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The Clean Vehicles Portal, a new tool for public procurment of clean vehicles

November 18, 2010

A project of Intelligent Energy Europe and powered by TUV Nord, the Portal will be a tool which will facilitate the implementation of the Directive on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles (2009/33/EC).

The directive creates mandatory obligation for the public procurement of road vehicles and has to be transposed into member state legislation by December 4, 2010. It is considered 1st step in internalization of external costs. Among the criterion imposed is energy consumption and CO2 tailpipe emissions.

5th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference, 22-24 November 2010, Berlin

22 Nov - 25 Nov, 2010

The 5th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference will be helds on 22-25 November 2010 at the Seminaris CampusHotel Berlin, Science and Conference Center.
The Conference will communicate developments in energy storage and aim to popularize the results in applications and solutions.
The conference will be focus on storage solutions for electricity,  heat and mobility.

EU says €200bn needed for energy grids by 2020

November 18, 2010

€200 billion is needed to upgrade Europe’s gas and electricity grids over the coming decade, the European Commission said yesterday (17 November), adding that half of the sum will have to come from government coffers at a time of budgetary presssure.
The EU executive presented its energy infrastructure priorities for the next two decades.

It warned that the EU will not meet its goals on renewable energy, greenhouse gas emission reductions and security of supply without significant investment in cross-border interconnections and in integrating renewable energy into the network.

EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan Conference: looking for budgets and markets

November 16, 2010

The third conference of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET)-Plan, the technology pillar of the EU’s energy and climate policy, was organized on November 15-16, 2010 in Brussels . The SET Plan lays out the EU’s strategy to accelerate the development of these technologies and their market breakthrough. Six EU Industrial initiatives have been launched so far: the Joint Undertaking for fuel cells and hydrogen being the first and the only one with a fixed budget up to 2013. The new initiaitves launched this year Wind, Solar, Electricity Grid , Sustainable Bio energy, CCS and Nuclear Fission have all prepared their Roadmaps for 2020 but are struggling to secure budget. An appeal was made at the confernece by all intiaitives to speed up decisions at national level in order to avoid more delays. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells were mentioned in three presentations of the FCH JU, on the IPHE and in the presentation on the Coalition study. All three presentations also mentioned the important role of regions in addition to Member States as first customers and co financiers. International cooperation to boost markets and exchange best practice is crucial. As all SET Plan technologies contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, no reference [...]

Air Products delivers hydrogen for 50 fuel cell buses at Asian Games in Guangzhou City

November 16, 2010

Air Products (NYSE: APD), the leading global hydrogen supplier to refineries to assist in making cleaner burning transportation fuels, today announced it is supplying hydrogen to power a fleet of more than 50 hydrogen fuel cell buses in operation at the Asian Games and Asian Para Games from November 12–December 19 in Guangzhou City, China. It is another energy conservation and new-energy vehicle demonstration project similar to the one Air Products won in China for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Powered by Air Products’ hydrogen, the fuel cell buses of the Clean Energy Automotive Engineering Centre (CEAEC) of Tongji University will shuttle athletes and government officials between facilities during the Games. The goal of this effort is to achieve zero-emission transportation at the Games’ venues and promote low vehicle emissions in surrounding areas. Air Products is also providing liquid nitrogen for use at the hydrogen fueling station. “We would like to thank Tongji University and are honored to play a role in supporting the Chinese government’s commitment to making the Asian Games a high-technology, environmentally-friendly and energy-saving event,” said CS Saw, Asia vice president, Liquid Bulk and Generated Gases for Air Products. “For an event like this, reliable and safe supply [...]

Nano and Surface Science Approaches to Production and Storage of Hydrogen, 14-19 November 2010, Noordwijkerhout (The Netherlands)

14 Nov - 19 Nov, 2010

The conference will focus on new methods for producing and storing hydrogen. There will be a focus on nanoscience and surface science approaches to these topics, but other avenues will be addressed as well. The meeting will bring together both experimentalists and theoreticians working in these areas.

International Conference and Exhibition on Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Electric Drives – 17-18 November 2010

November 14, 2010

H2Expo 2010 will take place at Hamburg Messe fair grounds For more info please visit http://www.hamburg-messe.de/H2Expo/h2_en/start_main.php

Hydrogen and electricity storage part of Commission’s new Energy 2020 strategy

November 10, 2010

The Commission today presented its new strategy for a competitive, sustainable and secure energy. The Communication “Energy 2020″ defines the energy priorities for the next ten years and sets the actions to be taken in order to tackle the challenges of saving energy, achieving a market with competitive prizes and secure supplies, boosting technological leadership, and effectively negotiate with our international partners. (see link below) Prioritity is Europe’s leadership in energy technology and innovation. Four major projects in key areas for Europe’s competitiveness will be launched, such as new technologies for intelligent networks and electricity storage, research on second-generation biofuels and the ‘smart cities’ partnership to promote energy savings in urban areas. Beyond the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the strategy should help create market conditions which stimulate higher energy savings and more low carbon investments, to exploit a wide range of centralised and distributed renewable energy as well as key technologies for energy storage and electro-mobility (notably electric vehicles and public transport). Re-establishing Europe’s leadership on electricity storage (both large-scale and for vehicles). Ambitious projects will be developed in the fields of hydro capacity, compressed air storage, battery storage, and other innovative storage technologies such as hydrogen. These will prepare [...]

McKinsey: European hydrogen infrastructure ’justified and doable’

November 10, 2010

A study by consultancy McKinsey and Company (see link below) launched November 8 found that installing a dedicated hydrogen infrastructure is “justified and doable”, with an initial infrastructure investment which is “relatively low”. The report looked into a range of different vehicle powertrains. It found that both fuel cell electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles could be cost-competitive with internal combustion engines vhielces by 2020. The study found that costs for a hydrogen infrastructure are comparable to installing a charging infrastructure for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Fuel cell electric vehicles received “high marks” in all three categories analysed in the report: performance, economics and environment. The study said higher risk investments by first-movers can be greatly reduced when several companies invest, coordinated by governments, and supported by dedicated funding and legislation. The study was sponsored by BMW AG, Daimler AG, Ford, General Motors LLC, Honda R&D, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Nissan, Renault, Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen, ENI, Galp, OMV, Shell Downstream, Total, EnBW Baden-Wuerttemberg AG, Vattenfall, Air Liquide, Air Products, The Linde Group, Intelligent Energy Holdings plc, Powertech, Nordex (a wind power company), ELT Elektrolyse Technik, Hydrogenics, Hydrogen Technologies, Proton Energy Systems the Europe Climate Foundation [...]

3rd FCH JU Stakeholders General Assembly Reactions from 9th November

9 Nov - 9 Nov, 2010

The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative convened the 3rd Stakeholders General Assembly on the 9th of November 2010. Though European participants dominated in this EU based event, its attention was not unnoticed from the stakeholders in all areas of the globe. Representatives were present from industry, policy, and research organisations in Korea, Japan, Canada, Russia, and United States. The first day of the event had 4 sessions with themes: Commercialising clean energy,  Moving towards market creation – investing in a decarbonised transport system,  Global perspectives on Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies, Panel Discussion In Session 1, Member of the European Parliament, Ms. Lena Ek mentioned that among the coming topics of interest for the FC and Hydrogen sector include the Green Corridors and the awaited proposal from Commissioner for Transport, Simm Kallas. Ms. Ek commented on green vehicle rollout and the need for increased policy support, “Standardisation is top priority for the car industry and yet there is still no decision on plugs and outlets for electric vehicles.” Professor Herbert Kohler vice president e-drive & future mobility and group research chief environment officer for Daimler AG told the audience that Megacities should be the targets for future rollout [...]