A Chinese-American team has reported for the first time about the storage of hydrogen in graphite nanostructures at ambient temperature. The structures are single-walled nanotubes with a diameter of about 1.85 nm. At 100 bar a weight related load factor of 4.2 % was observed. 3/4 of the amount were simply released when the pressure was reduced, the rest under heating to 150 °C. The results were reproducible after several loan and unload cycles. They depended a lot on the history of the samples. (C. Liu at al., Science 286 (1999) 1127-9; see No. 4/99 "Graphite storage")

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory tries to find out whether these materials can be used to store methane as well. The researchers aim at reducing the maximum allowed operating pressure of a cylinder from 200 to 35 bar while retaining the same energy content.

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During a DaimlerChrysler innovation symposium held on 10. and 11. November research director Voehringer said that the Iceland project is running satisfactory. The program progresses well, not least due to the determination of the Icelandic government. (See No. 5/99 "Iceland" and our press release No. 6/99)

Ferdinand Panik, head of the project house "Fuel Cell", said on occasion of the same event: "The fuel cell activities of today are no longer driven by technology or the protection of the environment, but are a real competition factor. ... The fuel cell as we see it is an economical chance for securing high-tech jobs and business success." The important thing would be where the political decisions would be made. The fuel cell technology would create new business fields and jobs everywhere. On top of this it must be considered that the limited oil resources and at the same time the increasing demand would make alternative fuels relevant by 2020 at the latest. During another event at Tokyo Panik said that the new vehicles could achieve a market share of 25 % by 2010 under optimistical assumptions. (Reuters, 1. December 1999)

Necar 5 will probably start test runs around the turn of the year. Fuel cell and methanol reformer are said to have been reduced in size such that they fit in the bottom of the A class. Neither the passenger compartment nor the trunk will have to suffer a loss of available space.

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Nebus, DaimlerChrysler's prototype for a city bus with hydrogen tank and fuel cell drive, was in shuttle service in Hamburg from 6. to 22. December. During a presentation ceremony Senator Eugen Wagner wished the developers and the operators, in particular Hamburg's public transportation utility Hamburger Hochbahn (HHA), that "this most environment friendly and economical driving technology will soon be serially produced". HHA chairman Elste showed himself optimistic: "In the next decade the first fuel cell bus might well be in scheduled service in Hamburg". Passengers noted during the test drives that the bus is very quiet and accelerates softly. (See our press release No. 5/98)

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VW thinks that the fuel cell will become the leading driving technology in the long term. Its development potential is "very promising", according to Friedrich Quissek, head of the department Research Environment and Traffic, during the presentation of the company's Environment Report 1999/2000. The main problems of the fuel cell drive, however, namely hydrogen storage and generation costs, were said to be not yet satisfactorily solved. (Frankfurter Rundschau, 8. December 1999)

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The so-called "Arkona Train", a motor train operating at the northern tip of Germany's largest island Ruegen, will be converted to a modern hydrogen drive and serve as pilot project for transport on the basis of renewable energies. A feasibility study supported with 39 kEuro by the environment ministry of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has now been completed and judged favourably.

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The Federal Flight Accident Investigation Authority at Brunswick has completed its report about the crash of a gas balloon on 18. October 1997 near Kienberg (W of Berlin). All four passengers of the balloon had been killed. The report says that the balloon pilot had consciously maneuvered the vehicle into a short wave radio station of Deutsche Welle and tried to cross it in a height of 20 ... 30 m above ground. She approached one of the 500 kW antennas up to 70 m and happened to be in the domain of maximum radiation. The field heated the steel fibers which form part of the balloon ropes to make them electrically conductive. This caused fires at various places. This caused the escape of hydrogen which ignited additionally. In the further sequence of events the ropework with the passenger basked separated from the balloon and fell down from a height of 180 m. (See our press release No. 1/98)

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The Association of German Car Industry (VDA) thinks that methanol and hydrogen are the fuels for future sustainable mobility, but in the decades to come Otto and Diesel motors will remain dominating. This was said during a meeting on fuel cell cars in Essen on 30. November and 1. December. Natural gas is seen as a transition fuel. The German car industry and its suppliers must by all means retain their technological leadership to remain competitive.

During the Hanover Fair 2000 (20. to 25. March 2000) hydrogen and fuel cells will for the first time be presented in two places. One of them is the traditional joint show as part of the research market in hall 18 which presents research and development. Apart from traditional exhibitors (DWV, L-B-Systemtechnik, ZSW, Research Center Juelich, DLR, GfE Metals and Materials) DaimlerChrysler AG with the Project House "Fuel Cell" will be present for the first time along with dbb Fuel Cell Engines GmbH. Other newcomers among the exhibitors will be the Californian DCH Technology (sensorics), the Dutch energy research center  ECN and the Technical University of Munich. There will be a total of 18 individual exhibitors.

The new thing will be a show as part of the energy fair in hall 8 which stresses the business chances of both technologies. Eight companies from four countries (Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, USA) will be present. They will show stationary and mobile fuel cell systems, electrolysers, and other systems and components. Zevco, whose fuel cell taxi was one of the attractions of the last fair, will again show a zero emission vehicle. Which exactly will be decided later.

The extension of the presentations and the shift from the research area to the purely commercial domain underline that hydrogen an fuel cells will play an important role in energy technology before long.

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The founding meeting of the European Hydrogen Association, planned for 2. December, has been postponed to early 2000. EHA will be a European top association which represents hydrogen technology and fuel cells towards the general public, experts, and politics.

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The molten carbonate fuel cell developed by MTU and its partners (RWE Energie, Ruhrgas, Elkraft from Denmark) designed after the "Hot Module" principle started to feed power into the grid on 24. November in the heating station of the university of Bielefeld. This is the first installation of this advanced fuel cell type for a customer. The project is recognized for the EXPO fair and is to work under real operating conditions until 2001. This will help to judge whether or not the prototype is fit for normal operation. What the partners expect in particular is to learn how such a cell could be made simpler and less expensive without losing its advantages.

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The state of Northrhine-Westphalia supports the company Vaillant in the development of a heating station based on a fuel cell. Building minister Vesper said this on 25. November when he visited Remscheid. The device will be field tested near the end of 2001, and it will then be added to the list of projects promoted by the state government.

The first German competence network fuel cell will be created in Northrhine-Westphalia in the spring of 2000, according to an announcement of Mr. Steinbrueck, minister for economy, on 24. November in Bielefeld when the molten carbonate cell started operation (see above). The network will coordinate the research, development, and application activities and support companies and research institutes to take part in the future fuel cell market successfully.

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The US company prepares the market introduction of its home fuel cells which are developed jointly with Plug Power. Under the name Home Gen 7000 a propane or natural gas unit will be offered starting in 2001 which can deliver a constant power of 7 kW. Once per year a maintenance for about 200 $ will be necessary, every four or six years some components will have to be replaced. The expected lifetime is 15 years.

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The Japanese company will present in January a fuel cell system with gasoline reformer which has been developed jointly with United Technologies. The reformer will be made by International Fuel Cells. The system will be delivered to car manufacturers in Japan, Europe, and the USA; which these will be was not disclosed. (Reuters, 1. December 1999)

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Norway's state oil and gas company Statoil and the Canadian methanol producer Methanex have entered a strategic alliance to introduce methanol as fuel for fuel cell cars. They will develop a European demonstration program. By 2002 it will be ready and include all aspects of transport, distribution, and marketing of methanol as fuel. (Calstart, 15. November 1999)

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A study by British meteorologists says that the Pacific islands Kiribati and Tuvalu and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean will disappear in the sea, even if the CO₂ emissions should be stabilized very soon. The warming which has already occurred will effect the temperature and thus the density of the ocean water for centuries to come, because the distribution processes are very slow. (New Scientist, 30. October 1999; see No. 4/99 "Rising Tide")

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