Hydrogen News

Leuna

Germany's second hydrogen liquefaction plant was officially opened by the Linde group on September 7 at Leuna near Leipzig. Until then Germany's only hydrogen liquefier was at Ingolstadt, also a Linde plant. While there a hydrogen rich waste gas from a refinery is the basis the hydrogen at Leuna comes from a natural gas reformer which was already there. The new liquefier has a capacity of 3000 l/h cryogenic hydrogen (LH₂) or 5 t/d. The total investment in Linde's greatest gas production facility in Germany is some 60 M€.

Aldo Belloni, board member of Linde AG, stressed in his opening speech the improvement in supplying the many different customers more reliably. He also expects an increasing demand from hydrogen application in transport; at the time being, however, this field is insignificant in comparison with the demand from chemical industry which is rising as well. Soon Linde will introduce renewable production methods to cover the fuel demand of hydrogen vehicles. Belloni did not give any details about this.

JTI

The European Commission has formally proposed to create a Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative (JTI). This would be a legal body of new type comprising both private parties and the public sector, with the industry in the leading position. The Commission will fund the project with 470 M€ from the 7^th research framework program. At least the same sum wil come from the private participants. Other funding sources will be explored as well.

The creation of the JTI is a reaction to the increasing importance of the hydrogen and fuel cell field. The funding available for it was rising steadily in the former research and development framework programs, even though is was still low in comparison with the USA or Japan. Some member states have also national programs, but they are isolated, smaller, and sometimes they compete with each other. So Europe runs the risk to be left irreversibly behind in global competition. The JTI is to counteract this. Public and private interest is bundled under industrial leadership in order to reach a common goal. To this end a joint research program will be created which accelerates the process of development and market introduction.

Based on the work of the technology platform created in 2004 the JTI will be devoted mainly to market introduction. Breakthroughs in critical issues in the field of vehicles are needed to enable the industry to make the decisions which are necessary for a strong growth in the market between 2015 and 2020. In the stationary sector (commercial and private) and for portable applications this will happen in the period between 2010 and 2015.

Safety

The second International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS) was opened on September 11 in San Sebastián in northern Spain. This is an initiative of the European Network of Excellency HySafe, a project in the 6^th research framework program. At the start of the conference the organizers were satisfied with the echo. The quality of the submitted papers was seen as satisfactory. The number of participants was slightly higher than two years ago. Most participants were from Europe, but some also from North America or East Asia.

Representatives of the Spanish government and of the regional government of the Qasque country voiced their concern about climate change and the high degree of dependence on fossil energy carries. Hydrogen is an element of the strategy to overcome this problem. And the jobs created in this context are safe in the future. So the topic of how to handle the substance safely is high on the agenda.

(Read more about HySafe and the conference at www.hysafe.org)

Approval

At least in Germany the number of hydrogen cars on the roads is increasing, but their official approval is still a time consuming process on individual basis, and in some countries not even this is possible. This is an obstacle for market introduction which the European Commission would like to remove. On October 10^th it decided to start the procedure for a regulation for the type approval of such vehicles. This would offer a basis for approval and operation at least in the 27 countries of the EU. To become effective it must be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council.

Daimler

In 2010 a small series of a fuel cell car running on hydrogen will be built in Stuttgart. It is based on the B class type. No further details were given, such as the likely size of the series or the price. The drive train will be of a new type which is more compact and delivers more power than the old one, thus is more appropriate for everyday use.

Ecologically

Two teenagers from a school in Osnabrueck (Lower Saxony, Germany) have turned a common spinning bicycle from a fitness studio into a hydrogen production machine. Using the device will make the flywheel operate a car generator which provides power for three electrolysers. Distilled water is cracked into hydrogen and pure oxygen, and the gases are captured. The generator as well as an old car battery which serves a buffer for the case of excess power supply were taken from old cars. The Electrolysers were a bit more expensive (2000 €); the young inventors got some funding from their school. Biking for one hour without overdue exertion generates 41.4 l hydrogen. Newer types may generate much more. The two were honoured with the innovation and environment award of the city of Osnabrueck.

(Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, 12. October 2007)

Blast furnace

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to launch a project with Nippon Steel Corp, JFE Steel Corp and others to develop a new type of blast furnace that emits about 30 % less CO₂ than existing furnaces. The project will start in March 2009. It will be funded with 150 M€ and is expected to yield a product for the market within ten years. The new furnace will run on hydrogen instead of coke. This is one way to decrease emissions. There will also be research in to methods to use the waste heat of the furnace to separate carbon dioxide from the waste gas. Steel industry is the greatest CO₂ emitter of Japan and account for some 13 % of the total emissions of the country.

Fuel Cells

f-cell

This year's fuel cell expert forum „f-cell" held on 24. and 25. September in Stuttgart was marked by the urge to leave the laboratories of the researchers and developers and to go into the market. First serial cars will be available in 2010; in 2015 cars and heating appliances for private homes will be available in larger numbers. Portable applications will even be faster. Emergency power supplies and other off-grid applications have conquered niche markets already now.

Starting in 2010 Daimler will build a fuel cell version of the B class under serial conditions, which will initially be delivered mainly to car pools or other commercial customers. The car for everybody will be available around 2015. The present enthusiasm for hybrid cars is not at all seen as competition. The experience with electric drives gathered in this field will be beneficial for the fuel cell as well.

The fuel cell in the private basement for heating is at least as important as that in the car. The producers represented in Stuttgart said that the production will be increased steadily until 2015. The life expectancy of the stacks is still a general obstacle for market introduction. The production costs which are still too high are another one. For the final customer the devices must also be more compact and easier to handle.

One type of fuel cell application is already in the market, namely for portable electronics or power supply. It is used wherever there is no grid but a need for power for a longer time, for example in mobile homes or on a boat. Portable fuel cells in particular for leisure purposes will be available in greater numbers already between 2009 and 2012. The market aimed at is huge: at this time some 1.5 billion mobile phones, laptops, photo and video cameras, MP3 players, organizers etc. are sold each year, according to Christopher Hebling from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg. But the competition with the common battery is not to be underestimated.

Visit

Federal minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (transport, building, and city development) visited the company EWE AG in Oldenburg (North Germany) on August 31 and informed himself about the state of the art in the development of stationary fue cells for private homes. The manufacturers (Baxi Innotech, CFCL,, Hexis, Vaillant and Viessmann) presented their devices. The minister was impressed by the potential of the stationary application. „I expect the stationary fuel cell to contribute an important part to efficient and environmentally friendly heat and power supply of our buildings in the long term“, Tiefensee said. Guido Gummert (BAXI INNOTECH GmbH) explained the potential to save on CO₂ in buildings. „Already today we have reached a technical standard which makes it possible to avoid 50 % of the emissions in comparison with fossil fuels. When we use biogas in natural gas quality the emissions are close to zero.“

(Press release of Initiative Brennstoffzelle of 31. August 2007)

Energy and Climate

Downhill now?

Global oil production has reached its peak in 2006 and will now drop by a few percent per year. This was the core message of a study which was presented by the Energy Watch Group on 22. October in London. In the next two decades already the global oil supply will drop dramatically and create a supply gap which can not be closed very quickly even by enhanced production from other fossil, nuclear, or alternative sources. The official estimate for world oil reserves are 1255 Gigabarrel. But Energy Watch Group sees reasons to correct these figures for some key countries and regions and to arrive at 854 Gigabarrel. The group relies not so much on data on oil reserves, which are known to be little reliable, but rather on production data which is easier to follow and is also more reliable.

Energy Watch Group goes back to an initiative of Hans-Josef Fell, member of the German federal parliament, and other MPs from other countries. The main player is the Ludwig Boelkow Foundation. The project brings scientists together who make independent studies on fossil and nuclear resources, scenarios for renewable energy as well as strategies for an energy supply which is sustainable in the long term. (EWG press release of 22. October 2007)

The „Peak Oil“ party appears to gain ground in the discussion on whether or not there will be a production maximum at all and when it will be. This can be seen from a (not yet published) study by the Federal Office for Geosciences and Raw Materials (BGR) at Brunswick. BGR sees the maximum to come in 10 or 15 years, much earlier than before (DER SPIEGEL online, 2. November 2007). This estimate is, however, based on official figures by the countries, which may not be completely reliable (see above). Additionally there are different ways to get the results.

Politics

Summit meeting

Global climate change poses challenges which can not be dealt with unless all available competencies are used. On the 2nd Climate Research Summit held on October 16 Federal Research Minister Annette Schavan presented the High Tech Strategy of the Federal government and first steps to its implementation. She underlined that climate change can also be seen as a motor for innovation and should be used as such. DWV was represented at the meeting by its chairman Johannes Toepler. Results of the various working groups were presented. The focus of the car industry in the Transport and Mobility group was on short term fuel savings by means of traffic guidance and improved car electronics, and also hydrogen in the long term.

Awards

Nobel prices

This year's Nobel price for Chemistry goes to Gerhard Ertl, former director of the Fritz Haber Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, „for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces“. He did fundamental work on surface chemistry the results of which help understanding processes as different as the rusting of iron, the effect of a catalyst and not least the function of a fuel cell. In practical application they help developing tailor made catalysts, and they also help advancing basic research.

This year's Nobel Peace Price goes to climate protection. It was given evenly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), also known as World Climate Council, and the US politician Albert Arnold (generally known as Al) Gore Jr. „for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change“. The Nobel jury of today has a wider understanding of „peace“ than traditionally when the focus was on avoiding armed conflicts between the military of different states; this trend can be seen clearly from the list of recent laureates.

What else we have found ...

Symbolism

Japan's then prime minister Abe (has left office meanwhile) received Federal Chancellor Merkel without a tie during her visit to Japan late August. Air conditioning must not be switched on any more at room temperatures below 28 °C, he explained, and so this relief was granted to the male participants of the delegations. The German delegation (all male, except the boss) had adapted itself. The chancellor war amused: „In my case you do not see a difference“, she said. „The men all accepted it, and they are even quite happy about it.“ Abe pointed out that the past summer in Japan was very hot. Merkel's visit was fortunately on a relatively cool day. He said that the chancellor apparently brought the weather with her because she cares so much about climate change.

Remark: As far as Germany is concerned the past summer did not cause a lot of anguish about climate change, but the next heat wave is certain to come. We look forward to the various summit meetings of next year's summer with great interest.