Mobile applications

Hamburg to phase out the Diesel bus

Hamburger Hochbahn, the Hamburg transport utility, will phase out the Diesel bus completely. After 2018 the company will by no more Dieses buses, but 60 or 70 fuel cell buses per year, according to a statement by Hochbahn head Guenter Elste on 6 January in Hamburg.

The company expects that in the early 2030 years oil products, including Diesel, will be too expensive for fuelling motors for public transportation. By then all buses in Hamburg are to run electrically. Before the end of this year the company will receive the first of ten new buses of the new type Citaro FuelCell Hybrid from Daimler which will start normal operation in different cities in the world. „Our long term goal is to offer a completely electric public transportation in Hamburg“, said Hochbahn head Elste.

(H2gate, 11. January 2010)

Award for the Triple Hybrid bus by Proton Motors

Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH (PM) receives the „Future Award Alternative Propulsion Technologies 2010“ from the Innovation Association of the German Economy (IDWI) for the drive train the company developed for the hybrid fuel cell drive of the city bus „TriHyBus“. The bus will start schedules operation in early 2010 in and around Prague. The technology uses a combination of fuel cells, batteries, and supercaps. It makes full use of the advantages of electric propulsion, recuperates braking power, and is more than 50 % more economical than conventional Dieses buses.

(Press release of 23. February 2010)

Stationary applications

Hydrogen as tool for grid optimisation

Hydrogenics and Rosetti Marino S.p.A., an established provider of engineering and construction services and technology for the oil and gas industry from Italy, announced an agreement to jointly design, develop and commercialize utility-scale hydrogen power plants for grid management by energy supply companies. They will be used in particular for the load distribution and for peak shaving.

Hydrogenics delivers the electrolyser and the fuel cell. Rosetti Marino will provide expertise in large-scale gas compression, storage, and facility design. The products aim in particular at optimising the offer of renewable power according to the demand. Other potential applications include hydrogen production for industrial uses.

(Press release of 4. January 2010)

Biggest PEM fuel cell power station to be built

The Belgian chemistry company Solvay and the Dutch fuel cell maker NedStack have agreed on the delivery of a PEM fuel cell power station with an output of 1 MW. It would be the biggest of its kind so far. The volume of the contract is 4.5 M€; it is NedStack's biggest contract since the foundation of the company in 1998. The device will be used in the chlorine-alkaline electrolysis plant of the Solvay daughter SolVin in Antwerp-Lillo. The hydrogen released during the chlorine production will be converted to electricity on site. Up to 250 kW of the power will be available for dynamic tests of the behaviour. This is important for optimisation purposes.

(Nedstack press release of 11. February 2010)

Infrastructure

Air Liquide builds filling stations in South Korea

In December Air Liquide has been chosen to supply two new hydrogen filling stations in South Korea.

The first station, which will supply hydrogen at a pressure of 350 bars, will be delivered in the first quarter of 2010 for the government demonstration project, led by the automobile manufacturer Hyundai Motors. It will be installed within the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), located on Jeju island. The KIER, a research and development institute for renewable energy, is one of the beneficiaries of the South-Korean government's national plan to promote the development of hydrogen energy. This station will supply the new fuel cell vehicle developed by Hyundai Motors.

The second station will be delivered in the second quarter of 2010 to the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute (KATRI). It will be used to fuel a bus at a pressure of 350 bars and various cars at pressures of 350 and 700 bars. The station will be installed close to the KATRI Gyeonggi-do race track, used for testing and research to improve vehicle safety.

(Press release of 3. December 2009)

Award for Air Products

Air Products' hydrogen filling station „Series 100“ has received the „Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Award“ in January 2010 in London. The Rushlight Award is for British and Irish companies which develop particularly environment friendly and sustainable technologies in different categories. The Jury praised the efforts of the company to build a comprehensive hydrogen infrastructure.

(Press release of 19. February 2010)

Research news

German-Canadian project in Duisburg

The Zentrum für Brennstoffzellentechnik (ZBT), belonging to the University of Duisburg-Essen, will cooperate closely with the Canadian research institute NRC-IFCI (National Research Council Canada - Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation). The joint project HiPerLoCo is about the development of useful and economic fuel cells. Christa Thoben, minister for economy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, came along on January 7 and handed out the approval document. The Canadian Vice consul Henri Proulx was present as well.

The plan is to exchange materials and scientists between Germany and Canada in order to achieve progress in the education about different technologies and processes. The focus of interest is on technology development for system components and the operation in the 5 – 10 kW_el class. This is interesting for mobile applications with battery hybrid technologies. This again provides the connection to the electro mobility strategy of the energy region North Rhine-Westphalia which considers battery and fuel cell as two components which complement each other excellently. Other work will be for the optimisation of high quality power supply.

(Press release of 7. January 2010)

Energy and Climate

Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany further reduced

In 2008 Germany has met its climate protection objective according to the Kyoto protocol. The greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 dropped by 22.2 % in comparison to 1990. This detailed data for 2008 issues from the National Inventory Report 2010 drawn up by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and which has now been published jointly with the Federal Ministry for the Environment. Pursuant to the Kyoto Protocol, Germany is committed to reducing its greenhouse gases during the 2008-2012 period to a level 21 percent lower than that in 1990. There was only a slight change compared to the previous year (2007): there was a slight growth of 0.5 million tons owing mainly to the agriculture industry.

The greatest success in the efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has come from the energy industry. In 2008, some 20 million tons less CO2 than in the prior year were emitted to the atmosphere in the energy production process. Other sectors, including transport, remained on a largely similar level as in 2007. According to UBA president Flasbarth the trends in emissions in the agriculture and transport sectors have not yet taken a positive turn: „Achieving sustainable success in climate protection requires that every industry and sector does its bit.“

(Press release of the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment of 1. February 2010)

Unusual heat

Believe it or not — during the past 32 years the temperatures near the ground in January have never been as high as this year (0.72 °C in comparison to the 32 year mean). Well, maybe not in Germany, and at the East coast of the USA neither, but the global values were really like this. On the Southern hemisphere the temperatures in the Pacific region are raised by a unusually strong El Niño. Extraordinarily high temperatures were measured on Greenland, in the Arctic and Northern Canada. Spring temperatures of 12 °C in Vancouver created little feeling of Olympic winter games.

Globally and in the mean over a few decades there is no deviation from the upward trend of temperature in 2010. Based on the strong El Niño experts even think that this year might bring a new temperature record.

(From Klimakompakt, January 2010, published by Germanwatch)

Politics

Media Campaign about new energy

A media event on 16 February marked the start of the campaign „Changing Energy“. In more than 40 events all over Germany the campaign will demonstrate what hydrogen and fuel cell technology is, where the products are, and which potential the field has. The events will be based regionally to guarantee a close contact to the public because new technologies need acceptance in the population.

Transport state secretary Bomba confessed frankly to be a „fan“ of hydrogen technology. He underlined that the recent change in the government had no effect on these programs, but that they keep going ahead under full steam. The National Innovation Program Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (NIP) and the project company NOW can rely on further support by the ministry. Germany has a leading position in the world in this field and intends to keep it. The goal is to have one million of electric vehicles on the road by 2020, and the expectation is that 500.000 of them will have a fuel cell. Speaking also for minister Ramsauer he stated: We stand by hydrogen and fuel cells. Early May a national electro mobility platform will be founded by the Federal Chancellor, and this technology will have its due place in it. There will have to be market incentives in due time to enhance the market chances of the technology, but today would be too early to discuss them.

In the weeks to come up to the WHEC in Essen the campaign will be the common roof for activities in all German regions in order to make the public acquainted with the various faces of hydrogen and fuel cells.

Chu tries it again

Last year US energy secretary Chu was rebuffed by Congress in the budget negotiations when he tried to cut deeply into the DoE hydrogen program, in particular in the mobile field. After this he had announced that he would co-operate with the law makers. The question remains just how honest he was. First drafts for the 2011 DoE budget give certain clues. The hydrogen program is to be cut down to 137 M$ instead of 174 now. No funds are reserved for deployment of new vehicles. The program for hydrogen based on fossil energies is to shrink to 62 M$ from 79.

(Fuel Cells 2000, 1. Februar 2010)

Further Reading

Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources

J. Garche, Ch. Dyer, P. Moseley, Z. Ogumi, D. Rand und B.
Scrosati (editors), Amsterdam, Elsevier; 2009. 5 vol., ca.
5000 p., ISBN 978-0-444-52093-7, price ca. 1800 € + VAT

This is definitely not a book for the bedstand. It is rather directed towards libraries or research institutes. But these customers get a comprehensive encyclopaedia about all fields of electrochemical energy generation and technology. It discussed the most important types of electrochemical energy generators including operation, systems, materials, applications, and safety. The content is broken down into some 350 articles reflecting the current state of science. Environment and sustainability play a major role. It is a book for electrochemists, materials scientists, energy specialists, and engineers.

What else we have found ...

Sweet side effect

Among the few things which really all Canadians have in common is the passion for maple syrup. Now the effects of climate change can be traced even to this national sanctuary. The large scale burning of oil and gas had the effect that the relationship of the carbon isotopes ¹³C and ¹²C has changed over the decades. Scientists found that the ¹³C content decreased over the past 36 years. Oil and coal have a significantly lower ¹³C content than the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Their combustion released a lower proportion of ¹³C into the air which was taken in by the maple trees. While in the Seventies 108.7 atoms of ¹³C were found per 10.000 carbon atoms they are only 108.5 today.

Well, but who cares? All Canadians who insist that the maple syrup is really made from maple, in other words: all. Sugar cane and corn have another ¹³C/¹²C ratio than maple syrup so that food scientists could use this figure to determine whether alien sugar had been added to the syrup. The changes in the atmosphere threaten to soften the difference. Experts do not think that tampered syrup has been introduced into the market, but for the future effects like this would have to be taken into consideration.

Remark: Let's wait and see when the first clever people will contest the results of alcohol controls on this basis.