Hydrogen News

Hannover

This year's joint exhibition „Hydrogen and Fuel Cells “ in the Energy hall of the Hannover Fair was a very successful event marked by a lot of optimism. 156 exhibitors from 27 countries were a new record. 50 of them were on the fair for the first time. This testifies for the great dynamics in the field. But that 100 exhibitors had been there before testifies also for the attractiveness of the joint exhibition and its performance.

The keywords hydrogen and fuel cell are found also on many other exhibits across the energy halls, for example on the stands of the energy supplies. North Rhine-Westphalia had a stand of its own, also Bavaria or the Fraunhofer Society or companies as Vattenfall or the TUEVs North and South. So you met the topic in many places all over the hall.

The stand of DWV was again together with that of the European Hydrogen Association (EHA). EHA underlined the existence of other DWV partner organisations in Europe, for example in Spain, Italy, or Flandres. Some regions were own exhibitors on the joint exhibition, for example Aragón (Spain) or Piemonte (Italy).

One of the centers of interest each year are the stationary applications. CFC Solutions presented the latest generation of the HotModule molten carbonate fuel cell. The peak electrical output of the stack raised by 45 % to 363 kW (DC), the electrical output to the grid (AC) is now 345 kW. Thermal power is now 250 kW, 38 % more than before. With the new generation the costs per installed unit power will drop. For the future there are plans for plants in the 400 and 500 kW class as well as for the MW domain. Smaller units were represented as well. Vaillant, Viessmann, Baxi Innotech, and Hexis presented under the common roof of the „Initiative Brennstoffzelle“. New players were there as well, like for example the Danish company IRD which was there for the first time and presented a fuel cell generator running on methanol delivering up to 2 kW.

There are many ways to obtain hydrogen, and some of them use hydrocarbons. Quite a number of exhibitors showed reformers which extract the hydrogen from these compounds. Among them were WS Reformer just as the Dutch HyGear. Also present again was the Norwegian company Nordic Power Systems with a diesel reformer which, according to company statements, has made progress on the way to the market entry.

Somebody who visited the exhibition maybe five years ago will certainly be able to see the progress and the approach of the development to the market. And those who think it takes all too much time can prepare a soup to shorten the waiting time a bit. The hydrogen cooker necessary to do this was also on display.

London

Air Products has signed an agreement with Transport for London, the roof company for the transport utilities of the British capital, for the hydrogen supply of a fleet of fuel cell buses. The contract comprises hydrogen supply plus the installation and operation of a hydrogen filling station. Starting in 2010 Transport for London will use ten fuel cell buses for public transport. Air Products will provide the latest technology for production, transport, storage, and compression of hydrogen as well as the filling process both to Transport for London as to the bus operator London Buses. Mike Weston, der Geschäftsführer von London Buses, äußerte dazu: „We believe hydrogen has an important role to play in helping reduce the impact of public transport on the environment. In the case of fuel cell buses, they produce no pollution at all at the point of use, thus helping to clean up the Capital’s air.“

(Air Products press release of 18. March 2008)

Venice

The building of the first hydrogen power station of Italy has started. It is in the responsibility of the Italian electricity provider Enel. The plant has a capacity of 12 MW; 4 MW are gained by using the hot exhaust gases in an existing coal power station. The total efficiency is 43 %, the total investment is 47 M€. Operation is due to start next year. The 60 million kWh generated there each year would be enough to provide 20.000 homes and to avoid the emission of 17.000 t CO₂. The plant is part of the „Hydrogen Park”, an initiative supported by the Veneto region and the ministry of environment to support the development and application of hydrogen technology in transport and power supply in the area of Porto Marghera, the harbour of Venice. The hydrogen for the power station comes from a chemical plant in the harbour area.

(ENEL press release of 8. April 2008)

Clean

The BMW Hydrogen 7 meets the requirements for a SULEV (Super Low Emission Vehicle) according to the Californian exhaust gas legislation. This is the result of independent measurements performed by the Argonne National Laboratory, an institution of the US department of energy. The measurements were complicated because the emissions were so low that detecting them was a real challenge. „The BMW Hydrogen 7's emissions were only a fraction of SULEV level, making it one of the lowest emitting combustion engine vehicles that have been manufactured“, was the conclusion of the responsible scientist. „Moreover, the car's engine actively cleans the air. Argonne's testing shows that the Hydrogen 7's 12-cylinder engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain components, are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the car's engine."

(Argonne press release of 28. March 2008)

Daimler

Mercedes chairman Dieter Zetsche said during the Geneva car exhibition in early March that his company takes the mass production of fuel cell cars “very, very serious”, in spite of rather careful comments on the topic which could be heard recently from other sides in the industry. The start of the serial production is to be 2010 based on the B class, even though with very small numbers. By 2014 or 2015 the production of fuel cell cars for the market will be in full swing and is expected to reach the threshold of 100.000 per year.

The Mercedes-Benz B class with fuel cell drive has performed successfully in a first winter test in North Sweden. At temperature below -10 °C the zero-emission drive did its duty during comprehensive test programs. The cold start performance was checked very carefully. For the researchers the starting capability of a fuel cell under as low as -25 °C is considered as a solved problem, but the focus of the engineers is now on harmonizing the performance of the various components under real winter conditions.

Boeing

The first manned fuel cell driven aircraft made its virgin flight on 8. March in Spain. The Boeing research division located near Madrid achieved this. The propeller plane with 16.3 m span was equipped with an electric motor delivering 45 kW and a PEM fuel cell instead of the combustion engine. The fuel is hydrogen. During the start phase, which consumes most of the power, a Lithium ion battery with additional 20 kW was needed for support. The two-seater climped to 300 m above ground. Then the battery was separated from the motor, and the cruising was performed using a constant power between 15 and 17 kW from the fuel cell. The flight of 20 minutes was „incredibly quiet“. The main challenge according to the chief developer was not so much to make the fuel cell fly but to join it with the battery. Boeing's fuel cell plane will be presented on the International Aviation Show (ILA) in Berlin.

(Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 25. April 2008)

Fuel Cells

Mobile phones

The mobile phone provider O2 uses fuel cell systems delivered by P21 in Brunnthal to ensure the network supply cheaper and more friendly to the environment. The extreme rise of energy costs during the last years makes it more and more urgent to look for new solutions for a reliable and economic emergency power supply for telecommunication to guarantee the uninterrupted presence of the network for the customer. P21 has already equipped seven O2 basis stations with fuel cell systems, and more are to come. This saves not only operating costs, but also energy. A big saving is achieved by not needing air conditioning to cool the batteries. Other reasons why O2 opted for these systems are high life expectancy and very small maintenance requirements.

(P21 press release 12. March 2008)

Supermarket

A supermarket belonging to the Whole Foods chain in Glastonbury (Connecticut, USA) opened in March gets 50 % of its power and heat and all of its hot water from a phosphoric acid fuel cell by UTC. The system is not only ecological but provided also a protection for the shop against mains disruptions.

(UTC press release of 11. March 2008)

Enduring

A record performance was achieved by a phosphoric acid fuel cell running in the St. Agnes hospital in Bochum (Germany). The device delivered 10 million kWh power during 52.000 operating hours with the first stack. The hospital operates the fuel cell since 2002 to accomodate rising ew energy needs coming from new equipment and devices. The fuel cell provides base electrical power, heating in the winter, is used for air condition during the summer and provides hot water.

(UTC press release of 4. March 2008)

Energy and Climate

Downhill now

9.95 barrel of oil per day were produced in Russia in 2007. This was probably the top of the hill, and the development now will go down. The estimate comes from somebody who knows what he is talking about: Leonid Fedun, vice chairman of Russia's greatest independent energy company Lukoil. In a Financial Times interview he said that he does not expect to see a higher production than 2007 „during this life“. He compared Russia to production regions like the North Sea and Mexico where the oil production drops sharply. In the oil rich Western Siberia the phase of intensive growth is over, according to Fedun. Fast growth now goes over into constant or decreasing production.

While Russia's government does not talk about a decline they do not promise an increase either. Energy minister Viktor Christenko said that the presend production is on a plateau, it is stagnant.

(Financial Times Deutschland, 14. April 2008)

No Basis

With statements unheard of so far the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns of a depletion of the supply with fossil fuels and their effects. Head economist Fatih Birol warned in an interview with the magazine Internationale Politik that from today to 2015 12.5 million barrel per day would be missing already, „some 15 % of the world oil demand“. The gap means that „during the next years we should be prepared to see very tight, turbulent, and high price oil markets“, Birol said. And he added: „This will not be good for the economy.“

Birol gave three reasons for the bleak outlook:

• the sharply rising demand for oil, mainly from China, India, and the Middle East countries themselves,
• a steep decline of the production from existing oil fields, especially in the North Sea, the USA, and a number of countries outside OPEC, and
• a lack of new discoveries which could compensate the decline of production.

He sees only three options:

• „First, we must drastically increase energy efficiency, in particular by building more economical cars, trucks, and airplanes, to slow down the increase of oil consumption.
• Second, we must use more alternative fuels in transport. But when you look at what the governments do for more efficiency in terms of legislation I am not optimistical that such a shift in policy will come.
• And third, we need many more oil exploration projects, in particular in the OPEC key countries.“

Birol concluded: „One day it will definitely be over! And I think we should leave oil before the oil leaves us. This should be our motto. So we should prepare for this day – by research and development on how to substitute oil, which standard of living we can maintain, and which alternatives can be developed.“

Permafrost

Russian scientist report that they see signs for a self-amplification of global warming. The frozen ground in the Arctic shelf sea appears to be melting. Gas hydrates stored there may become unstable and release huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas much stronger than CO₂. During the annual meeting of the European Geophysical Union in Vienna in mid-April they reported that during a measurement campaing in the Siberian summer the water in the shelf sea was „highly supersaturated with solved methane“. In the air above the sea the content of the greenhouse gas was in some places five times the normal value. „During helicopter flights over the delta of the river Lena enhanced methane concentrations were found even in a height of 1800 m.“

(DER SPIEGEL online, 16. April 2008)

Politics

Regions project

A partnership of EU regions on hydrogen and fuel cells called „HyRaMP“ was founded on 18. March in Brussels. Among the founders were from Germany the states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westfalia and the r Region Oldenburg-Wilhelmshaven from Lower Saxony. HyRaMP stands for „European Regions and Municipalities Partnership on Hydrogen & Fuel Cells”. One objective of the partnership is to coordinate the activities of the regions in order to do the development necessary to achieve the market threshold jointly and more economically. The other is to represent the interests of the regions in the approaching Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) on hydrogen and fuel cells. JTI is a Public-Private-Partnership of the industry and the EU commission to support hydrogen and fuel cells by means of an integrated program for research, technological development, and demonstration. HyRaMP is not a legal body, and all European regions which promote hydrogen and fuel cell technology are invited to join. Apart from the German members regions from Spain and Italy are well represented in HyRaMP. The office is provided by the European Hydrogen Association EHA.

What else we have found ...

Lack of demand

In April the highest court of the Spanish region Castilia-León rejected the plans for a winter sport resort which was planned near San Glorio in the province of León. It would have been close to an area housing one of the last groups of bears living in freedom in Spain. The main argument of the judges, however, was not the fate of the bears, but something which is so far unique in the legal history: due to the global warming there might be not enough snow in the region. Therefore it was considered to be „highly questionable“ that the project can survive economically. And when you do not have snow you need no sports facilities.

Remark: When this line of argument becomes common then almost all land use plans in the Bavarian Alps will have to be revised fundamentally.