EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani met with ministers in charge of industry on 19 February identifying green technologies as a strategic medium-term perspective for the industry to improve its competitiveness. “A European strategy on Clean and Energy-Efficient Cars should be developed and implemented that sets out the necessary actions to encourage market introduction of green vehicles, including electric cars,” the Commission said in a statement, issued after the informal meeting. The communication should be published in time for a meeting of EU Competitveness Council on May 25-26, 2010. According to EU officials the strategy will be technology neutral but will include hydrogen and biofuels. The Cars 21 initiative will be re established and focus on green car developments.
EU Member State experts on February 2 approved a proposal on how to use 300 million emission allowances from the EU Emission Ttrading Systems ‘new entrants reserve’ to finance projects in renewables and CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). The final adoption of the decision, expected in May, will see billions in EU funding allocated to the development of clean technologies. The European Commission will dedicate 300 million allowances at European level, which will be sold by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and then distributed to support projects in Member States. however Member States rejected a proposal to match every euro taken from EU funds, expressing concerns of member states of Central and Eastern Europe. Member States also introduced more flexibility to the allocation process by allowing each country to host a maximum of three projects instead of the Commission’s proposed two. In any case, each country is entitled to at least one project.
Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP (Air Liquide) will supply hydrogen to power a fleet of 37 forklift vehicles at Coca-Cola’s bottling and distribution center in San Leandro, California. Air Liquide will provide the liquid hydrogen, filling station and infrastructure to power the forklift fleet at Coca-Cola’s 250,000 square foot facility. Hydrogen fuel cell powered forklift trucks represent a segment of the hydrogen energy market. These types of vehicles are virtually greenhouse gas emissions free. Using these vehicles can help the Coca-Cola save 1.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually by removing the infrastructure associated with traditional lead-acid batteries. This agreement is Air Liquide’s second hydrogen fueling installation of this type in North America that combines the hydrogen supply and refilling of Air Liquide with Plug Power’s GenDrive® fuel cell solution. The first such agreement was Air Liquide’s forklift installation at Walmart Canada’s sustainable distribution center in Alberta, Canada. In 2010, Air Liquide has provided more than 40,000 hydrogen fills worldwide. The company has a number of other filling installations in North America, including those for buses and other vehicles. Air Liquide provided hydrogen and filling infrastructure for transit buses at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Other hydrogen partnerships are arising all over the world: Air Liquide [...]
During the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games British Columbia operated the worlds largest fleet of fuel cell powered buses in a single location to date. Where no car is allowed hydrogen busses are. BC Transit low – floor hydrogen buses have a range of 450 – 500 kilometers and a top speed of 90 km/h. Air Liquide installed a hydrogen refuelling station in Vancouver for this occasion. Comparing to the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics the 2010 Olympic Games are greener than ever. Still the first Olympic Games that used hydrogen vehicles were in Turin in 2006. The 2006 Fiat Panda Hydrogen Concept was presented there, and again Air Liquide provided the supply for the hydrogen refuelling station. The future looks bright for hydrogen at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games that will be held in London. A taxi cab that runs on the latest hydrogen fuel cell technology is being developed with the aim of being ready for full road trials in time for the 2012 Olympics. London’s deputy mayor, Kit Malthouse, announced last year that by 2012 there would be six hydrogen refuelloing stations in the capital. He said he wanted around 20-50 taxis in operation by then, as [...]
Solvay announces today it will invest over EUR 5 million in the construction of a test fuel cell with a total electric power of 1 megawatt (MW) at the SolVin plant in Lillo, Antwerp, Belgium. The investment is part of the Project Hydrogen Region Flanders – South Netherlands. The fuel cell will convert hydrogen produced by electrolysis at SolVin’s plant into electricity and by doing so increase the energy efficiency of the electrolysis.
This Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell will demonstrate fuel cell technology can be scaled-up to a peak output of 1.7 MW and a generation of 1 MW at steady rate, by using Solvay’s innovative special polymers and SolviCore’s membrane electrode assemblies. The test fuel cell will also be used by WaterstofNet vzw for research and test programs to support and promote the development of the use of hydrogen in the region.
Air Products has been awarded the prestigious Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Industry Award for its innovative Series 100 Hydrogen Fueling Station technology. The technology, which is helping break down barriers to the development of the hydrogen economy, clearly fit the Award’s aims of promoting and celebrating leading environmental technologies in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland.
The Air Products Series 100 Hydrogen Fueling Station has been an important enabler in changing industry and consumer perception in the UK as to the validity and safety of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. The Rushlight Award acknowledges the success of this fully integrated fueling station in meeting the needs of hydrogen fueling test and demonstration programs. The Series 100’s features include simple operation for hydrogen compression, storage and dispensing, a small footprint, quick installation and ease of relocation. Details on Air Products’ hydrogen fueling station technologies are provided at the Air Products website.
The Annual Press Conference of the DWV was held in the German governement’s press centre in Berlin building on February 18, stressing the need to address the efficient use of primary energy resources in transport indicating complementarity of fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicle developments. Concerning this last point Peter Froeschle from Daimler AG described the strong and weak points of combustion engines, batteries, and fuel cells. According to Mr. Froeschle costs for a hydrogen fuel infrastructure for private cars (1000 stations until 2017 would cost 1.5 to 2 G€) are affordable. An infrastructure for charging battery cars would not be much cheaper, as the expenses would increase with higher numbers of vehicles. Joachim Wolf vice president of the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, DWV, presented the new EHA paper that will be presented in Brussels on March 23 on the role of hydrogen in the new Global Energy System and more specifcally in relation to the efficient use of primary energy sources in transport. More information on the DWV site.
The Portugese Hydrogen Association APH2 published the “Lisbon Statement on Hydrogen” to draw governments attentioin to the need to speed up the support for sustainable hydrogen infrastrucutre developments. The statement urges overnments to boost directly
or indirectly the implementation of a Hydrogen based Economy.
On February 8 the President of the Region of Lombardy Formigoni inaugurated the first hydrogen- natural gas mixture station in L in Milan. The use of hydrogen natural gas mixtures in some countries with a good gas network could be an intermediate step towards the use of pure hydrogen in fuel cells applications. In normal combustion engines the hydrogen content in the mixture contributes to faster ignition and complete combustion, maintaining the performance of the car almost unchanged compared with the use of pure natural gas. The end result is a significant improvement in CO2 emissions and pollutants typical of combustion of hydrocarbons. With the project – which involves the of Region Lombardy, ENI, Sapio, Centro Ricerche Fiat, Nuova Carrozzeria Torinese and Fast (Federation of Scientific and Technological Associations) - it will be possible to verify the exact levels of environmental contribution that technology can give, especially in an urban context. Tests conducted in the laboratory are promising and if the results are confirmed by road tests they will open a path toward the hydrogen mobility by leveraging technology of the internal combustion engine. On the same day, the president of the Region signed an agreement with Eni to deliver thirty new [...]