Hydrogen News

Joint presentation Hydrogen and Fuel Cells on the Hannover Fair 2009

The news in the economy sections of the papers may have been bleak during the recent months, but the traditional joint presentation „Hydrogen and Fuel Cells“ on the Hannover Fair was successful again. There were 148 exhibitors, only a few less than last year; the net area was also on the same level as 2008. The economical problems of many exhibitors had the effect that there was no growth this year. But the signs for 2010 are good: 47 exhibitors had already indicated by the last day of the fair that they would be present for the Hannover Fair 2010 as well.

How significant the field is could be concluded from the presence of Wolfgang Tiefensee, federal minister for transport, during a press conference on the first day of the fair. Tiefensee demanded that Germany should develop the future oriented parts of economy in order to be strengthened by the crisis and take the lead. Innovations are a chance just in economically different times. In this context he mentioned the National Innovation Program Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (NIP) as well as a similar program on electro mobility where more than 1.5 G€ public and private funds have been bundled. „It is really significant how much has been done in only six months“, was Tiefensee's comment on the progress in the development of fuel cell heating appliances.

Hamburg confirms commitment for hydrogen

On 24. March the city of Hamburg started major project on fuel cell use together with Daimler, Shell, TOTAL, and Vattenfall Europe. It aims at installing a fleet of a zero emission vehicle fleet plus the corresponding infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations. The city intends to be a pioneer not only for the use of hydrogen but also of battery cars.

From 2010 there will be ten new fuel cell buses operating in Hamburg. 20 Mercedes-Benz B-class cars with fuel cells will be added. Shell and TOTAL will install four public filling stations with dispensers for 700 bar gas. Fuel cell vehicles can fill up there in a few minutes and then drive more than 400 km. The hydrogen will be provided by Vattenfall Europe based on renewable energies.

Airbus, EADS und DLR (German Aerospace Center) will create a Fuel Cell Lab with support from the city. It will test the suitability of fuel cells for aviation in order to accelerate the technical maturity of the systems. A foundation professorship will be installed with support from Daimler AG.

Merkel laid foundation stone for first hydrogen-wind-biogas hybrid power station

On 21. April Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel together with Brandenburg's Prime Minister Platzeck laid the foundation stone for the first industrial hybrid power station in the world. It is developed and built by ENERTRAG €.

Combustion engines by BMW: clean and also efficient

BMW Group Research and Development and researchers in Graz and Vienna (Austria) have developed a monovalent hydrogen engine with Diesel type geometry and advanced high pressure H₂ injection technology. Its efficiency of about 42 % is already on the level of the best turbo diesel engines and also on that of the current fuel cell drive trains. The combustion chamber was designed on the basis of numerical flow simulation and equipped with high pressure injectors. The result of test runs was that a combination of the Otto and Diesel process together with surface ignition and additional diffusion combustion are the ideal solution. Additional efficiency increases on the basis of the use of the exhaust heat are expected.

Berlin transport utility not happy about hydrogen buses

The operation of a fleet of 14 hydrogen buses which started in 2004 has so far not met the expectations of the Berlin Transport utility (BVG). Most of the buses were frequently out of operation due to technical defects, also in scheduled operation, according to BVG head Sturmowski. He said that the important thing for a transport utility is reliability, which can not be guaranteed under these conditions. MAN, the company which produced the combustion engine vehicles, said that they would like to terminate the project. Sturmowski still believes in hydrogen as bus fuel, but not together with internal combustion engines, but with fuel cells and electric motors. Hamburg has made very good experiences with such buses. On 6. March the two prime ministers Wowereit and von Beust signed an agreement for closer cooperation in matters of culture and tourism and also of the development of hydrogen drives for buses.

(Der Tagesspiegel, 8. March 2009)

Shell does not leave hydrogen

A lot of confusion was caused in mid-March by news releases according to which Royal Dutch Shell planned to withdraw entirely from wind, solar and hydrogen energy in favour of biofuels and CCS. Statements by Jeroen van der Veer, outgoing chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, during a press conference on 17. March in London had been interpreted this way. Both Royal Dutch Shell and the daughter Shell Hydrogen said meanwhile that this had not been said, nor is it planned. Shell continues work on hydrogen fuel as well as on wind and solar power. But it is unlikely at this time that there will be a significant enhancement of these fields. As reason was given that the company had invested 1.7 G$ in renewables during the past five years, and you can not do everything. But there would be no withdrawal.

15 new hydrogen filling stations worldwide in 2008

15 new hydrogen filling stations started operation worldwide during the year 2008. The total number climbed to 175 108 more are planned. This is the result of a survey done on H2stations.org, a website on the hydrogen and fuel cell portal of TÜV SUED and Ludwig-Boelkow-Systemtechnik (LBST). „On the map of Germany there was a total of 21 hydrogen filling stations listed in 2008, and twelve more will be added until 2010“, said Matthias –including Germany – the number of filling stations rose by seven to 49, and in North America by eight to 84. „The further increase in hydrogen filling stations can be taken as further indication that the industry prepares for the market introduction of hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles“, Altmann said.

(Press release by TÜV Sued of 26. March 2009)

Herten to build the Blue Tower

On 5. March the foundation stone for the demonstration project Blue Tower was laid at Herten (North Rhine-Westphalia). The 42 m high plant will use lopping from roads all over the Ruhr area for the production hydrogen and electricity. The investment is about 24.6 M€. The completed plant will supply renewable power to some 12.000 households, about one third of the city of Herten. The first stage of the plant can also generate up to 150 m³ hydrogen per hour which will supply the Hydrogen Competence Center nearby. The plant will save some 17.8 million m³ of natural gas and some 15.000 t CO₂ per year. The project is funded with some 7.1 M€ by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Fuel Cells

Mail vehicles running on fuel cells

A universal design specification for hydrogen fuel cell postal vans will be developed under leadership of the British Royal Mail. Once a draft design specification has been developed Royal Mail intends to share the design brief with all the other European postal operators for input in order for it to be presented to major vehicle manufacturers around the world for consideration and to stimulate main stream construction at relatively affordable prices. Dr. Martin Blake, Royal Mail expert for sustainability, said: „We clearly see hydrogen fuel cell technology as the future means of small and medium vehicle propulsion in the not too distant future, it is now just a question of seeing which one of the major motor manufacturers can bring such fuel cell commercial vehicles to market in large numbers and reasonable prices first.“

Partners in the project except Royal Mail are CENEX (Centre for Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies), PostEurop (Association of European public postal operators) und FuelCellEurope.

(Press Release by FuelCellEurope of 23. March 2009)

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo in Tokyo

The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo held each spring in Tokyo is among the most important events in the field in Asia. According to a report from Fuel Cell Today the show was again very crowded though the exhibition space was less by one hall this year. The economical crisis slows the speed of development. But the trend remains strong, even if not all companies from last year were part of this year's show. But there were important new exhibitors; the representation of Taiwan in particular has become stronger.

The stationary fuel cell knocks audibly at the doors of Japanese basements. This became obvious on the joint presentation of the New Energy Foundation (NEF), a joint activity of Japanese power suppliers, fuel suppliers, and fuel cell makers. Quite a number of generally competing companies have joined forces, generate their products jointly, and exchange technology. NEF says that by the end of 2008 already more than 3000 units with powers between 0.7 and 1 kW each have been installed. During this year the units will be offered under the common brand name Ene Farm.

Battery / fuel cell hybrid for small stationary devices

FWB Brennstoffzellensysteme from Pirmasens (Germany) combines a battery with a fuel cell. In quiet phases the battery is charged from the fuel cell system on the basis of Methanol. Maintenance costs are low because the cartridge can be changed quickly and easily. Video cameras and other applications can be supplied with voltages between 5 and 14 V. The level of methanol can be detected so that power can be generated until the next maintenance interval. A permanent output of almost 1 W can be generated for up to half a year.

(Press release by FWB of 6. April 2009)

The plans of Baxi Innotech for stationary fuel cells

In March on the ISH 2009 in Frankfurt Baxi Innotech from Hamburg presented the new fuel cell heating appliance GAMMA 1.0. It is the first small serial product. The output changes from nominally 1.5 to 1.0 kW_el. This optimises the relationship between power and heat. The system has been proven in 45 field tests. It can be transported and installed very well.

The company has also made a delivery, licence, and cooperation agreement with Ballard Power Systems. Ballard will deliver exclusive fuel cell stacks which Baxi Innotech will use for fuel cell heating appliances in the German Callux project. This lays the foundation for cooperation beyond the project.

(Baxi Innotech press releases of 10. and 11. March 2009)

Energy and Climate

Express charging of batteries

Material researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say they have found a way to drastically accelerate the charging of Lithium ion batteries. The surface of their new Lithium Iron Phosphate battery is covered with a glassy layer which speeds up the Lithium ions. A small battery could be charged or discharged entirely within 10 or 20 s. The same battery without the new cover needed some six minutes for charging. They say that the surface layer is not very expensive and would not raise the battery costs too much. Large batteries for hybrid electric cars could be charged in five minutes, compared to six or eight hours now. The technology was already licensed to two companies and could appear in the market in two or three years, according to MIT.

(B. Kang et al., Nature 458 (2009) 190-3)

Remark: The existing grid can not even provide the supply of many battery cars if they are charged over hours. Doing this in a few minutes would require a totally new infrastructure which would certainly not be cheaper than that for hydrogen. The advantage would rather be for the owners of laptops or similar or smaller electronic devices.

Politics

New administration in Washington reluctant on hydrogen

The new government of the USA under president Obama will do more for climate protection and in particular for less greenhouse gas emissions from transport than the previous administration. It appears that hydrogen will not automatically enjoy the same extent of political support as under president Bush. Obama and his team rather put hybrid cars to the front. The government wants to see a significant number of alternative cars on the roads as quickly as possible, and they think that the quickest way to this end are battery vehicles. At the same time they do not want to restrict themselves to one technology only. It remains to be seen how they perform between technical diversity and large numbers. The National Hydrogen Association sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu asking him to allocate up to 700 M$ from advanced energy research grant programs for hydrogen-related research. NHA vice president Hinkle admitted the association had more work to do to convince the Obama administration of hydrogen. „Part of the rap is that hydrogen is a left-over Bush administration idea, and that's baloney.”

(Detroit News, 25. March 2009)

What else we have found ...

Unconventional battery maintenance

Policemen in the city of Moehnesee (North Rhine-Westphalia) were rather surprised when they noticed a car racing through the place with 97 km/h, and even more when they stopped it and found that the driver was a lady of 83. When asked for a reason for her speed she said that she wanted to give her car „a good warm-up“ to charge the battery to full capacity. The policemen could tell her a few better, legal, and also cheaper methods. She was forbidden to drive for a month and fined with 200 €.

Remark: Have those people who tell us that the battery car will solve all our mobility problems really considered the risks associated with them? All the risks? DWV and the police recommend a fuel cell to charge your battery. This can by no means be more expensive.