Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
1 CONTENTS
2 Mobile applications ...... 1 2.1 Another hybrid bus for Stuttgart ...... 1 2.2 Hamburger Hochbahn in transition ...... 2 3 Stationary Applications ...... 2 3.1 Fuel cells protect wind turbines ...... 2 3.2 Power for South Africa's rural regions ...... 3 4 Portable Applications ...... 3 4.1 Power in the pocket ...... 3 5 Infrastructure ...... 3 5.1 Production lines for refilling stations ...... 3 5.2 JX Nippon to build 100 refilling stations ...... 4 6 Research News ...... 4 6.1 Hydrogenase with umbrella ...... 4 7 Energy and Climate ...... 5 7.1 UBA demands strict rules for fracking ...... 5 7.2 Eating into the earth's capital ...... 5 8 Politics ...... 6 8.1 Setting a good example ...... 6 8.2 Role of hydrogen investigated ...... 6 8.3 Hesse promotes cogeneration, including fuel cells ...... 7 9 People ...... 7 9.1 Prof. Mao Zongqiang ...... 7
2 MOBILE APPLICATIONS
2.1 ANOTHER HYBRID BUS FOR STUTTGART
Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), the city transport utility, now operates two fuel hybrid buses. The new vehicle will soon serve the district of Fellbach. Since March already fuel cell hybrid buses serve another line to the airport. SBB now has four such buses. Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
Filling up for the new bus will be done at a station which was specially built on the ground of an energy supplier (EnBW). The other bus line also has a station at the airport. The new station generates hydrogen on site by means of electrolysis. Filling up takes some 20 minutes.
2.2 HAMBURGER HOCHBAHN IN TRANSITION
Hamburg's transport utility Hamburger Hochbahn AG promotes the development towards bus drives which are good for the environment. Bus maker Solaris was ordered to develop two battery buses of the Urbino type further and to equip them with a fuel cell as range extender. The range of the buses is expected to grow significantly in daily operation. Near the end of the year the new buses are expected to enter regular passenger service.
Günter Elste, head of HOCHBAHN, said: „From 2020 on HOCHBAHN intends to buy zero- emission buses only. Today these vehicles are not available from serial production, so we must test different technologies with the manufacturers. From the new vehicles we expect important insights. We will combine our fuel cell expertise with the knowledge gained in the operation of the battery buses.“
The new Solaris buses are driven by a 240 kW electric motor. Charging the batteries and filling up the hydrogen tanks is done over night at the depot.
(Hochbahn press release of 22. July 2014))
3 STATIONARY APPLICATIONS
3.1 FUEL CELLS PROTECT WIND TURBINES
Windkraft Service GmbH, a service company for maintenance, test and repair of wind turbines, uses fuel cells of the EFOY Pro type in a proprietary energy supply solution. The system is rented to wind turbine manufacturers to supply the warning lights during the building phase of the plants. The operation causes little effort: depending on the type of light (white or red) a fuel cartridge has to be exchanged after a few weeks or even months. The fuel cell system is for the plant manufacturer clearly advantageous in comparison to Diesel generators generally used now: Over 20 days of operation the generators consume 8000 l of Diesel while the fuel cells need only 75 l of their fuel. This saves costs and logistics efforts. The fuel cells offer also CO2 emissions which are far below those of the combustion engines.
Since the fuel cells can be operated inside the wind turbines, unlike the Diesel generators, there is less necessity to protect the building site against theft and vandalism, reducing the costs further.
(SFC press release of 1. July 2014). Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
3.2 POWER FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S RURAL REGIONS
Ballard and the South African mining company Anglo American Platinum, world's biggest platinum producer, jointly start a product for a field test of a generator running on methanol for off-grid rural regions. The 12 months project is supported by Eskom, South Africa’s power utility, and The Department of Energy of South Africa. The remote rural community Naledi Trust in the freestate province is off-grid enough in the eyes of the partners.
(Ballard press release of 5. August 2014)
4 PORTABLE APPLICATIONS
4.1 POWER IN THE POCKET
Sure, a mobile phone provider in the Channel Islands, has made an agreement with the British company Intelligent Energy to adopt the pocket fuel cell Upp for its program. There will be no more empty batteries just when you need power most urgent. The devices can even be taken on board of an airplane. Apart from phones they can charge cameras, speakers, games and all kinds of electronic devices. The starter pack (consisting of fuel cell and cartridge) is available now in Sure stores across the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for some 185 €, replacement cartridges are 12,50 € each, when exchanging an empty cartridge.
5 INFRASTRUCTURE
5.1 PRODUCTION LINES FOR REFILLING STATIONS
On July 14 the technology company The Linde Group started in Vienna the world's first small serial production for hydrogen refilling stations. Linde's centre for applied technology in Vienna was renewed and expanded considerably for this purpose.
One feature of the new small serial production is the higher degree of standardization of the components. They are put in a 14" container which can easily be transported and integrated into existing refilling stations. Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
On occasion of the opening of the production Linde and the Japanese company Iwatani announced that they have made an agreement on the delivery of 28 hydrogen refilling stations, all equipped with ionic compressors. The first of these plants started operation the very same day in Japanese Amagasaki near Osaka.
(Linde press release of 14. July 2014)
5.2 JX NIPPON TO BUILD 100 REFILLING STATIONS
The Japanese company JX Nippon Oil & Energy will build 100 hydrogen refilling stations in Japan until spring 2019 to provide to the creation of the infrastructure necessary for fuel cell cars. Right now they operate five stations. Until spring 2015 they air at 19, and 40 in spring 2016.
The development of the zero emission car with fuel cells is of great importance for the Japanese government, and the infrastructure is part of it. The plan is to have 100 stations until spring 2016. But at this time there are realistic plans only for 41.
One refilling station costs some 3.4 M€ in Japan. The government plans to support the work with subsidies amounting to 2 M€. The regulations will be made less strict and similar to those in the USA and Europe. This and some easing of requirements for building facilities in urban areas should make costs reductions of some 1 M€ possible, according to government estimates.
(Nikkei)
6 RESEARCH NEWS
6.1 HYDROGENASE WITH UMBRELLA
In every living cell there are certain enzymes known as „Hydrogenases“ which serve as catalysts for hydrogen production. The most efficient of them reach the turnover of platinum, while the elements they are made of are abundant without limit. So they could be an interesting alternative to noble metals.
Hydrogenases, however, cannot work under the conditions inside a fuel cell. Traces of oxygen and high electrical potentials make them inactive. So researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Muelheim an der Ruhr and the Ruhr University Bochum have invented an umbrella for the sensitive molecules. The key idea is to protect the catalyst by a protective matrix which suppresses the deactivation process by its properties. Fixation of it in a redox hydrogen serves for protection. The hydrogen is redox buffer and oxygen catcher at the same time. So neither high potentials nor oxygen act on the catalyst in the hydrogen film. Under certain conditions the fuel cell modified with the hydrogen can convert chemical energy from hydrogen into electrical energy for several weeks. Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
N. Plumeré u. a., Nature Chemistry 2014, doi:10.1038/nchem.2022
7 ENERGY AND CLIMATE
7.1 UBA DEMANDS STRICT RULES FOR FRACKING
Basically no, and if, only under strict rules - this is the position of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) on fracking in Germany. This is the key statement of a „Fracking-II“ expertise which presented on July 30 in Berlin.
The Federal Environment Agency recommends a comprehensive risk assessment of all fracking projects for the purpose of gas and oil extraction and for all testing measures. The UBA – like federal ministries for energy and for environment – continue to adhere to placing a ban without exception on every form of fracking in water protection areas and medicinal spring protection zones as well as other sensitive areas such as the drainage areas of lakes and river dams, nature conservation areas and Habitats Directive sites.
The UBA views the current fracking boom in the USA with caution due to climate protection concerns. „It would be better for our country to direct more focus on proven forms of environmentally friendly energy such as renewables. Furthermore, we must make the buildings in which fracking gas might be used for heating more energy efficient in the long term by bringing down gas consumption. Then we wouldn't need fracking gas in the first place.“
(UBA press release of 30. July 2014)
7.2 EATING INTO THE EARTH'S CAPITAL
19. August was „Earth Overshoot Day“. As you no doubt noticed ... did you?
This is how the Californian organization Global Footprint Network calls the approximate date humanity’s annual demand on nature exceeds what the Earth can renew this year. So we are eating in our ecological capital since August 19. Similar calculations can be made for individual states. One result is that seven Japans would be necessary to cover Japan's ecological consumption from sources inside its borders. The factor for Germany is 2.5. Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
8 POLITICS
8.1 SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE
The Japanese government under Prime Minister Abe has instructed all ministries and other offices to introduce fuel-cell cars as official vehicles. The administration is also mulling a subsidy program to help promote the next-generation green car.
Just a few days before the minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi had expressed himself in a very positive way about the technology and confirmed that his ministry will keep supporting it.
(Japan Times, 25. July 2014)
Remark: Don't you think, Mrs. Federal Chancellor, that this would be a really good idea ... ? It might facilitate the process when you give the first to the finance minister.
8.2 ROLE OF HYDROGEN INVESTIGATED
„Hydrogen and fuel cells have a great potential for the reduction of our dependence from oil imports“. According to Helmfried Meinel, Baden-Wuerttemberg state ministry for environment, climate, and energy economy, this is one key result of a new study „The role of hydrogen for energy turnaround“ which was presented during the opening of the 14. Ulm Electro-Chemical Talks on 24. June 2014. The study was made by Ludwig-Boelkow-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) for the State Agency for electro mobility and fuel cell technology e-mobil BW GmbH. At this time, is was said, nobody can predict the future of energy exactly. The only certainty is that for high shares from renewable sources we also need large storage capacities. New storage technologies to balance the variations of the input from renewable energy sources become more and more important. „Hydrogen technology gives us the key to store energy as we need it and to create values and to guarantee jobs in the state“, Meinel said about the further results of the study.
The study is available for free download (in German) underwww.e-mobilbw.de, „Publikationen“.
Hydrogen Mirror 5/2014
8.3 HESSE PROMOTES COGENERATION, INCLUDING FUEL CELLS
The ministry for economy of the state of Hesse promotes the proliferation of cogeneration plants, including fuel cells which are used for power and heat supply in companies and private homes. Under the new program up to 60 installations are supported with subsidies of 50 % of the investment costs, up to a maximum of 17 550 €.
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Initiative Hesse is the state platform which represents politics, economy, science, and society in this field; the initiative reacted positively to the program. „We welcome the support of the state for the market preparation of fuel cell heating appliances“, added Prof. Dr. Birgit Scheppat, head of the initiative. „We hope that this program will promote the demand for fuel cell products and enhance the attractivity of this young market. But more efforts must be made, also on the federal level, to bring fuel cell technology really into the market.“
(Press release of Hessen Agentur GmbH of 21. July 2014)
9 PEOPLE
9.1 PROF. MAO ZONGQIANG
ISO has appointed Prof. Mao Zongqiang of Tsinghua University (China) as vice chair of ISO TC 197 „Hydrogen Technologies“. In this capacity he will support chairman Andrei Tchouvelev from Canada. According to the general ISO policy he is expected in particular to care for the needs of the developing countries represented in the TC.
Prof. Mao is one of the most prominent advocates of hydrogen energy in his country. During his work for the famous Tsinghua University he was part of many projects in China and abroad. He is also member of many international organisations and committees and thus a guest on many international conferences.