European Hydrogen Association » National News

German-Canadian fuel cell collaboration in North Rhine Westphalia

lana — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:23:22 +0000

Christa Thoben, Minister for Economy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Canadian Vice consul Henri Proulx signed an agreement of collaboration between the Zentrum für Brennstoffzellentechnik (ZBT), of the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Canadian research institute NRC-IFCI (National Research Council Canada – Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation) on joint technology development for system components and operation in the 5 – 10 kW_el class for mobile applications with battery hybrid technologies. This collaboration, HiPerLoCo is in line with the electro mobility strategy of the energy region North Rhine-Westphalia in which battery and fuel cell are playing a complementary role. Other joint activites will cover optimisation of high quality power supply.

Annual Press Conference German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

lana — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:58:41 +0000

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.

Portugese Hydrogen Association publishes Lisbon Statement on Hydrogen

marieke — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:28:15 +0000

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.
• Governments should make efforts to balance their trend in decreasing carbon dioxide emissions with the implementation of effective technological and scientific programmes to promote the creation of a real Hydrogen based energy network.
• Governments should foster university graduation and post-graduation courses in
the field of Energy and promote experimental research in the field. Taking into account the multidisciplinary characteristics of the subject, and the traditional organization of universities in distinct departments, it is strongly recommended the creation of autonomous
Departments of Energy, which should lead the above mentioned graduation and post-graduation curricula in interaction with the other traditional departments. This process is well inspired in what universities did in the recent past with the creation of some successful new departments, as for instance the Environment ones.
• The Governments policies regarding the implementation of the Hydrogen Economy should assure that in case it comes from hydrocarbon transformations giving rise to carbon dioxide emissions, these must be sequestrated for further uses, or injected into the subsoil.

• Governments should prepare legislation in order to assure that fuel production raw materials and energy production devices must be taxed accordingly to the amount of produced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; for example, computing the tax from the electric energy equivalent price, taking into account the usual production in a thermoelectric power plant.
• These policies will significantly contribute to assure a trend to carbon-free energy technologies based on a vision of
a truly competitive economy, enabling global development.

• Energy based industries and related technological research centres should be encouraged to work in collaboration with the new university Energy Departments already proposed.

Those who agree with the Lisbon Statement for Hydrogen and Clean Energies are invited to do everything possible to contribute for dissemination of the ideas outlined in the present document.
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ENI opens another hydrogen / natural gas mixture station near Milan

marieke — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:06:15 +0000

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 stations by 2012, for the supply of natural gas on motorways and Lombardy’s streets. The agreement also sets up a minimum number of stations in relation to population: one station every 45 thousand inhabitants on the normal streets and one station every 30 km on highways.

Bulgarian Hydrogen Association requests EHA membership

marieke — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:22:24 +0000

Bulgarian Hydrogen Society (BG H2 Society) has been founded by the Ministry of Defense of Republic of Bulgaria, members of Bulgarian Parliament, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (UCTM) and Bulgarian Academy of Science as well as experts from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Technical University of Sofia and University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski”. BG H2 Society throughout the Hydrogen Technology Centre (UCTM) introduced the master course “Hydrogen Technology” and has been working in all of the major sections of the National programme for scientific research “Hydrogen Technologies – Hydrogen Economy”: fuel cells, materials for hydrogen power industry, modern methods for hydrogen production, storage and transport. A National Fund “Hydrogen and the Global Warming” was established within BG H2 Society in 2009, intended to accumulate funds from different sources, including the Bulgarian State Budget, in order to support projects within the National programme for scientific research “Hydrogen Technologies – Hydrogen Economy”.
BG H2 Society has also proposed an initiative to build the first hydrogen gas station in Sofia and is looking for the proper EU funding. The project includes independent solar power production and electrochemical hydrogen generation as well as the possibility for external tank-car refilling. For more information please consult the BG H2 website.

Towards cheaper fuel cells without platinum

moatti — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:42:14 +0000

French researchers have presented a study that enable to produce and use hydrogen by replacing platinum by a synthetic enzyme. This method should open a new era for the profitability of fuel cells by enabling the production of hydrogen from nickel, iron or cobalt, less expensive and rare than platinum.

Thus, scientists from Laboratoire de chimie et de biologie des métaux (LCBM) from Grenoble and from Institut du rayonnement de la matière de Saclay (IRAMIS) got inspired from hydrogenases, which are natural enzymes present notably in bacteria and using or producing hydrogen from nickel or iron. They originate from an era during which there was no oxygen on earth but carbon monoxide or hydrogen, and, as they are destructed by oxygen, are present in specific environments where hydrogen is profuse.

“Nature got along to produce hydrogen without platinum, that has inspired us” said Marc Fontecave from LCBM. This biomimetics approach came from the observation that some cyanobacteria can transform water to hydrogen thanks to solar energy. Thus, there are some hydrogenases realizing catalysis appealing to iron or nickel atoms. Researchers have put these “imitations” on carbon nanotubes which allows transplanting a lot of catalysts by unit areas on the electrode.

These promising results still have to be improved either by increasing the quantity of the catalyst on the electrode or by enhancing its chemistry as its speed is 10 to 100 times weaker than with plate and as there’s no real substitute to plate. “We have 10 or 20 working years in front of us” considered Vincent Artero, researcher in LCBM and coauthor of the study.

Michael Hamburger (Appalachian State University) et Thomas Moore (Arizona State University) have positively reacted to this announcement considering that “future optimizations of this compound could lead to viable catalyst, without noble metal, for fuel cell”.

French H-PAC Calls for Projects is out

moatti — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:54:05 +0000

H-PAC programme aims at developing a French free carbon hydrogen and fuel cells production mainly for stationary applications. At mid-term, H-PAC will promote the introduction of hydrogen in the energy mix to play both a role as a clean energy vector in stationary systems and as storage of renewable energies (wind energy, photovoltaic). At long term, the goal is to introduce at large scale, fuel cells in power supply systems for transport.

The program is based on three themes:

-Clean production

-Storage

-fuel cells in experimentation (PEMFC, SOFC)

In the framework, a call for projects is open to:

1) Research project in partnership between research institutes and enterprises.

2) Fundamental research to bring important technologic breakdown without necessarily partnership with a firm.

The deadline for the submission of the applications is March 15 2010 at 1pm.

More information here

First hydrogen refueling station in Czech Republic

moatti — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:57:41 +0000

The first hydrogen pumping station in the Czech Republic was launched into operation in Neratovice, central Bohemia, on November 5, after three years of preparations by the Nuclear Research Institute (ÚJV) in co-operation with Linde Gas. It has taken almost three years and three million Euro dollars to complete the station. Three quarters of the costs have been by state and EU subsidies. The station will use gaseous hydrogen pressures of 300 bars and a typical filling of a bus will takes about ten minutes. The project has an annual capacity of 72 thousand meters cubic (about six tons) of hydrogen.

“It’s not just one hydrogen station in the Czech Republic but throughout Central and Eastern Europe,” said Chief Marketing Officer of Linde Pavel Jirsa.

The prototype hydrogen bus in the Czech Republic is called the TriHyBus which was developed by Škoda Plzeň Electric. The bus will be a hybrid and have three complementary power sources – fuel cells, capacitors and batteries.

Fuel cell canal boat launched in Amsterdam

moatti — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:57:04 +0000

A fuel cell power boat was launched on 9 December to circling in the Amsterdam canals. The Nemo H2 which can transport up to 87 people, is a unique boat specially designed to run on a fuel cell engine, where hydrogen and oxygen combine to generate electricity and water, without creating carbon monoxide.

Tourists can now take a ‘CO2 Zero Canal Cruise’, for an additional 50 cents, which will fund additional research into carbon-cutting knowledge, added Freek Vermeulen, managing executive of Lovers Boat Company.

“That’s important in a city like Amsterdam with over 125 canal trips per day,” said Alexander Overdiep project manager.

If the innovative boat was twice as expensive to construct than a regular diesel canal boat, and has to break at a hydrogen dispensing station for a refill daily, while regular boats require a small amount of gas once a week, however, developers of the plan, which the Dutch government partly paid for, said expenses would decrease as more boats were built and tested, and if an additional hydrogen division infrastructure materialized.

Copenhagen opens Hydrogen Station in time for COP 15

marieke — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:47:45 +0000

The City of Copenhagen has inaugurated its first hydrogen fueling station. It has also unveiled eight new hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, comprising two work vehicles and six cars, that will refuel at the hydrogen station.

The inauguration sees Copenhagen pass the first milestone towards its ambitious goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral capital city by 2025. Later this year Copenhagen will also acquire 25 electric cars, bringing the total number of environmentally friendly vehicles to 33.

‘Today we are putting Copenhagen on the map as a champion of clean transport,’ says Technology and Environment Mayor, Klaus Bondam. ‘Together with [fuel cell vehicle integrator] H2 Logic, Copenhagen is setting in motion the development of hydrogen transport in Denmark and in northern Europe, because the hydrogen filling station in Copenhagen will help provide future hydrogen-powered vehicles from Scandinavia and Germany with hydrogen.’

The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle project is the result of a collaboration between Denmark and Canada, both world leaders in the development of green technology. Canada is particularly strong in fuel cell technologies.

The project is being coordinated by Hydrogen Link, the Danish network for research, development and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

The project aims to provide impetus for developments in the area. The City of Copenhagen has therefore taken the lead with the acquisition of hydrogen vehicles, while industry partner H2 Logic has invested in the hydrogen fueling station for the fuel cell vehicles.

‘I think it is extremely important for us to launch as many projects as possible within sustainable transport solutions, so that we ensure broad coverage of the possibilities rather than focusing solely on one technology or another,’ says Lars Barfoed, Danish Minister for Transport.