which we need experience under conditions which include the extreme."
Austria
Groundbreaking for a hydrogen research center at the Technical University of Graz (Austria) happened on 11. March. This is the first project of this kind in Austria. In the summer already both liquid and gaseous hydrogen will be available at the test installations for investigations about the optimization of liquid storage, life time behavior of components, and projects about fuel lines for liquid hydrogen. The center is operated by the university with seven industrial partners (Magna, OMV and AVL, FVT as well as Gas & Waerme GmbH) together with Joanneum Research and seibersdorf research.
Autotram
A quite new type of tramway was presented by the Fraunhofer Institute for Transport and Infrastructure in Dresden on its test ground on 8. April. The 18 m long train is rolling on wheels with rubber tires. Its energy comes from a hydrogen tank and a fuel cell with 80 kW output. This is combined with a 325 kW flywheel with a capacity of 4 kWh. The "AutoTram" needs up to 25 % less fuel than conventional city buses.
(IVI press release of 8. April 2005)
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