EHA Newsletter March 2009

The EHA organised a meeting with the Brussels Transport Authority STIB, to discuss the integration of the hydrogen buses in their fleet. STIB has recently conducted a well to wheel analysis of alternative vehicles and demonstrated an interest in the use of hydrogen and natural gas mixtures to facilitate the development of internal  technical expertise in working with hydrogen. STIB currently is not investing in hydrogen buses but would be interested in testing the vehicles, not only buses. The hydrogen bus developed by Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool, has completed test runs for the “De Lijn” bus service in Antwerp last December. The EHA  in collaboration with the EHA’s Belgian association member, VSWB, is in discussion with the Brussels Environment Authority, BIM, to include the integration of  hydrogen applications in the Brussels Climate Plan.

The EHA presented national strategies at the Roads2HyCom Workshop “REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HYDROGEN PROJECTS” organised by Roads2HyCom in co-operation with HyER (formerly HyRaMP), the European Regions and Municipalitities Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells on March 4, 2009 in Brussels.  The EHA highlighted the developments in France (H2E project coordinated by Air Liquide) the German National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Programme NIP, and the Norwegian HYNOR projects. National hydrogen and fuel cell platforms in Spain, Portugal, Italy,  and the Czech Republic have been set up to complement the developments of the EU Joint Undertaking  In France and Greece new initiaitves to create a national platform have been launched. The UK Ministry of Industry is supprting the Fuel Cell UK network  The EHA is organzing a National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association workshop on June 17, 2009 in Brussels.

The Council of the EU’s leaders on March 19 – 20, 2009,  approved six Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects  as part of the EU Economic Recovery Plan, that will use pre- combustion technology, allowing the production of hydrogen as a by product.  The projects approved are located in Rotterdam in the Netherlands (two projects), Belchatow in Poland, three in the UK (Lingsnorth, Longannet and (tibury) and one in Italy.  The Industry Committee of the EU Parliament on March 31 called for guarantees that if money would not be used for earmarked projects before 2010 it would be spent  in energy efficiency and “smart city” projects. The Committee therefore wants the Commission to submit the proposal on the eligibility and selection criteria that apply for the energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to Parliament and Council by September 2009.

European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Daniela Hübner announced on March 9, 2009 that €105 billion will be invested in the “green economy” through the EU Cohesion Policy. The funding represents more than 30% of the regional policy budget for 2007-2013. Commissioner Hübner said: “Support for the green economy and the environment goes hand-in-hand with the Cohesion Policy’s objective to deliver sustainable growth, jobs and competitiveness. In a difficult financial climate, this investment will be instrumental in creating long-term employment and reviving local economies, as well as underpinning the EU’s commitment to the fight against climate change.”The €105 billion dedicated to green projects and jobs is almost three times greater than the sum allocated in the 2000-2006 budgetary period. A large part of the envelope (€54 billion) is designed to help Member States to comply with EU environmental legislation. With €48 billion targeted at measures aimed at achieving EU climate objectives and creating a low carbon economy, the Cohesion Policy is making a considerable contribution to these goals. This includes €23 billion for railways, €6 billion for clean urban transport, €4.8 billion for renewable energies and €4.2 billion for energy efficiency. The EU Parlaiment is expected to adopt the Commission proposal [...]

On the occasion of the Motorshow in Geneva the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the FIA Foundation launched the ’50 by 50′ Global Fuel Economy Initiative  to promote the development of a global car fleet that runs on 50% less fuel by 2050. The Initiaitve seeks to  boost the efficiency of all new cars by 50% by 2030, with the entire global fleet expected to reach this goal by 2050. The plan is set to reduce annual CO2 emissions by two gigatonnes (Gt) by 2050, while saving six billion barrels of oil. With the number of cars expecting to triple by 2050, the organisations behind the initiative say that achieving their goal could stabilise CO2 emissions at just above 2005 levels.

The World Bioenergy Clean Vehicles & Fuels 2009 combines the world’s premier bioenergy convention with the leading European event for sustainable transport solutions. The result is an integrated conference, excursion and tradeshow programme unlike any other. Three intensive days that focuses on the practical implementation of bioenergy and sustainable transport systems. The xcursions highlight a variety of commercial examples from Sweden and the greater Stockholm area. for more information click here

The II Iberic Symposium of Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Advanced Batteries is devoted to various aspects of research on hydrogen, fuel cells and advanced batteries. This symposium aims at bringing together experts from the various sub-disciplines to share current research and create an interdisciplinary forum for discussion that will include not only the Iberian scientific community, but also experts from other European countries, North and South America and Asia. More info: http://www.hyceltec2009.utad.pt/  

The United States Federal Transit Administration has released a report which reviews more than 20 hydrogen bus trials and demonstrations which operated worldwide between 2002 and 2007.  The trials were in the US, Europe, China, Japan and Australia.  Both internal combustion and fuel cell powered buses were trialled, as well as various fuelling and associated technologies. The resulting report analyses lessons learnt from the demonstrations, identifies key remaining challenges for introduction of the technology, and suggests potential roles for government in supporting commercialisation of fuel cell buses. The report can be downloaded here

“We have to make our zero emissions vehicles fascinating and beautiful,” said Mercedes-Benz’ research and development boss, Dr. Thomas Weber at the Geneva Motor Show 2009. This year Mercedes therefor will spend a chunk of his 8 billion euro budget doing just that. Weber is convinced that for him it will be money well spent and that companies that do so will not only be more likely to survive but will emerge from the financial crisis with added strength. He will be spending money on developing high technology diesel and petrol engines, hybrids and, as part of the company’s Concept BlueZERO programme, zero emissions electric vehicles – including fuel cells. This year, the new generation Mercedes B-class will be revealed and a small batch will be fuel cell powered. “We have changed the timeline for their introduction from 2010-11 to 2009,” said Weber. “This shows our clear commitment to roll out this technology around the globe.” Weber reckons that an effective network of hydrogen filling stations could be built in Germany for about 1.7bn euros: “A small amount compared to the money the banking community has burned in the last few months!” he added.