On 26.05.97 Daimler-Benz presented the den NEBUS, a bus running on fuel cells. The PEM cells of Daimler's partner Ballard deliver a total of 250 kW and supply two electric motors mounted directly at the wheels. The fuel is compressed hydrogen gas which is carried in seven pressure cylinders in lightweight design under a maximum of 300 bar on the roof. The range is 250 km. For the further development Daimler-Benz has a great interest in the new graphite fiber storage from Northeastern University.

NEBUS is the next step of development of the NECAR II presented in 1996 towards utility vehicles. The prototype of Necar III (small car of the A class converted to a fuel cell) will be presented in October on the motor show in Tokyo, as Daimler chairman Schrempp announced on 30. June in Munich.

To the list of contents   

The Bavarian state government reserves 75 MEuro from the sale of state shares in companies for the promotion of renewable energies; 25 MEuro of them will be for hydrogen projects. These are the development of a mobile pressurized hydrogen filling station, various fuel cell vehicles, the further development of LH₂ and hydride tanks, and an integrated biomass/hydrogen project in the spa Bad Brueckenau.

There are also ideas to establish an energy technological founder center sponsored by the industry and supported by the state on the DASA ground Ottobrunn South.

The Bavarian government bases its decision on the fact that hydrogen is able to store renewable energies and to make them available on demand, especially for mobile applications, and that this technology offers a growing market and good export perspectives.

To the list of contents  

The city utility of Luebeck converts its bus fleet to natural gas. In this context the city council has decided that in a model experiment the city utility will operate a fuel cell bus running on hydrogen, provided that there are enough funds from outside so that the operation costs no additional money.

To the list of contents 

The Hamburg Hydrogen Society installs a hydrogen distribution system and converts six vans to hydrogen. The start of operation of the first vehicle will probably be in autumn.

To the list of contents 

The Stralsund College has converted a Ford Escort with a 1.4 liter four-stroke engine to pure hydrogen operation. The work at the vehicle is to provide practical knowledge about hydrogen technology to the students. The objective is that the vehicle shall have half of the design performance in gasoline operation.

The hydrogen is generated from wind power in the college's own laboratory complex "Renewable energies". The wind turbine on the college ground feeds an electrolyser which converts the electricity to hydrogen. Apart from the car also the heating station which heats the laboratory building is running on pure hydrogen.

To the list of contents 

In Montréal the hydrogen holding H2T Inc. has started its operation; one half of it is held by the industry of Québec, the other by the state-owned energy suppliers. H2T is to bundle the hydrogen related work in Québec and to promote their commercialization.

One of the first topics is the design and approval of a novel tank container for liquid hydrogen. The container will be particularly light by the use of advanced materials, which will contribute to lower transport costs. The container is a key element in the ideas of H2T about a worldwide hydrogen infrastructure to be created.

To the list of contents 

On the Hanover Fair 1998 a joint presentation "Hydrogen Technologies" will again be held on the research market. The fuel cell will be put to the fore even stronger than it is already. That DWV will be one exhibitor is already certain.

To the list of contents 

Judging from a newspaper interview Mrs. Merkel, Federal Minister for Environment, does not believe that Germany will be able to reduce the emission of CO₂ by 25 % until 2005. The current measures would be good for only 15 to 17 %, and a great part of these would be attributed to the breakdown of the East German industry. The emissions of private households and of the traffic are constant or rising. Progress achieved in the individual car is undone by more driving and more vehicles. Mrs. Merkel considers the expansion of public transportation and dirigistic effects by tax raises.

To the list of contents 

BP has without reserve acknowledged that the temperature of the surface of the earth is rising, that this is caused by the increasing content of CO₂ in the atmosphere, and that the reason of this is man. It is no longer possible to use further necessity for research as pretext, even when there are uncertainties in detail.

BP Group Chief Executive John Browne declared on 19.05. in a speech at Stanford University that the time is now here for his company to proceed from analysis to action. He announced various measures to this end, among them considerable investments in photovoltaics. Browne expects that solar energy will contribute economically to the satisfaction of peak demands in about 10 years.

Technologies ready for the market are developed the faster the earlier they get clear objectives set to them, he said.

To the list of contents 

Some excitement was caused in mid-June by the study "Oildorado '97" by Esso AG; the key sentence: "Neither we, nor our grand-children, nor their grand-children will see the end of the oil age." The study is mainly based on the extrapolation of the current rate of discovery of new deposits into the future.

The well-known advisory company Petroconsultants holds such simple extrapolations for misleading. The rate of new discoveries are only one third of production. The world oil production will reach a maximum in maybe three, but not more than eight years. Even though the world still has oil for a few decades, the time of cheap oil will soon be over.

Neither should the data on known deposits be taken for granted, says Petroconsultants. 26 countries of the world, among them those of OPEC, pretend to have unchanged reserves for years despite of the production.

To the list of contents 

During an Achema symposium the reduction of PEM cell costs was identified as the most important objective of the near future. 50 Euro/kW in vehicles are seen as the limit of competitivity with the combustion engine. At this time 175 Euro/kWh are believed to be possible under the conditions of mass production. The picture is brighter concerning the operating costs. In stationary systems electricity costs of 0.15 Euro/kWh are the basis for calculations today.

Fuel cell heating stations have proven their reliability in practical operation, mainly in Japan and USA. The operating costs are 25 to 40 % below those of conventional plants. But the investment costs must be further reduced also here.

To the list of contents 

The US manufacturer ONSI announced that it received 185 orders in June for fuel cells of the type PC 25 (phosphoric acid cells with 250 kW_el nominal power). The rising sales figures will have its effect on the price, ONSI said.

Of particular strategic interest is a pilot order of the Russian state-owned energy trust Gasprom. The company will install an environment friendly energy supply based on fuel cells in an area with new flats near Moscow. At the same time Gasprom sounds out the possibility to enter the Russian electricity market. They also want to equip production plants in remote areas with fuel cells to substitute the less reliable Diesel generators which also require a lot of maintenance. Unlike these, the fuel cells run on natural gas - of which Gasprom naturally has a lot.

J. Schrempp, Daimler-Benz chairman: The success of a company does not depend on cost reduction and rationalization alone, but on using its innovative power for superior products. As examples he mentioned the NECAR program in the frame of which Daimler develops fuel cell vehicles.

K.-D. Voehringer, Daimler-Benz board member: Many improvements are possible in the conventional combustion engine with fossil fuels, both technically and ecologically, but in the long run the transition to presently still alternative fuels is necessary. The fuel cell is the most promising alternative to the combustion engine and could become its successor, at least partly. For achieving serial production the output must be increased and the costs must be reduced to about 1/100. The new graphite fiber storage could lead to "a new era" if it works even approximately like it is reported.

Voehringer emphatically countered statements of the Federal Environment Agency that the hydrogen and fuel cell drive has a worse efficiency than the combustion engine with natural gas because of the energy expensive hydrogen production. In fact the system as a whole is better by 25 to 30 % in the total balance.

Hartmut Grassl, director of the World Climate Research Program of the United Nations: On the basis of today's knowledge the human influence on climate is called "discernible", which means that it can be considered as proven with enough safety for all practical purposes. The change of world climate by man in the decades ahead can be slowed by a reduction of emissions, but can not be avoided.

Eberhard Jochem, Fraunhofer Institute for System Technology and Innovation Research (ISI): The problem of politics is that the normal voter does not feel the CO₂ problem at all and does not accept a policy which now demands restrictions from him. Investments in climate protection create jobs and are affordable. A drastical reduction of the CO₂ emission would even reduce the share of the energy system costs of the gross domestic product. Without a future oriented basic approach and engagement of the Europeans their prosperity would soon vanish.

Ludwig Boelkow (who became 85 on this day): The structure of energy supply must be changed fundamentally during the next two generations. Actions must be taken now because the introduction takes 30 to 50 years. Inactivity of the responsible politicians would make severe international conflicts probable.

The way to the objective is efficiency increase and the use of renewable energies. Solar energy and other renewable energy is available in Germany in sufficient quantities and should be used directly, as far as possible. For storage and transport the prime candidate except electricity is hydrogen. Like Voehringer he called the graphite fiber storage a particularly promising development which could introduce a revolutionary breakthrough not only for vehicles but for the renewable energies generally.

The fuel cell with its superior efficiency will in his opinions cause a major change, comparable only to the substitutions of relais and vacuum diode by semiconductor elements. An immense global structure change is ahead. The energy and emission problem will stimulate one of the greatest expanding markets. He noted in particular the positive example of  the development of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen aircraft by Daimler-Benz. In five or ten years he thinks specific generation costs for photovoltaic electricity of less than 0.25 Euro/kWh to be possible. This would totally change the situation in the energy economy.

To the list of contents