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Hydrogen is ready to forge a zero emission economy, FCH JU Stakeholder Forum confirms
Nov 25, 2019
“The green energy transition is not an option but a necessity. I see a pivotal role for clean hydrogen… it is an area where Europe is still leading. Why not extend the lead on something that could be one of the most important solutions for clean energy?”
Those were the words spoken by Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, in the opening session of the 2019 Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) Stakeholder Forum last week in Brussels, Belgium.
“The most important thing is that you help us to find ways to make relatively quick successes to show people that it works,” Timmermans continued, addressing the forum comprising energy and climate experts from industry, research, EU institutions and local and regional authorities.
Hydrogen is an essential component in Europe’s energy transition and its efforts to cut carbon emissions and tackle climate change. It is therefore expected to play an important role in the European Commission’s Green Deal.
The fuel cell and hydrogen sector is also a valuable source of future jobs and growth in a green economy.
Discussions among more than 500 forum participants in Brussels’ Charlemagne building last Thursday (21st November) focused on how to tackle the remaining hurdles to deployment, the importance of promoting an innovation culture in activating new markets, and the impact of synergies and international scale-up efforts on growth and jobs.
Delegates explored the latest developments in the sector, showing how Europe is capitalising on new fuel cell and hydrogen developments and forging ahead towards a zero emission economy.
Speakers in the four sessions reflected on the latest FCH JU achievements and the ways to strengthen the relationship between private and public stakeholders in this fast-growing sector.
They underlined the need for scaling-up, for shaping-up regulation, as well as for strengthened public support and funding synergies.
Speakers
Bart Biebuyck, FCH JU Executive Director, welcomed the participants and highlighted the programme results: “By the end of the year, the FCH JU will have supported 263 projects for a combined public private investment of €2bn. In these projects, for every Euro of public money, the private sector has equally supplied one Euro.”
“In Horizon 2020 alone, we are reaching a total leverage effect of 2.5 despite the fact that only 0.6 was required by the regulation. In other words, the private partners have committed four times more investment than originally required. This demonstrates the huge willingness of the sector to invest.”
Vale´rie Bouillon-Delporte, Chair of the FCH JU Governing Board and President of industry association Hydrogen Europe said, “Hydrogen is here to grow, and massively. It will enable the deepest decarbonisation scheme the world has ever seen.”
“To this purpose, Horizon Europe presents a real opportunity to speed up the innovation cycle toward fully decarbonised energies.”
Herald Ruijters, DG MOVE, remarked, “We planted the seed through joint public private investments in key projects that enable what I feel as being a very different hydrogen momentum.”
“We can deliver fast, at competitive prices and safely,” confirmed Nils Anders Røkke of the Norwegian independent research organisations SINTEF.
“We are happy we are based in Europe. It is the place on the globe to be to develop these technologies,” added Nils Aldag of Sunfire, a leading global cleantech company.
Marc d’Hooge, European Investment Bank, said, “Synergies are important. There are many actors involved and lots to do as hydrogen needs a bigger scale and there are too many small initiatives.”
European Commission Director General for Energy Ditte Juul Jørgensen addressed the participants in the closing of the forum and said, “Renewable Hydrogen is the basis for sectoral integration, for energy transition, and shall become a cost-effective pathway to succeed the clean energy transition.”
“Studies indicated that if we tap into the full potential offered by green hydrogen, we would be able to reduce our CO2 emissions with 96% by 2050.”
Mauro Petriccione, Director General for Climate Action in the European Commission, completed the picture, “Hydrogen will be even more at the centre of the energy transformation and the question is how much faster do we want the hydrogen technologies to be deployed and marketed if we want to achieve our decarbonisation plans?”
“We see a potential for production to be scaled-up rapidly, we see the potential for the market to pick up rapidly, but we need to make sure that two are matching – fast enough for the purpose of the transformation we envisage and that European citizens are asking for.”
“We need a market mechanism that brings supply and demand together which will receive initially public support until is able to self-regulate itself… Thank you for what you are doing for developing this wonderful technology,” concluded Petriccione.
During the Stakeholder Forum, participants and those passing by the Charlemagne building of the European Commission, had the opportunity to see some of the most innovative racing vehicles powered by hydrogen.
They were presented by the ACO – H24Racing team and Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing of University of Delft – the first hydrogen electric racing team in the world.
Moreover, the FCH JU, together with the ACO and Hydrogen Europe signed a letter of intent to promote hydrogen technology, demonstrate its potential and actively contribute to the energy transition.
“Cars are our thing, but our objective is mobility, freedom of movement for all, but with an eye on the future, making sure we leave a planet for new generations to enjoy,” said Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
https://www.h2-view.com/story/hydrogen-is-ready-to-forge-a-zero-emission-economy-fch-ju-stakeholder-forum-confirms/
UK and Germany mull boosting cooperation on hydrogen production with offshore wind
21 Nov 2019
Hydrogen production with renewable power is seen by many countries as an essential tool to decarbonise the economy. The UK and Germany, the world’s two leading offshore wind power nations, have started to sound out how they could combine their expertise in one of the most productive renewable energy sources to master large-scale hydrogen generation at sea. But while hydrogen looks promising especially for the decarbonisation of the most stubbornly CO2-intensive activities, Germany's environment ministry warns against relying on it as a panacea.
The United Kingdom and Germany are ready to expand their cooperation in offshore wind power production and to take the lead in establishing hydrogen production with renewable energy as a key technology for global decarbonisation efforts, officials of both countries stated at a conference organised by German offshore wind industry association BWO held in the UK's embassy in Berlin.
British ambassador Sebastian Wood said his country was actively looking for new cooperation projects with Germany's offshore wind power industry. German offshore wind power companies already play a major role in the UK's renewables sector and have created many jobs in economically weak regions, Wood said, stressing that the two countries are leaders in worldwide offshore wind power development and deployment. "Our combined share in Europe's total installed offshore wind power capacity stood at 85 percent last year," he said, adding that this leadership could be extended to also champion hydrogen production with wind power.
He argued that hydrogen production could make a substantial contribution to emissions reduction and help decarbonise sectors that are particularly hard to tackle, such as industry, heavy transport or heating of buildings. With respect to uncertainties related to the UK government's intention to leave the European Union, the ambassador said that despite the "windy political environment" due to the forthcoming general elections and Brexit, co-operation on offshore wind power and other decarbonisation efforts would continue "whatever the outcome." Climate change mitigation would remain a priority for all of the country's major political parties, Wood said.
Establishing full production chain in Europe key to market leadership
The German government is due to publish an official hydrogen strategy in December that will outline how producing H2 with renewable energy sources can close many technology gaps in an effort to push the economy towards climate neutrality, as part of its energy transition, the Energiewende. Power generation with offshore wind turbines is generally much more reliable and productive than with onshore wind thanks to the usually stronger and more constant breezes at sea.
Moreover, onshore wind power in Germany currently faces severe hurdles, as expansion levels have collapsed due to regulatory difficulties and little acceptance of more turbines by a number of citizen initiatives. Excessive power production at times of little demand or high wind input that otherwise leads to turbines being taken offline to avoid grid congestion could instead be used to produce hydrogen on site for later use.
Andreas Feicht, state secretary for energy in the economy ministry (BMWi), said that offshore wind was projected to cover a significant share of Germany's energy demand in the future, not least as a method for hydrogen production. He said that European countries should strive to develop entire hydrogen production value chains together to make sure they retain their lead in this promising market. In early November, economy minister Peter Altmaier said Germany had to become "the global number one" in hydrogen production and for doing so beat Asian countries – in particular China and Japan – to claim technology leadership.
In its Climate Action Programme 2030, Germany raised the expansion target for offshore wind to 20 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity by the end of the coming decade. Feicht, who met with representatives from Germany's coastal states and grid operators earlier that day to discuss how the new target can be implemented, said it was "challenging" but assured that everyone was "confident and committed" to make it work. He said that preparations for implementing the increased target had already begun, with basic planning for construction sites and grid connections expected to be finished next year.
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/uk-and-germany-mull-boosting-cooperation-hydrogen-production-offshore-wind
German states say “yes” to hydrogen
NOVEMBER 25, 2019
Five states in Northern Germany jointly adopted the North German Hydrogen Strategy, through which they will prioritize and promote the use of hydrogen in their respective energy transitions.
Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein want to make use of the region’s wind power to generate electricity in an environmentally friendly manner and then storing the generated hydrogen underground. According to the strategy, it will later be exported through the local seaports.
Hamburg developing capabilities
Hamburg has had its sights on the potential of hydrogen for years now. Earlier this year, the city announced the construction of the world’s largest hydrogen plant in its port. With a staggering capacity of 100 megawatts electrolysis, it will surpass every plant currently in use. It transforms generated electricity into a gas fuel that can be transported and used at a later date. The potential and the opportunities presented by the project are enormous, according to local and state officials and should be made us of as quickly as possible.
Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics and Transport of Hamburg stated that “The issue of hydrogen is close to my heart. The hydrogen industry is to become a pillar of the energy transition and that of traffic.”.
The approach of the 5 German states should result in a capacity of over 500 megawatts becoming available in the region by 2025. By 2030, the amount should be 5 gigawatts and should be able to supply every single car registered in Schleswig-Holstein with energy. Eventually, the state governments want to create a hydrogen station filling network which will cover Northern Germany.
The ministers of the five state governments realize, however, that on their own they will not be able to achieve their ambitions in their entirety. Which is why they will be approaching the federal government for aid in developing the country’s untapped yet boundless hydrogen potential.
https://www.themayor.eu/en/german-states-say-yes-to-hydrogen
Hydrogen: The long overdue solution
24 November 2019
Energy transition and decarbonisation are becoming increasingly critical to addressing the ever-growing concerns of climate change. In spearheading decarbonisation efforts, we must pay special attention to the development of hydrogen.
Hydrogen is more than just another option that we can add to the long list of clean technology as it can provide an energy supply which is uniquely flexible. This added flexibility can empower existing clean technologies to reach their full potential in areas that would otherwise have not been possible. Amid clean energy growth, this may prove to be a keystone for decarbonisation efforts.
The other energy world
In a world proliferated with many ‘zero-carbon’ innovations, a clear vision of the role hydrogen plays in reducing emissions can be difficult. To illustrate hydrogen’s role in meeting energy demands, it may be helpful to simplify the world’s energy uses into two separate energy consumption ‘worlds’. The ‘electricity world’ provides for end-uses like computers and other electronics and the ‘fuel world’ which provides for demands such as cars and gas stoves.
While both these worlds seek rapid decarbonisation solutions, individual energy consumptions are annoyingly picky. Consumption can only be satisfied if it is met with energy supply in the right location, time, and form. This state poses a myriad of constraints on electricity-supplying clean technologies like solar, wind and geothermal energy – all of which are touted as ‘renewable energy’ technological stars of the 21st century.
On a global scale, the alternative technology-rich electricity and power sectors only accounted for 18.9 percent of the total energy consumption in 2017. The remaining 81 percent of the energy demands in the fuel world do not enjoy the same selection of abatement options, making their decarbonisation more complicated and challenging.
To possibly attain deep carbon abatement, it is critical that we find good ways to funnel more existing abatement solutions into that fuel-dominant 81 percent. In an attempt to facilitate that, the concept of ‘electrification’ – turning traditionally fuel-run processes into electricity-run – gained traction.
This concept is part of the reason electric cars and industrial electrification have made their debuts. Nevertheless, this, too, faces severe limitations to how much of the fuel-dominated 81 percent can we feasibly migrate to the electricity world. However, an alternative solution is emerging.
Energy magician
That solution is hydrogen. Hydrogen is the second scalable energy carrier that has the potential of bridging the gap between zero-carbon energy supplies and targeted energy demands. In an incredibly unique way, hydrogen presents itself as the sole commercial technology to transform energy from electricity to its fuel form.
When a new channel like this joins the major energy forms of electricity and fuel, many subsystems in the energy system that have either no or limited ties previously will be bridged for the first time. Thanks to these new linkages, renewable energy is allowed to compete in battlegrounds it was once forbidden to enter. Because hydrogen has direct industrial uses, it enables solar and wind technologies to supply clean hydrogen directly without the need to produce it by carbon-intensive methods. Because of hydrogen’s undisputed superiority in energy density, it can rival traditional fossil fuel technologies in long-haul freight shipping, a weakness that forbade electricity and batteries from entering the same market.
As a testament to the flexibility of hydrogen in guiding energy transfer in a complex energy supply chain, the Energy Transition Commission has affirmed that hydrogen will play a major role in decarbonising “harder-to-abate” sectors and projected that increase in the demand for this technology could be as much as 11 times. In their initiative named “Mission Possible”, a series of decarbonisation strategies have been drawn for those “harder-to-abate” sectors, and hydrogen is unanimously cited as one of the prospective solutions. With such versatility, it is easy to see why hydrogen can become one of the most important technologies to be added to the toolkit of energy transition.
‘Third hydrogen rebirth’
But despite the surrounding excitement, hydrogen is no new concept. There have been several previous waves of hydrogen that unceremoniously ended without any fruition in the 1970s, 1990s, as well as early 2000s. In a fashion similar to “the boy who cried wolf”, there are many calls for scepticism over how this cry of excitement will be any different from the last. After all, there is still a steep curve in trying to get pilot technologies to market hydrogen while facing the headwinds of fierce market competition from incumbent technologies.
Nevertheless, at this juncture it is also worth remembering that the development of hydrogen, like all technological developments, will have to walk its rite of passage through decades of technological and economical trial-and-error before finally making its way to commercialisation. But with every wave of development of hydrogen technology, the possibility for the technology to take off becomes more imminent. In the past few years, major institutions like the Hydrogen Council, International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association in China as well as the Australian Hydrogen Council have sprouted up in quick succession, echoing global momentum in hydrogen development.
Unlike the first few waves of hydrogen development which had their main focus on hydrogen transport (in which hydrogen vehicles are still struggling), hydrogen has drawn attention from a much wider range of applications which parallels its full potential. With the dramatic increase in the number of sectors interested in its development, hydrogen is experiencing overwhelming international and cross-sectorial awareness as never before.
This shift, combined with rising global calls for decarbonisation, means many sectors are counting on the maturity of this technology as an escape route to live up to the ever-tightening targets of global emission regulations. Therefore, new hydrogen-related projects that have been deployed in the past 10 years have been increasingly diverse.
In ASEAN, we are beginning to see countries embarking on the pursuit of hydrogen as a new energy carrier. In the past few years, Malaysia had its first hydrogen buses taking to the streets in the city of Kuching in the state of Sarawak. Brunei set up its first international hydrogen supply chain with the Advanced Hydrogen Chain Association for Technology Development (AHEAD). Singapore has also begun test-bedding hydrogen systems with the Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator Singapore (REIDS) – a R3D (Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment) platform.
But despite these developments, the hydrogen economy is still at its infancy in ASEAN and Southeast Asia could benefit significantly by drawing experiences from Japan and the European Union.
Once again, the waves of hydrogen development pushes one step closer to taking off. The tide rises. Opportunities and critiques alike watch on. As these waves crash against the rising shores, perhaps the critical question is: when the time is due for hydrogen, will ASEAN be well-positioned to take advantage of it?
https://theaseanpost.com/article/hydrogen-long-overdue-solution
EU sees important role for clean hydrogen in Europe’s energy transition
NOVEMBER 26, 2019
Clean hydrogen can play a pivotal role for in EU energy transition, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans has said.
“I see a pivotal role for hydrogen, for clean hydrogen. I see it because clean hydrogen is an area where Europe is still leading, marginally leading but still leading. Why we are marginally leading? Because others are catching up, which isn’t bad,” Timmermans said, addressing the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking conference in Brussels on 21 November. “But, hey, let’s try and develop a bit of pride and we should keep leading on this. We’re not leading on batteries; we missed that opportunity years ago – we’re now trying to catch up with that. But why not extend the lead on something that could be one of the most important solutions in our energy transition,” he added.
Timmermans highlighted that hydrogen could be applied using a lot of gas infrastructure that is already available in Europe. “It is important because hydrogen could be applied using a lot of infrastructure we already have, whereas the problem we will have with other forms of renewable energy – solar and wind – in the coming years is that because we had such a concentration on providing the tools for creating that energy and frankly we neglected the fact that for this to work we need networks, we need the grids and there we have a shortcoming,” Timmermans said.
The Commission First Vice President said, “Hydrogen is interesting because there the grids could be in large parts of Europe – much easily adapted from the traditional fossil fuels for hydrogen and even if we are much savvy with our technology, a combination of fossil and hydrogen could be used.”
Meanwhile in Athens at a regional conference by the Institute for Energy of South East Europe (IENE), Andrey Kopoplyanik, adviser to Gazprom Export and Professor at Russian State Gubkin Oil & Gas University, highlighted the production of hydrogen from natural gas, arguing that Russia, which has extensive natural gas resources can help meet Europe’s climate goals.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/eu-sees-important-role-for-clean-hydrogen-in-europes-energy-transition/
Consortium to study hydrogen transportation in Belgium
Nov 26, 2019
Seven major industrial players and public stakeholders have signed a cooperation agreement to deliver projects that shape the production, transport and storage of hydrogen in Belgium.
Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME), Engie, Exmar, Fluxys, Port of Antwerp, Port of Zeebrugge and WaterstofNet will together study the entire hydrogen import and transport chain for a year.
The aim of the study is to map the financial, technical and regulatory aspects of the various components in the logistics chain: production, loading and unloading and transport by sea and via pipelines.
The outcome of the analysis must be a roadmap that indicates the best way to transport hydrogen for the various applications in the energy and chemical sector.
The results of this analysis, which are expected to be ready in approximately one year, will form the bridge towards concrete projects.
Luc Vandenbulcke, CEO of DEME, said, “We strongly believe that hydrogen can play a crucial role in the CO2-free energy transition.”
“As a pioneer in the development, construction and financing of offshore wind farms, we want to make full use of our expertise for the production, transport and storage of green hydrogen from renewable energy sources.”
“Thanks to this unique partnership of ports and industry, Belgium can play a leading role in the green hydrogen economy and further reduce CO2 emissions.”
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp, said, “We want to give every chance to hydrogen as an energy carrier, as basic element for chemistry and as a fuel, and therefore commit ourselves as an active pioneer of the hydrogen economy. As Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster, we are an important link in this.
“We also look at collaboration with spearhead clusters and knowledge institutions and want to learn from this hydrogen coalition for our international ambitions.”
https://www.h2-view.com/story/consortium-to-study-hydrogen-transportation-in-belgium/
Exclusive: Toyota bullish on hydrogen as a pathway for zero-emission mobility
Nov 26, 2019
Few could argue that Toyota isn’t at the forefront of the current hydrogen mobility movement.
It’s flagship vehicle, the Mirai, is almost synonymous with the hydrogen-fuelled vehicle network today. Since its arrival in 2014, over 10,000 models of the Mirai have been sold world-wide and it remains one of only six fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) models in commercial production.
It’s also often this sleek saloon car that’s the subject of lavish liveries and demonstrative decals carrying an organisation’s message of clean mobility far and wide; most of us will be familiar with a high-profile publicity launch featuring a Toyota Mirai emblazoned with some sort of branding.
But crucially, it’s the nuts-and-bolts road experience that Toyota’s Mirai is excelling at too; dedicated to making hydrogen mobility a seamless transition from the conventional motoring experience of the past and present to the clean and sustainable experience of tomorrow.
Indeed, this author is one of the relative few that has been fortunate to drive and refuel one, and couldn’t help but be impressed by both the technology and the lack of fuss when using it. After the first few minutes had passed, the experience was comparable with driving any other modern vehicle today, which is testament to the successful efforts of all those at Toyota that have devoted their work to the trailblazing vehicle.
And according to Nathan Kokes, Mobility and Advanced Technology Communications Manager for Toyota North America, Mirai customers tend to feel the same way. “Customers consistently tell us that they absolutely love their Mirai. They enjoy everything about the car,” he says to H2 View. “From the quick refuelling, to the long range to the quiet operation and premium feel, and especially the fact that it is a zero-emission vehicle that only emits water from the tailpipe.”
“We would be able to sell many more vehicles if the build-out of the infrastructure was happening at a quicker pace.”
Wham, there we are – no need for any editorial range anxiety, our exclusive interview has already arrived at the challenges facing the hydrogen mobility market. “The infrastructure development was and is the continual challenge with hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle adoption,” Kokes affirms.
Toyota is certainly doing its bit to overcome many of the inherent challenges facing the hydrogen mobility cause.
From its active membership of associations and organisations the world over, not least as a steering member of the Hydrogen Council, to its partnerships with fellow stakeholders in this space and its own diligent development work internally, the Japanese manufacturer is working tirelessly to prove the case for FCEVs and challenge range anxieties, safety perceptions, infrastructure problems and cost constraints to name a few.
Ballard purchases first fleet of FCEVs for British Columbia
Developments this year alone include Toyota Australia revealing plans in March to build a $7.4m Hydrogen Centre with commercial grade hydrogen station in Melbourne as part of a wider network build across Australian states and territories, the development of a stationary fuel cell generator installed by Toyota Motor Corporation at its Honsha Plant grounds in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, and in Europe the collaboration with oil and gas company Eni to speed up the spread of hydrogen mobility in Italy. Toyota will provide a fleet of 10 Mirai’s on the road that will refuel at a new Eni hydrogen station in San Donato Milanese.
In North America, our region in focus this issue, Toyota has this year continued its mission to work with other hydrogen stakeholders across Canada to put in place the necessary fuelling infrastructure, training, service and support – and of course vehicles – to support the adoption of FCEVs. The company is the first automaker to bring hydrogen FCEVs to Canada en masse, with Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems the latest recipient of a fleet of Mirai’s in July.
In the US, “we are planning a number of great programmes that we are targeting to announcing next year,” said Kokes.
2020 vision & beyond – the Mirai 2.0
The company is also working hard internally to make hydrogen mobility more feasible and cost-effective, recognising the lack of cost parity between the components of hydrogen-powered vehicles and their hybrid counterparts and actively trying to overcome this. “We have made great strides in reducing costs of the fuel cell system components,” Kokes says.
“We are confident in our R&D teams that over the next several years, we continue to find efficiencies in the development of components so the trend in cost reduction will keep dropping.”
Toyota has been working with BMW to further improve drive systems and fuel cell technology since 2013, and the two companies have gone on to jointly develop fuel cell technology in the years since, with BMW describing Toyota as a ‘strong development partner’ in a recent interview with H2 View.
From next year, much of this R&D work by Toyota will culminate in the launch of the second generation Mirai. Unveiled ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show in October, the next generation Mirai seeks to tackle increases in driving range and the ‘desire’ factor of owning an FCEV, with its impactful exterior design, even sleeker bodywork and 20-inch diameter wheels. The vehicle targets a 30% increase in driving range through improvements to its fuel cell system and the use of larger on-board hydrogen tank capacity.
H2 View was talking to Kokes ahead of the 2019 LA Auto Show (LAAS) where the company was also debuted, and he added, “The next-generation Mirai is absolutely gorgeous. Our design and engineering teams have outdone themselves and we are extremely excited about this new vehicle.”
Initial deployment of the second generation Mirai is scheduled for Japan, North America and Europe in 2020, furthering the footprint of the vehicle and Toyota’s aim to be a leader in realising a hydrogen energy society.
For Kokes, that’s a journey that has been almost 20 years in the making, with his zest for all things hydrogen and alternative fuels beginning at the turn of the century. “My interest in alternate fuel technologies started when I drove one of the early Prius pre-production models in 2000,” he explains. “When I came to my first stop light and the ICE engine shut off and the vehicle was completely silent for a few minutes, and then automatically started when I touched the accelerator – I remember thinking how if this technology was applied to millions of cars, how much of an emissions reduction impact it could have.”
“After that I was hooked on all things alternative fuels and knew I wanted to work in the advanced technology space. In the course of researching my new found passion, I learned about Toyota’s parallel R&D efforts in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and was fascinated.”
“In my roles at Toyota in Market Research and Product Strategy, I had the opportunity to test early prototypes including a few Highlanders retrofitted with FCEV systems. The beauty of the systems was immediately apparent: the ability to replicate the current ICE customer experience of fast and easy refuelling at a “gas station” and long-range driving, but with the huge benefit of zero-emissions.”
“But I truly became enamoured with the technology when I was tasked with managing the Mirai marketing launch in the US. We needed to find trailblazing customers who were committed to making a difference in the world. We began a robust education campaign to help people understand what an FCEV was and how it has a minimal impact on the environment and what the experience would be to own one. The task was extremely challenging and extremely fun and rewarding at the same time. The effort felt like we were helping to change the world for the better by promoting this new technology that was easy to use without emitting harmful pollutants.”
In this timeframe Kokes has enjoyed a position at the heart of both the hydrogen mobility movement and the conventional ICE vehicle space, so how does he describe the change in the automotive ecosystem? “There has definitely been growth in the overall alternative fuels space. We have seen the growth of both the number of vehicles offered and the total sales,” he says.
“However, we need to acknowledge we are still in the early stages. Zero-emission vehicles, BEV and FCEV account for only about 1% of the overall market. Total alternative fuelled vehicles including: Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles boosts that number up to about 4.5%. So there is still a long way to go to educate the public about the benefits of advanced technology vehicles and grow the overall share to make a positive environmental impact.”
Bullish: Toyota on hydrogen as a pathway
Kokes is effusive about the Hydrogen Council and its fundamental role in informing this public perception, noting that, “It is very important to have consortiums like the Hydrogen Council to bring together all stakeholders and guide external communications, help create standards, serve as an open discussion platform and information sharing opportunity.”
He’s also well aware of the need for scale in the cost of hydrogen per kg, and the safety message to be reinforced to the public at large – both of which Toyota is again working hard to achieve or overcome.
Asked what kind of cost per kg of hydrogen we might need to reach for hydrogen as a fuel to become more attractive to the consumer, he responds, “It is difficult to say. That number is different for everyone and it also depends on the cost of gasoline and other geopolitical factors that are happening at any given time.”
“For the Mirai, to help vehicle adoption, Toyota is covering the cost for up to three years or $15K of hydrogen, whichever comes first.”
When it comes to safety, Kokes affirms that hydrogen mobility is just as safe as conventional vehicles – and Toyota arguably has the proof to back that up, with so many Mirai models on the road and so many customers in the US. “Toyota has engineered the Mirai to be as safe, if not safer, than a gasoline vehicle. We have an overview of the fuel cell system safety on the Toyota.com website.”
“Additionally, we have posted engineering testing videos, such as the bullet test, where a high-calibre round is shot into a tank. The result is remarkable in how unremarkable the result is; just a puff of carbon fibre dust from the tank sidewall as the gas vents from the bullet hole. No dramatic Hollywood explosion, because our engineers have made these tanks extremely strong.”
This again appears to epitomise the offering of clean mobility provided by Toyota – no fuss, no drama, and instead a safe, reliable and user-friendly driving experience. But if the value proposition it provides is deliberately understated, make no mistake about the company’s bold ambitions for hydrogen vehicle technology and the future.
As the journey of our interview comes to an end, Kokes asserts, “Toyota is bullish on hydrogen as a pathway for zero-emission transportation. This technology provides consumers a similar vehicle ownership experience that they are used to with normal gasoline vehicles – fuel up at a station for about five minutes and have long-range driving capability. Additionally, a big benefit of hydrogen fuel cells is their ability to handle a range of activities including heavy duty semi-trucks as well as building electrical needs.”
“We see great opportunity for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles to be key part of Toyota’s overall electrification portfolio of vehicles.”
https://www.h2-view.com/story/exclusive-toyota-bullish-on-hydrogen-as-a-pathway-for-zero-emission-mobility/
A New Record On A Hydrogen Car Shows Consumers Can Save The Planet
Nov 25, 2019
The Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard will set a new record, travelling from France to Belgium through Luxembourg, encouraging more people to adopt alternative mobility.
Owner of a Hyundai Kona Electric himself and ambassador of the Korean brand, Piccard will try to establish a record of autonomy on the hydrogen SUV Hyundai NEXO. While the model is homologated with 666km of autonomy, the goal is to reach a new symbolic threshold with a full tank.
Piccard presented this new project and his broader mission at G-STIC, the tech and sustainability conference, in Brussels last Thursday. He is leaving on November 25 from Sarreguemines, in Moselle, where the first French hydrogen station was opened in 2017.
Piccard will then drive without further refueling for a record 700km and reach Le Bourget, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, via Metz, Luxembourg and Brussels by the end of tomorrow.
His goal is to promote the technology to local authorities.
“My trips attracted a lot of attention from the public institutions and this one shows that you can set records with ready-to-use products,” Piccard said. “I drive a car you can use with your family and today these technologies allow us to do things we were not allowed to do before, which is something I want to prove.”
However, while solar energy and biomass are expected to generate more in the longer term, hydrogen is still currently produced from fossil fuels for the most part. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 95% of the hydrogen produced in the United States only is made by natural gas reforming in large central plants.
In an attempt to demonstrate that logical and ecological solutions exist and can generate profit, Piccard founded the Solar Impulse Foundation. He wants to achieve this by selecting a portfolio of 1,000 Efficient Solutions within the next two years. Judged and labelled by independent experts, there are 287 products or services defined as such so far.
The present record drive is just the latest project for the Swiss psychiatrist, aviator and balloonist. Indeed, the Solar Impulse Foundation was named after the aircraft used in 2016 for his world-wide solar plane trip and since then Piccard gained more fame with his powerful speeches.
“We are consuming the capital of nature by polluting the air and the waters, by destroying biodiversity and by deploying resources. This is not capitalism, this is a way to rape nature for short term profit. If a company was run like the world is run, the CEO would be in jail,” he told Forbes.com. “People always believe that the future will be an extrapolation of the past, but the future is disruptive and we have to change our mindsets because we are going to be really in trouble if we don’t.”
The organizers of G-STIC 2019 put a special focus on energy, stressing the importance of renewables and the transition to modern district energy systems.
“Without deep technological innovation, we will not achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Veerle Vandeweerd, cofounder and policy director at G-STIC, said. “I think that the most challenging issue is that we all know it’s impossible to continue business as usual, but there are not enough market-ready disruptive solutions. The research is not going fast enough.”
Dirk Fransaer, founder and chair at G-STIC, added: “In terms of technology and innovation, our society is going forward. I am convinced that the regular business models are definitely going to change.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emanuelabarbiroglio/2019/11/25/a-new-record-on-a-hydrogen-car-shows-consumers-can-save-the-planet/#2b9cf125288f
Chart is in a nice steady ascending pattern
World’s largest “green” hydrogen pilot commences operation
20 November 2019
The world’s largest “green” hydrogen production facility has commenced operation at a steel mill in Austria, where it will seek to demonstrate that fossil fuels can be replaced for industrial uses such as steel production.
The 6MW “CO2-neutral” hydrogen production facility is backed by 18 million ($A29 million) in funding from the European Union, and is intended to test whether CO2-neutral (“green”) hydrogen is suitable for use on an industrial scale.
The H2FUTURE project – partnering with Voestalpine Steel and Service Centre, where the facility is located, VERBUND, Siemens, Austrian Power Grid, K1-MET, and TNO – is looking to replace fossil fuels with green hydrogen as a means to power steel production over the long term.
“Green hydrogen produced through electrolysis, using electricity from renewable energy sources, can be used by industries like steel production, refineries, methanol or ammonia, making their products green,” said Bart Biebuyck, executive director of the Fuel Cell Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).
Voestalpine is currently investigating the practical application of using a hybrid technology to bridge between the company’s existing coke/coal-based blast furnace route and electric arc furnaces powered with green electricity partly generated using green hydrogen.
If the technology proves economically feasible, Voestalpine could reduce its CO2 emissions by around a third between 2030-35.
Over the long-term, however, Voestalpine is hoping to use green hydrogen to reduce its CO2 emissions by a total of over 80% by 2050.
“We have set ourselves a clear goal of greater direct avoidance of CO2 emissions in steel manufacturing over the coming years,” saidHerbert Eibensteiner, Chairman of the Management Board of Voestalpine AG.
“With the start of operations at the world’s largest hydrogen pilot plant at our site in Linz, we have succeeded in taking a significant step towards driving this technological transformation.”
The new green hydrogen production facility uses a Siemens Silyzer 300 proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysissystem which splits water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen and can generate 1,200 cubic metres of green hydrogen.
“Siemens has a history of focusing on clean energy, including its generation, distribution, and application,” said Wolfgang Hesoun, Chairman of the Management Board of Siemens AG Österreich. “Efficient technologies are a key element in curbing climate change with its dramatic consequences.
“We are delighted to see this new technology in use for the first time as part of this project,” Hesoun added. “This outstanding project is an important step towards global decarbonization.”
https://reneweconomy.com.au/worlds-largest-green-hydrogen-pilot-commences-operation-66722/
Air Liquide and Sinopec open two hydrogen stations in China
20 November 2019
Air Liquide and Sinopec have opened two new hydrogen stations in the Jiading district of Shanghai, China.
In early November, gasworld reported that the French industrial gas giant and Asia’s largest refiner signed a memorandum of understanding to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen mobility solutions and will provide competitive hydrogen supply solutions to the Chinese clean mobility markets..
Air Liquide and Sinopec sign MoU to accelerate hydrogen in China
The new hydrogen stations feature a delivery pressure of 35 MPa and a capacity of 1,000kg of low-carbon hydrogen per day each, but are soon to be equipped with an additional 70 MPa delivery pressure dispenser.
Rebuilt from original gas stations, the upgraded facilities are equipped with Air Liquide Houpu up-to-date hydrogen equipment and technology and have a capacity to meet the needs of the 200 hydrogen fuel cell logistic trucks that are deployed in the area.
https://www.gasworld.com/air-liquide-and-sinopec-open-hydrogen-stations/2018087.article
Hydrogen takes center stage at #POWERGEN19
11.20.19
On Tuesday during POWERGEN International, representatives from Clarion Energy, Ansaldo, NEL Hydrogen and MAN Energy Solutions discussed the future role of hydrogen in the power industry at a session sponsored by the Italian Trade Agency.
The future is very bright, according to the speakers.
Jeff Benoit with Ansaldo Energia showed the attendees how hydrogen can be used in gas turbines to produce energy, which is something that Ansaldo client Dow Chemical is doing with the left-over hydrogen it produces from its manufacturing processes. Benoit also explained the difference between green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced with renewable energy, blue hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced from natural gas through steam reformation and black hydrogen, which is produced with synthetic gas derived from coal.
Following Benoit’s focus on turbines, Jeff Syzmanski with Nel Hydrogen stepped up to the podium to show the audience how his company’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer works and talk about some of the projects that the company is involved in. PEM electrolysis is a technology that splits water into oxygen and hydrogen.
He said his company is scaling quickly.
“We are trying to keep pace with the demand for power-to-gas use cases that we see in the pipeline,” he said.
Syzmanski said he that electrolyzer costs are falling along the same trajectory that solar PV followed. “The cost of electrolyzers are not going to be a barrier,” he said.
Syzmanski added that there is great interest in hydrogen from the heavy-duty industry and pointed out that Nikola motor, maker of heavy-duty trucks, plans to roll out a large fleet of hydrogen powered trucks in 2022. He said they have an order for 800 heavy-duty trucks for Anheuser Busch.
“We are looking at a demand of more than 1 GW with this one customer alone,” he said.
Dr Ing Florian Gruschwitz from MAN Energy Solutions said his company has “hydrogen in our blood.” He explained that hydrogen will be an important part of decarbonizing the industrial sector.
In April MAN Energy Solutions took a 40 percent share of the electrolysis technology company H-TEC Systems in order to position itself as a hydrogen provider.
“The ambition around hydrogen is enormous,” he said.
Paddy Young, event director for POWERGEN Europe owned by Clarion Energy, moderated the panel and referred to himself as an enthusiast in the technology.
Europe is heavily investing in hydrogen as a means to decarbonize the entire industry – not just the electricity sector – and Young said he was pleased to see that the interest is strong here, too.
Indeed, there were so many attendees at the session that more chairs needed to brought in so people would have a place to sit.
“This is a compelling story,” he said.
https://www.powerengineeringint.com/2019/11/20/hydrogen-takes-center-stage-at-powergen19/?topic=44272
Hydrogen Truckmaker Nikola Claims It Has Breakthrough Battery Tech–And Doesn’t Care If You’re Skeptical
Nov 19, 2019
Nikola Motor, the Phoenix-based startup that wants to disrupt trucking with futuristic electric semis powered by hydrogen, says it’s developed a new type of battery cell with double the energy density, only 40% of the weight and half the cost of current lithium-ion batteries used in Teslas and other consumer-market electric vehicles.
But it’s not providing many details for now and public demonstrations won’t happen for about 10 months.
Battery packs using the new cells, which don’t use nickel, cobalt and other metals typically found in 2170 lithium-ion cells favored by Tesla, could boost range for current electric passenger cars from 300 miles per charge to as much as 600 miles with “little or no increase to battery size and weight,” the company said. Nikola has subjected its cells to heavy-duty testing and says that charging and depleting them “over 2,000 times has shown acceptable end-of-life performance.”
That’s equivalent to driving a vehicle several hundred thousand miles, says Nikola CEO and Founder Trevor Milton, who isn’t holding back in how he characterizes the new cell’s potential. “This is the biggest advancement we have seen in the battery world,” he tells Forbes.
For now, however, he won’t provide specifics of how the cells work and which university researchers Nikola has been working with to develop them (or the battery engineering team it’s acquiring to begin pre-production).
“It’s the world’s first free-standing electrode automotive battery,” he says. “We went to a whole different type of chemical, with a lithium component. It’s hard to explain what it is without giving up the secret sauce.”
By avoiding using metals that add cost and weight to lithium-ion batteries Milton says Nikola’s cells will be exactly half the price per kilowatt hour. Cutting down on mining for cobalt and nickel would also improve the cell’s overall environmental impact. If the company can deliver such a battery, it would be a game-changer for electric cars and trucks, but he knows Nikola must show that it works as promised and can be mass-produced.
Since the late 1990s, automakers have searched for viable battery technology that could deliver range and performance equivalent to gasoline, but was still affordable. Many years of undelivered promises created considerable skepticism among auto engineers and executives, some of whom grouse about “liars, damn liars and battery suppliers.”
Milton is unfazed by the skepticism and says Nikola will begin allowing evaluation of its cell tech by other companies that he declined to identify. “We’ve never promised something and not delivered,” he says. “I don’t care if they don’t believe it.”
(For more on Nikola and Trevor Milton, see Behind New Billionaire Trevor Milton’s $3 Billion Push To Make America Run On Hydrogen from the September 30, 2019 issue of Forbes Magazine.)
Public demonstrations of batteries using its cells will happen in about 10 months at the company’s “Nikola World” technology summit in Phoenix in late 2020. Milton says the company is in talks with “multiple automakers” about the cells and is likely to select one as a primary partner. Production of battery packs using the technology could begin as early as 2021. (It has already partnered with companies including Bosch, Meritor and Norway’s Nel Hydrogen for its fuel cell trucks.)
Nikola has raised about $500 million to get its hydrogen fuel cell trucks into production, gaining a $3 billion valuation, and needs to raise considerably more to also build its own network of hydrogen fuel stations to power them.
Each fuel cell truck also uses a battery pack to complement the hydrogen powertrain, so any battery improvement would boost range or lower production costs. And while Nikola still views hydrogen as the best option for long-range semi-trucks, its plans to also offer battery-only variants of all three of its truck cab options would benefit from more powerful, cheaper battery packs.
Currently, Tesla has the auto industry’s most efficient battery systems, in terms of range and performance. Yet the high cost of its powertrains is also why Elon Musk’s company still struggles to deliver a vehicle with mass-market affordability, along the lines of Honda’s Civic or the Toyota Prius in the mid- to low $20,000-range. The cheapest Model 3 sedan is the 250-mile Standard Range Plus that sells for $40,690 out the door, excluding sales tax.
So how did Nikola come across a new approach to EV batteries that Tesla and an entire industry seem to have missed?
“They were looking in the wrong place, trying to make design improvements in what was already there. We started with a completely different approach to this, that gets all those metals out,” Milton says.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2019/11/19/hydrogen-truckmaker-nikola-claims-it-has-breakthrough-battery-techand-doesnt-care-if-youre-skeptical/#3c627418157a
All the hydrogen vehicles available for purchase today
November 15, 2019
The promises of hydrogen are convincing indeed. It is a clean fuel with no harmful tailpipe emissions (unless you are harmed by water. If so, please see a doctor immediately). Hydrogen vehicles are basically electric cars with a fuel tank. They boast the performance and instant torque of battery electric cars, while providing greater range than any pure EV on the market today. Lastly, refueling times are comparable to gasoline cars, obviating range anxiety and lengthy charging stops. And no conversation of hydrogen power would be complete without a mention that this is the most abundant element in the universe – so we can move on now.
If you want to take the plunge into living the hydrogen life, you have a few options for some of the best car makers in the business. Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai all have fuel cell cars you can drive off the lot today. Unfortunately, all of them are only available in California and Hawaii at the moment. If you live in the sunny climes of Cali or an island paradise, here’s a rundown of each car currently available:
Hyundai NEXO
The 2019 Hyundai Nexo has taken a small step for a Korean automaker, and a giant leap for public acceptance of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The Nexo is the first fuel-cell vehicle to go through the full battery of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash tests — and it did well. The Hyundai achieved the highest-possible rating of Top Safety Pick+. The safety award could be a major coup for Hyundai and other makers of hydrogen cars.
While all vehicles sold in the United States must meet certain safety standards, no hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles prior to the Nexo had undergone testing to earn safety ratings from the IIHS
The eye-catching design of the Nexo houses the only Hydrogen SUV currently on sale. Aside from it’s 4 doors and rear hatch, it also boasts a neat party trick – Nexo owners can let their car idle to generate electricity, which could prove quite useful in a blackout or emergency. “Many household items found in the kitchen, the garden, and the living room can be powered by a fuel cell electric vehicle,” Hyundai notes in a statement. It likely won’t generate enough electricity to keep an entire house juiced up but it can make the difference between living in relative comfort and getting out an armada of flashlights and candles.
Toyota Mirai
The 2021 Mirai FCEV is a 5-passenger, rear-wheel drive premium sedan that looks like a coupe. “We have pursued making a car that customers feel like driving all the time, a car that has emotional and attractive design appeal, as well as dynamic and responsive driving performance that can bring a smile to the faces of drivers,” said Yoshikazu Tanaka, chief engineer of the Mirai. “I want customers to say, ‘I chose the Mirai not because it’s an FCEV, but because I really wanted this car, and it just happened to be an FCEV.’”
Toyota did not disclose performance or driving range specifics, other than to state a 30% range increase target from the current, 2019 Mirai’s approximate 312-mile range. Every Mirai comes with 3 years or $15,000 worth of free fuel, as well as an extended 10-year, 150,000-mile battery warranty for the model year 2020 hybrid, plug-in, and fuel cell electric vehicles
The Toyota Mirai starts at $58,500, has a range of 312 miles, and is available in 6 colors with 2 interiors.
Honda Clarity Fuel Cell
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/hydrogen-cars-for-sale/
Hydrogen Revolution Comes To California Railways, Eventually, Maybe
November 15th, 2019
Zero emission hydrogen-powered locomotives are edging onto the tracks in Europe and Asia, and now California is getting into the act. The Golden State has just called dibs on the the first ever hydrogen train in the US. Of course, a single fuel cell train won’t knock diesel off the tracks, but it can’t hurt, either. If all goes according to plan, the new train will help spark the next generation of low carbon mass transit and railway shipping alternatives on these shores.
One New Hydrogen Train For California
The new “FLIRT H2” train will be built by the Swiss-based firm Stadler for the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. It is destined for a new rail service called the Arrow, a nine-mile connector currently under construction. When completed, the Arrow will link Redlands to the San Bernardino Transit Center.
The Arrow is scheduled to start operation in 2022. The FLIRT contract calls for the new hydrogen train delivered to be delivered by 2024. If everyone is happy with the first one, San Bernardino County has the option to buy four more.
The new locomotive will mark the return of electric rail transportation to Redlands for the first time since 1937, when the Pacific Electric Red Car trolley system went out of service.
Meanwhile, the plan is for the Arrow to use trains equipped with a relatively recent development in locomotive technology called Diesel Multiple Units. Some jurisdictions have been a bit leery of adopting DMUs, but according to San Bernardino, DMUs are “smaller, quieter, more efficient, and cheaper to operate than standard locomotive haul coaches.”
Batteries Are Pushing Out Diesel, Too
The hydrogen train ball is rolling elsewhere in the world. For example, the French company Alstom is already sending H2 trains to Germany. It has also been talking to the UK (such as it is) about bringing electric fuel cell trains to parts of England where rail electrification would otherwise be prohibitively expensive.
As with the Arrow project, the idea would be to put H2 trains on diesel tracks instead of building new electric infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Stadler and other rail stakeholders are also busy replacing diesel engines with battery powered trains. Stadler’s battery version of the FLIRT model, for example, is set to replace 55 diesel trains in the north German coastal state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Gas Fly In The Hydrogen Ointment
California’s new Stadler train is good news for hydrogen fans, but the bigger question for hydrogen fuel cell technology is a supply chain issue, namely, where is the hydrogen coming from?
Currently, natural gas is the primary source of hydrogen for fuel cells. That opens a gigantic can of worms in terms of methane emissions related to the natural gas supply chain. It’s worth noting, though, that the grid mix for charging EVs still includes a hefty amount of natural gas and coal, too.
The good news for battery EV owners is that is access to 100% renewable electricity has been growing. Fuel cell stakeholders are looking at a similar scenario for hydrogen, though there is a long way to go before renewable H2 can catch up.
As it happens, California is not leaving anything to chance. While pushing the market for fuel cell vehicles, the state also has a renewable H2 requirement built into its hydrogen fuel cell policy.
The US Department of Energy is also a big fan of renewable hydrogen, though during the agency’s “H2@Rail” workshop last spring a number of challenges came up for fuel cell trains, including the lack of a fueling infrastructure.
CleanTechnica is reaching out to San Bernardino for its insights on the renewable hydrogen and fueling issues, so stay tuned for more on that.
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/11/15/hydrogen-revolution-comes-to-california-railways-eventually-maybe/
Iwatani and ITM Power form hydrogen partnership in the US
19 November 2019
Iwatani Corporation of America and ITM Power have signed a collaboration agreement for the deployment of multi megawatt electrolyser-based hydrogen energy systems in North America.
Through the agreement, the Iwatani Corporation subsidiary and UK-based energy storage and clean fuel company hope to reduce pollutants and improve air quality by offering renewable hydrogen to the transportation, energy storage and renewable energy sectors in North America.
ITM Power: Right place, right time
“We are very pleased to have signed this agreement and be collaborating with ITM Power to meet the needs of customers who have committed to transitioning to low-carbon-intensity derived hydrogen as an energy source,” said Joe Cappello, CEO of Iwatani Americas.
“ITM Power’s world leading electrolysers and Iwatani’s vision for growth in the North American green hydrogen market align very well and we look forward to deploying projects together.”
Iwatani enters US hydrogen market
The collaboration enables the two companies to share opportunities and, where a commercial case exists, work together on an exclusive basis to deploy ITM Power’s PEM electrolysers and Iwatani’s gas handling and deployment solutions.
“Iwatani Corporation is a recognised leader in the hydrogen industry, and we are delighted to be collaborating with the company in North America,” said Dr. Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power.
“Transport refuelling is just the tip of the iceberg for demand for hydrogen from renewable sources and this partnership will be well positioned to participate in the exciting and rapidly growing industry.”
https://www.gasworld.com/iwatani-and-itm-power-form-partnership/2018078.article
Tasmania unveils draft renewable hydrogen action plan
Nov 19, 2019
Tasmania’s natural advantages and existing renewable resources perfectly positions the Australian state to largely benefit from the emerging global hydrogen industry.
That’s according to the draft Tasmanian Renewable Hydrogen Action Plan released today, which outlines Australia’s vision to become a world leader in large-scale renewable hydrogen production by 2030.
The report highlights Tasmania’s visions and goals, key advantages for hydrogen deployment, and hydrogen action plan, as well as identifying the benefits of a large-scale renewable hydrogen industry and the emerging hydrogen opportunity.
According to Guy Barnett, Minister for Energy, “With future wind farm and pumped-hydro developments alongside out Battery of the Nation and Marinus second interconnector projects, Tasmania is well placed to be a major producer of renewable hydrogen long-term.”
“Reports show a 1,000 megawatt facility – equivalent to supplying around one million homes – could be feasible by 2030, creating an estimated 1,200 regional jobs, and supporting a further 2,000 megawatts of renewable energy investment in our state.”
The production of renewable hydrogen in Tasmania has the potential to be up to 15% cheaper compared to production from the mainland power grid, and up to 30% cheaper to produce than from the dedicated off-grid renewable sources.
“With emerging industries in Japan, South Korea and China, Tasmania has received significant interest from a range of proponents seeking emissions-free hydrogen at competitive rates.”
Alongside the Tasmanian Renewable Hydrogen Action Plan, released by the Tasmanian Government, Hydro Tasmania also released new analysis which highlights the states unique position to lead the nation in the production of green hydrogen from clean energy sources.
The Australian clean energy company looks at the states strong competitive advantages to meet domestic and global demand and become Australia’s first green hydrogen production zone.
“Our analysis indicates that green hydrogen can be produced in Tasmania for approximately 10-15% less than other Australian power grids need to offset emissions and 20-30% less than from dedicated off-grid renewables, due to the high plant utilisation that can be supported by Tasmania’s hydropower,” said Steve Davy, Hydro Tasmania’s CEO.
“As Australia’s largest generator of clean renewable energy, Hydro Tasmania stands ready to support the development of a green hydrogen industry in the state.”
https://www.h2-view.com/story/tasmania-unveils-draft-renewable-hydrogen-action-plan/
French gas networks release report looking at green hydrogen future
Nov 19, 2019
A report which looks at the technical and economic conditions required for the integration of hydrogen into gas network infrastructures has been released by gas infrastructure operators in France.
The report confirms the ability to integrate a significant volume of hydrogen into the gas mix by 2050 with limited infrastructure adoption costs, meaning gas infrastructures will soon be able to accommodate decarbonised and renewable hydrogen.
In short term, a volume of 6% hydrogen is feasible as a blend in most networks. It requires very few adaptions and is compatible with most of the installations of today’s gas consumers.
A pre-identification exercise aimed at injection project promotors will be launched in order to locate areas favourable to the injection of hydrogen as a blend.
These areas will then be progressively expanded in line with results of research and development activities, replacement of specific equipment and the deployment of solutions guaranteeing the quality of the gas to consumers.
To facilitate the deployment of projects, gas operators recommend setting a target of 10% blended hydrogen as a sector-wide target by 2030, then 20% beyond. By 2050, significant volumes can be injected with controlled costs in terms of infrastructure adaptation.
The report is part of the hydrogen deployment plan which was launched for France back in 2018 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity.
https://www.h2-view.com/story/french-gas-networks-release-report-looking-at-green-hydrogen-future/
Panasonic’s hydrogen station “H2 Kusatsu Farm” is now in operation
The hydrogen facility is designed to verify the practicality of hydrogen energy using two methods, water electrolysis and gas reforming
November 18, 2019
Panasonic Corporation has built the hydrogen station “H2 Kusatsu Farm” on the Kusatsu site of the Appliances Company located in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture in order to verify the practicality of using hydrogen, which is attracting high interest as a next-generation energy source. The company started operation of fuel cell forklifts within the site with hydrogen supplied from the station.
The “H2 Kusatsu Farm” can stably supply hydrogen regardless of the weather by using two methods. The first one is to utilize water electrolysis unit that produces hydrogen by electrolyzing water using the power from solar panels. The other is to utilize compact hydrogen production equipment in combination with a gas reforming process with long and accumulated technology from “Ene-Farm”, residential natural-gas type fuel cell. This system is capable of producing hydrogen to operate approximately two fuel cell forklifts(*1) per day and they can be fully charged with approximately 3 minutes(*1). As a result, these forklifts can be efficiently operated with limited time compared to battery-powered forklifts which require longer charging times. Fuel cell forklifts will carry finished products at the “Ene-Farm” factory. Panasonic will accelerate the development of technology for hydrogen production equipment while verifying the stable operability and economic viability of hydrogen energy.
Hydrogen is clean. It can be stably supplied and can also be easily transported and stored for a long time. Because of these characteristics, as well as effective use in combination with other renewable energy sources, such as solar, hydro, and wind power generation, hydrogen is attracting global interest as a potential next-generation energy source for a decarbonized society. In 2009, Panasonic launched the world’s first residential fuel cell called “Ene-Farm” in Japan that generates electricity and heat using hydrogen extracted from city natural gas. Since then, the company has made an effort on the development of much longer lifetime, higher efficiency and smaller size. Panasonic is now expanding its fuel cell business abroad to seven countries in Europe, (*2) including Germany and the United Kingdom.
Based on these experience and result, Panasonic is developing pure hydrogen fuel cell that generates power efficiently using hydrogen as a fuel source. The company has carried out demonstration experiments continuously in “Yume Solar Hall Yamanashi” in Yamanashi Prefecture and the “Shizuoka Model Hydrogen Town” project from 2012 and plans to commercialize pure hydrogen fuel cell around April 2021 in Japan. Furthermore, Panasonic’s pure hydrogen fuel cell and “Ene-Farm” will be installed into the “HARUMI FLAG”, a category 1 urban redevelopment project in the west district of 5-chome, Harumi, Tokyo, the site of the Athlete Village during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Panasonic will keep working on the development of technology to utilize hydrogen energy by taking advantage of its knowledge and technology as a leading company of residential fuel cells in order to help achieve a future decarbonized society.
https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/panasonics-hydrogen-station-h2-kusatsu-farm-is-now-in-operation/
World’s largest “green” hydrogen pilot begins operation in Austria
11.19.19
What is currently the world’s largest pilot plant for the CO2-neutral production of hydrogen has successfully commenced operation at the voestalpine site in Linz, simultaneously setting an international milestone in the advancement of new energy supply options.
The new plant has a capacity of over 6 MW, and is currently regarded as the most effective and state-of-the-art facility of its type. It will be used to test whether the technology deployed to produce green hydrogen is suitable for use on an industrial scale.
As part of the EU-funded H2FUTURE project, partners voestalpine, VERBUND, Siemens, Austrian Power Grid, K1-MET and TNO are researching the industrial production of green hydrogen as a means of replacing fossil fuels in steel production over the long term.
The project, which receives EUR 18 million ($20m) in EU funding, will investigate the potential to provide network services, and potentially compensate for fluctuations in the power grid.
“This plant uses renewable energy to split water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. The process creates a huge potential to decarbonize the energy and economic system and make it more flexible,” says Wolfgang Hesoun, chairman of the Management Board of Siemens AG Österreich (Siemens Austria).
In addition, electrolysis can also be used to support the power grid, by extracting excess power from the grid as required. This is an important factor in view of the increasing fluctuations in power generated by renewables.
The high-tech heart of the plant, the Siemens Silyzer 300, has a capacity of 6 MW, and can generate 1,200 cubic meters of green hydrogen.
“H2FUTURE is an important milestone for the industrial application of electrolysis as a cornerstone for future industrial applications in the steel industry, in refineries, the manufacture of fertilizers, and other industrial sectors requiring large volumes of hydrogen. It creates the basis for future projects on an industrial scale,” says Hesoun.
Global climate goals aim to almost completely eliminate CO2 emissions by 2050. This poses challenges for industrial enterprises and energy suppliers, and demands new technological solutions in both sectors. In this context, CO2-neutral (“green”) hydrogen is regarded as the most promising future option for facilitating the energy transition.
According to Herbert Eibensteiner, chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG: “We have set ourselves a clear goal of greater direct avoidance of CO2 emissions in steel manufacturing over the coming years. With the start of operations at the world’s largest hydrogen pilot plant at our site in Linz, we have succeeded in taking a significant step towards driving this technological transformation.
In light of global climate targets, voestalpine is currently investigating the practicality of a hybrid technology to bridge between the existing coke/coal-based blast furnace route and electric arc furnaces powered with green electricity partly generated using green hydrogen.
“The most important precondition for scenario planning based on green electricity and green hydrogen is, however, sufficient quantities of renewable energy available at commercially realistic prices. This is the only way in which we can apply tomorrow’s technologies in a truly competitive manner,” Eibensteiner adds.
As a raw material, energy source, and storage medium, green hydrogen could contribute significantly to decarbonizing energy and CO2-intensive processes. There are extremely interesting potential applications in the industrial sector as well as transport, especially for freight and rail transport. Furthermore, responsive electrolysers can be used to provision power grids, offering services for increasingly overloaded transmission networks. H2FUTURE is a prime example of cross-sector cooperation generating added value.
“Hydrogen is green, i.e., CO2-neutral, when produced using electricity generated from renewables. It allows us to store intermittent and volatile supplies of electricity generated from renewables such as wind and sun, allowing them to be better utilized,” explains VERBUND CEO Wolfgang Anzengruber.
“The H2Future project is one of the flagship projects of the FCH JU that aim to help European electrolyser OEMs develop products that are of the quality and capacity required by European industry to reduce its CO2 emissions,” says Bart Biebuyck, executive director of the Fuel Cell Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).
The FCH JU is making up to EUR 12 million ($13.2m) of research funding available for the project.
If economically feasible, from today’s perspective this option would reduce the Group’s CO2 emissions by around a third sometime between 2030 and 2035. Over the long-term, voestalpine is striving to successively increase the use of green hydrogen in the steel production process, allowing the Group to reduce its CO2 emissions by a total of over 80 per cent by 2050.
https://www.powerengineeringint.com/2019/11/19/worlds-largest-green-hydrogen-pilot-begins-operation-in-austria/?topic=73085
NEWS! Nel ASA: Exercise of employee share options
(Oslo, 15 November 2019) Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement by Nel ASA (the "Company") on 14 November 2019 regarding the exercise of employee share options. Today the exercise of employee share options was completed.
As a result of reaching the cap on maximum NOK 5.00 NOK gain per option, 632 shares, out of the 332,000 shares issued, were added to the Company’s holding of treasury shares. After the transfer, Nel holds 5,195 treasury shares in the Company.
https://nelhydrogen.com/press-release/nel-asa-exercise-of-employee-share-options-2/
News! Nel ASA: Exercise of employee share options and issue of shares
(Oslo, 14 November 2019) Nel ASA (the Company) today has resolved, in accordance with the authorization granted by the general meeting on 28 March 2019, to issue 332,000 new shares to fulfil the Company's obligations in the groupwide share option program comprising all employees in Nel fulfilling certain criteria, specified in the Company's annual report (note 6), thereby increasing the Company's share capital by NOK 66,400.00. In total 19 employees in the group exercised 332,000 options at the strike price of NOK 3.14.
As stated in the general terms and conditions of the share option plan, as well as in the participants' award agreement, the maximum gain is NOK 5.00 per share option, reached at share price of NOK 8.14. If the cap is reached, a reduced number of shares will be transferred to the participants, and the remainder of shares issued will be added to the company’s holding of treasury shares.
Final information related to the number of shares transferred to share option holders and the number of shares added to the company’s holding of treasury shares will be disclosed following the finalization of the stock option exercise process.
https://nelhydrogen.com/press-release/nel-asa-exercise-of-employee-share-options-and-issue-of-shares/
BOOM! $NLLSF for the win
Twitter: Great news, another Nel station in operation with our partner Shell
Great news, another Nel station in operation with our partner Shellhttps://t.co/NwUEnwy7Dd
— Jon Andre Løkke (@jonandrelokke) November 7, 2019
Nel ASA: Third quarter 2019 results
(Oslo, November 7, 2019) Nel ASA (“Nel”) reported all-time high revenues of NOK 148.9 million (116.0) in the third quarter of 2019, in line with company outlook, and an order backlog of NOK 575 million. The order backlog grew 58%, compared to the end of the third quarter of 2018, and Nel reiterates the strong market outlook.
“Nel experienced another busy quarter with a 28% topline growth, in line with company outlook, and a high level of new business development activities. In addition, the Nel team continued to build the solid pipeline of tenders and projects across segments and geographies. These initiatives contributed to another quarter of securing a record high backlog and together with a strong market outlook, this provide a solid foundation for 2020 and beyond”, says Jon André Løkke, Chief Executive Officer of Nel.
Nel reported revenues in the third quarter of 2019 of NOK 148.9 million, up from NOK 116.0 million in the corresponding quarter last year. The adjusted EBITDA was NOK -17.9 million, adjusted for non-recurring and other ramp-up costs, and the cash balance ended at NOK 651.0 million at the end of the third quarter.
"The quarter was characterised by not only the developments within industrial and heavy-duty applications, but also by the high interest in hydrogen electric solutions. An example is Korea with their national target of more than 300 hydrogen stations by 2022. We are encouraged by having received a total of ten purchase orders so far in 2019”, says Løkke.
The reported EBIT was NOK -48.4 million (-66.3) and the backlog grew to NOK 575 million, up 58% compared to the end of the third quarter in 2018, as Nel is positioned to benefit from markets with high activity and growth momentum. During the third quarter, Nel announced a purchase order for two H2Station® hydrogen fueling stations from HyNet, a separate purpose company established to establish 100 hydrogen fueling stations in Korea by 2022.
“The car industry has all eyes on the hydrogen electric developments, were the anticipated strong growth in fuel cell electric vehicles will spark the expansion of the fueling station networks in key markets like Korea, Japan, US and China. Leading car manufacturers unveiled major new hydrogen initiatives at the trade shows in Frankfurt and Tokyo and more models are expected from 2020 and beyond. Nel is well positioned to capitalise on these opportunities by being the technology front-runner with world class safety, cost leadership and a global presence. “
Nel will host a presentation at 08:00 CET at Hotel Continental in Oslo on November 7, 2019. A live webcast of the call will also be available on the company’s website, www.nelhydrogen.com/webcast, and on https://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=98164395.
The third quarter 2019 report and presentation are enclosed and available through www.newsweb.no (Ticker: NEL) and www.nelhydrogen.com
https://nelhydrogen.com/press-release/nel-asa-third-quarter-2019-results/
Germany seeks global leadership role in hydrogen technologies
2019-11-06
BERLIN, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Germany's ministers for economic affairs and energy, transport and digital infrastructure, education and research, as well as development, held a conference here on Tuesday on Germany's hydrogen strategy.
More than 700 participants discussed the future role of hydrogen in the transformation of Germany's energy system and climate protection. At the end of the year, the German government is planning to adopt its national hydrogen strategy.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier stressed that the production of CO2-free and CO2-neutral hydrogen would offer great industrial policy opportunities.
"We must take advantage of these and already set the course today for Germany to become the world's number one in hydrogen technologies," said Altmaier.
According to a document released by the four ministries at the conference, Germany's national strategy for hydrogen would aim to pave the way "to make Germany a leading international supplier of hydrogen technologies".
Furthermore, the document read that "an important first step is the establishment of a domestic hydrogen market", since a solid "home market" was indispensable in global competition.
Many studies and pilot projects with regards to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in transport would have been supported in recent years, said Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer at the conference on Tuesday.
"Now the automotive industry must bring affordable vehicles to the market and show people that the technology works reliably. Our hydrogen strategy should support the industry in this," said Scheuer.
For the development of climate-friendly cars, the German government wants to focus both on better batteries for electric vehicles as well as on hydrogen technology.
Internationally, countries such as Australia, China, Japan and Korea already strongly promoted hydrogen, according to the document. "This is why we are now setting the course for the market ramp-up of hydrogen technologies in order to open up national and international market opportunities for CO2-free hydrogen," reads the document.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/06/c_138531357.htm
Air Liquide and Sinopec sign MoU to accelerate hydrogen in China
6 November 2019
Air Liquide is partnering with Asia’s largest refiner Sinopec to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen mobility solutions in China, the French industrial gases group said today.
In the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and China President Xi Jinping, the two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in which they will study the development of the hydrogen mobility network.
The agreement will also see Air Liquide and Sinopec study the enhancement of the regulatory framework intrinsic to the development of hydrogen energy in China.
Air Liquide will provide Sinopec with its hydrogen supply chain expertise, from production and storage to distribution, in order to provide competitive hydrogen supply solutions to the Chinese clean mobility markets.
“We are delighted to strengthen our long-term partnership with Sinopec in order to accelerate the rollout of concrete solutions for the development of hydrogen energy infrastructure in China,” Benoît Potier, Air Liquide Chairman and CEO, said.
“This initiative represents an important milestone for hydrogen mobility in this major country, home to the largest automotive market in the world.”
“This partnership also illustrates Air Liquide’s contribution to the challenge of the energy transition and clean mobility by offering alternative energy solution, in line with the group’s climate objectives.”
DAI Houliang, Chairman of Sinopec, added, “Sinopec strives for a sustainable energy future for China and the world with our mission of ‘better energy for better living’.”
“In the green and low carbon transition of China, we believe that hydrogen will play an important role and we are able to contribute to the hydrogen energy development in China, together with our distinguished partners like Air Liquide.”
A member of the Hydrogen Council since September 2018, Sinopec adheres to its vision that hydrogen is key to foster the energy transition.
In view of the rapid development of the hydrogen and fuel cell industry in China, Air Liquide and Sinopec are aligned on the need to develop a hydrogen energy infrastructure network.
https://www.gasworld.com/air-liquide-and-sinopec-sign-mou/2018028.article
Center for Hydrogen Safety collaborates with the Hydrogen Council
Nov 06, 2019
With a united vision and long-term ambition for hydrogen to foster the energy transition, the Center for Hydrogen Safety (CHS) has launched a strategic partnership with the Hydrogen Council.
Launched by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in April of this year, CHS is a global oriented non-profit dedicated to promoting hydrogen safety and best practices worldwide.
CHS and the Hydrogen Council will share knowledge and communication channels to facilitate the safe and timely industrial and consumer transition to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies as energy resources.
Nick Barilo, Director of the Center for Hydrogen Safety, said, “CHS and the Hydrogen Council are complementary in their efforts to provide government officials, first responders, maintenance technicians, and the general public with access to useful information about hydrogen safety.”
Barilo explained that hydrogen has been used for more than a century to make products such as gasoline, plastics, ammonia, hydrogenated oils, and semi-conductors, and that, in order to fully realise the benefits of hydrogen as a fuel, safety knowledge and experience must be communicated efficiently to a large and growing new market.
He said that both CHS and the Hydrogen Council will be mutually strengthened by the collaboration, as the two organisations will benefit from access to the accumulated knowledge and expertise embodied by each organisation’s corporate members.
https://www.h2-view.com/story/center-for-hydrogen-safety-collaborates-with-the-hydrogen-council/
Exclusive: Pressure Tech investing in hydrogen
Nov 06, 2019
Having just attended the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells Asia event, Pressure Tech’s Iulian Maciuca believes the UK and the rest of Europe are four to five years behind the stronger hydrogen ecosystems in the Asian market.
But he says there is an increasing realisation of the growth potential elsewhere, with bigger companies taking stakes in various ventures, reinforcing their positions as the hydrogen applications become more important.
UK-based Pressure Tech develops high-quality stainless-steel pressure regulators for use on gas and liquid applications, which are supplied all over the globe.
Maciuca is the company’s International Business Development Manager for the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Market, a role which sees him attend lots of industry events around the world, as he tells us more about below in an exclusive interview with H2 View.
H2 View (H2V): Thanks for your time today. Let’s start by talking about Pressure Tech and the role it could play in a future hydrogen economy?
Iulian Maciuca (IM): As specialists in the supply of pressure regulators, we believe Pressure Tech can make a significant impact on the way hydrogen pressure is controlled in a number of areas within the distribution and use of hydrogen for the fuel cell market.
Our background to-date, and core business, is within the offshore oil and gas sector where the principles of quality, safety and reliability are applied to our product designs.
The same principles are akin to the hydrogen fuel cell sector, with an additional prerequisite of making the products lighter!
Our success in both markets is due to two key factors: listening to the needs of our customers and having a team of people who can design and deliver solutions in a timely manner.
At Pressure Tech we are investing heavily in a number of products that will be able to provide accurate pressure control under extremely challenging conditions, namely high inlet pressures, low temperature conditions and, obviously, on a very light ‘searching’ hydrogen gas.
Our investments are being supported by grants, associations with universities and working with research establishments throughout Europe, which will ultimately lead to Pressure Tech offering products with unique features and benefits over many of our competitors.
We see the significant investment we are making in various product development programmes providing an excellent return on investment for the company over the coming years.
We’re very excited about the potential business levels and environmental benefits being created by the growth of the hydrogen economy.
H2V: Which areas of hydrogen development and deployment is Pressure Tech currently investing in?
IM: We’re investing heavily in a number of areas. In fact, anywhere critical pressure control is required for vehicles and the supply infrastructure necessary to replenish vehicles whilst in transit.
Our initial focus has been on hydrogen pressure regulators for transport and lightweight vehicles, together with high pressure regulators for hydrogen refuelling stations.
We are working on exciting and unique designs that will allow automated pressure control of the refuelling regulators without the need for separate compressed airlines.
We believe this will be of great interest to system builders involved with transport refuelling stations.
We are also working on a range of isolation/supply valves for compact hydrogen cylinders used on UAV drone applications – this will be submitted for TPED approval to allow these products to be used on cylinders whilst pressurised in transit.
The important thing for us at Pressure Tech is to listen to our customers to ensure all angles are covered with the designs we’ve created.
We’d therefore welcome the opportunity to hear from your readers to understand their needs and how we can work with them to offer an exact solution.
H2V: What changes have you seen within the hydrogen ecosystem and community in the past year in the UK?
IM: I believe the UK and the rest of Europe are four or five years behind the stronger hydrogen ecosystems in the Asian market.
However, there is an increasing realisation of the growth potential elsewhere, with bigger companies taking stakes in various ventures, reinforcing their positions as the hydrogen applications become more important due to the excellent potential of the commercial opportunities they represent in the future.
With the recent announcement regarding the ‘North West Hydrogen Alliance’ and ‘H2 Aberdeen’ planning to introduce a hydrogen economy in the Aberdeen region, the pace of change in the hydrogen ecosystem is phenomenal and exciting.
A good benchmark for this growth projection is from the organisers of hydrogen fuel cell exhibitions across Europe who have reported a 25% increase in exhibitor numbers for the past three years.
Conversely, numbers for exhibitors in the oil and gas sector are going in decline. I think this says a lot about where the interest is at right now.
At a recent UK HFCA event, we have seen representatives of local government viewing hydrogen applications as an opportunity to attract investments, for example the Tees Valley region and North West England, in addition to Aberdeen.
If we continue with the drive initiated by government agencies and the combined commercial realisation of a good ROI from the large corporate entities, the future is looking very positive for the hydrogen community.
H2V: You most recently attended and exhibited at the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells Asia event in October. How did you find the event? What would you say were the key takeaways?
IM: I’d describe the exhibition in China as the younger sibling to the H2+FC event in Hannover where we’ve exhibited for the past three years with great, and ever increasing, success.
This was the first time the organisers had attended the exhibition, but as China is one of the most advanced and important markets in the hydrogen world, this event gave Pressure Tech the opportunity to test the reaction to our products in the region.
Undoubtedly it will grow to be one of the main events in the calendar, but for now, it has strong competition from other local events.
Running concurrent with the large CeMat Asia exhibition, to me it served as confirmation that the next big fuel cell application in China will be for material handling equipment.
During the event we had great interest from Chinese visitors, as well as French and German delegations.
H2V: And finally, what hydrogen-related innovation, application or technology makes you most excited for the future?
IM: It’s a tough question as there are so many! Our initial step into the hydrogen fuel cell market was by working with Intelligent Energy in developing a light weight pressure regulator for the UAV Drone market, which resulted in the development of a regulator weighing only 200g.
Despite its light and compact footprint, it is still able to control 0.5 bar (+/-0.1 bar) from a 300 bar (4,350 psi) supply pressure.
One of the main benefits of these hydrogen-powered drones is their longer flight time over the alternative battery powered design, which is a real benefit to areas where drones are used for surveying, security, or search and rescue.
And with recent suggestions made by Amazon that customer deliveries could be made via drones in the future, this whole market has excellent potential in terms of volumes and return on investment.
Another key area Pressure Tech is targeting is heavy goods vehicles such as buses, trucks and trains, and the associated refuelling infrastructure.
Both have huge potential for our business, and we are shortly due to submit the regulator for use on HGVs for EC79 approval, which is key to unlocking the potential from this rapidly developing market.
Whilst EC79 approval is essential to supply products to market, the design itself has benefits for end users over many of the alternative products we’ve come across.
Our single-stage pressure let down and easy to service seat cartridge means our design reduces the risk of failures and minimises vehicle down time during routine servicing.
On a personal note, in the future, I would like to see small companies integrating fuel cell technology into classic cars.
Just imagine the timeless design of a 1964 E-Type, a 930 911 or a Datsun 280z running on hydrogen fuel cells.
Classic looks with modern and clean power, all wrapped into one – that would be something exciting for the future, making sure that the icons of the past would still be on the roads when zero emission regulations will be mandatory in big cities.
https://www.h2-view.com/story/exclusive-pressure-tech-investing-in-hydrogen/
From Granite City to a global hub for hydrogen
06/11/2019
With the largest fleet of hydrogen buses in Europe and the UK’s first integrated hydrogen generation and bus refuelling station, Aberdeen is at the forefront of several exciting hydrogen projects.
As part of a drive to showcase these projects, to network and to further explore hydrogen opportunities in the north-east, the city welcomed around 700 delegates to the inaugural Aberdeen Hydrogen Festival. The festival attracted international delegations across Europe and the US. It was a great success, with all participants speaking highly of Aberdeen and its status as a hydrogen leader.
To mark the start of the festival, the world’s first hydrogen-powered vessel paid a visit to Aberdeen Harbour. The Energy Observer is a converted race boat and the first of its kind to convert seawater for use as hydrogen fuel. The vessel is set to
visit a further 50 countries on its mission to promote sustainable transport and the reduction of carbon emissions.
Fuelling the hydrogen revolution through collaboration
The Hydrogen Festival began with a one-day conference on October 1. The event was co-hosted by Aberdeen City Council, in conjunction with
Pale Blue Dot Energy and ERM and with additional support from Opportunity North East, Scottish Enterprise and the Oil and Gas Technology Centre.
At the conference, Equinor shared its experience of H21, a hydrogen gas project in northern England, where as much as 20% of hydrogen will be mixed with domestic gas in standard gas boilers to decarbonise heating.
In another session, Andrew Win, programmes and project manager at Aberdeen City Council discussed the council’s Hydrogen Valley concept. Presentations were also made by the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Scottish Enterprise, the Oil and Gas Authority, The Crown Estate and Scottish Gas Networks.
Demonstrating the importance of Aberdeen to the burgeoning Scottish hydrogen landscape, the Scottish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (SHFCA) also brought its conference to festival. The conference explored the role of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in delivering key ambitions for a low carbon future.
Kiwa’s Martin Crowther spoke about integrating different renewable types with hydrogen and Lorna Archer from Scottish Gas Networks spoke about heating Scotland with renewable energy. PrototAU, Aberdeen
University’s Shell Eco-marathon team, showed its hydrogen vehicle.
Global learnings
In association with the European Marine Energy Centre, the Institute of Gas Innovation and Technology at Stony Brook University and SHFCA, the Trans-Atlantic Power to Gas Workshop was held over two days. The seminar brought together industry experts from Europe and the US to identify common areas of interest and share opportunities for collaboration.
Liquid ammonia was noted to be the upcoming energy vector of choice for large ship propulsion and grid scale energy storage. In another session, Siemens’ director of strategy and government highlighted that all the electric race cars at this year’s Goodwood Festival were recharged from a hydrogen fuel cell arrangement.
One of the conclusions from the seminar was that to decarbonise Europe in alignment with the Paris Accord timescale, 30 gigawatts of power-to-gas would be required. This is the equivalent of nine Hinkley C atomic power stations generating useable hydrogen as the fuel of the future.
The Hydrogen Festival demonstrated the market readiness of hydrogen and gave Aberdeen an opportunity to strengthen its position as a pioneering city for hydrogen development and technology.
There was definite cross-sector interest in hydrogen with uses being cited for the oil and gas industry, the wave industry, transport, domestic heating and also new materials development.
As Councillor Philip Bell, my fellow Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (Areg) board member and the council’s hydrogen spokesperson said: “The Hydrogen Festival was an inspiring week, as we welcomed delegates from near and far.
This region has a track record as an energy industry innovator and the festival provided a platform for Aberdeen to lead from the front as hydrogen opens up new possibilities.”
https://www.energyvoice.com/otherenergy/211336/from-granite-city-to-a-global-hub-for-hydrogen/
Decision due on delivery of new hydrogen buses for Aberdeen
05/11/2019
A decision on a multi-million-pound hydrogen project in Aberdeen which was put in doubt could be made in the coming weeks.
Aberdeen City Council had ordered 15 double-decker buses from Northern Irish firm Wrightbus earlier this year at a cost of £7.5 million.
However, in September the company went into administration, putting the vehicles which were due to hit city streets early next year into jeopardy.
The firm was due to deliver 15 of the green machines at £500,000 a vehicle.
Around 1,200 workers at Wrightbus were made redundant when the company was placed into administration.
However, a deal by Bamford Bus Company to buy the business and its assets was confirmed last week by administrators Deloitte.
It is owned by Jo Bamford, the son of JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford.
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Aberdeen City Council and the new owners have been in discussions but Wrightbus are now confident a conclusion could be reached on the project.
A spokeswoman for Wrightbus said: “Following the acquisition of Wrightbus last week, the new owner and management team are now in the process of speaking with all customers and suppliers.
“This will include Aberdeen City Council to agree a best way forward for both parties.
“We hope to have a conclusion in the coming weeks.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman confirmed to the Evening Express the local authority was in “discussion” with the new owners.
First Aberdeen was set to use the new vehicles on the 19 Culter to Tillydrone route in the new year.
When news of the deal was announced back in July, Philip Bell, the city council’s hydrogen spokesman, hailed the scheme and said it showed Aberdeen was leading the way with hydrogen-powered buses.
In a statement, administrator Deloitte said Bamford is currently determining the size and composition of the workforce required for its future plans.
Mr Bamford will serve as executive chairman of Wrightbus and Buta Atwal will become chief executive.
Mr Atwal said: “Recruitment will begin over the coming weeks.”
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/decision-due-on-delivery-of-new-hydrogen-buses-for-aberdeen/
Plug Power has a $1 billion revenue goal — and that's going to require a lot more hydrogen
For Plug Power to get to its goal of $1 billion in revenue by 2024, the Latham fuel cell manufacturer will need a lot more hydrogen — estimating it will use about 85 tons per day in the next five years, up from 20 tons per day today.
CEO Andy Marsh has said much of Plug's growth will come from its sales of fuel cells for vehicles like forklifts and delivery trucks, but some could come from expanding Plug Power's hydrogen production and finding potential reoccurring revenue there.
"Today, we're the largest user of liquid hydrogen in the world. By 2024 we’re going to be using four to five times more hydrogen," Marsh said in an interview with the Business Review following the company's two-day investor symposium earlier this fall.
"When you look at growing into on-road vehicles for [electric vehicles], there's no reason Plug can't provide the hydrogen," Marsh said.
To prepare for that increase, Plug in September announced a new hydrogen supply agreement with United Hydrogen — a company based in Georgia with a production facility in Tennessee. As part of the three-year agreement, United Hydrogen will supplement Plug Power’s hydrogen delivery operation with a supply of liquid hydrogen.
Almost all of the hydrogen produced in the United States currently comes from natural gas. Plug gets about 20% of its hydrogen from renewable energy sources now — and it's aiming to increase that share to 50%.
Plug and its suppliers plan to use a process called electrolysis, in which electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, to expand production of "green" hydrogen. If the electricity splitting the water is produced by renewable sources — say, excess electricity from solar or wind — the hydrogen will be considered renewable as well.
"With the price of solar energy declining so rapidly, it starts being a cost effective way for generating hydrogen," Marsh said. "One of the challenges with renewables is either the wind is not blowing or its blowing too much, and another part of the issue with storage is how do you manage that. If you're creating a fuel with it, you're creating something of greater value. Electrolysis through wind or solar is a viable way to generate hydrogen."
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The primary business for Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) has been making hydrogen fuel cells that power forklifts in warehouses and distribution centers. The fuel cells are an alternative to lead-acid batteries.
Plug has shipped more than 28,000 fuel cells to dozens of warehouse customers, including Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT). Along the way, it surpassed NASA to become the world’s largest user of liquid hydrogen.
Plug said growth will come from its anchor customers — including Amazon and Walmart — and the addition of one new multisite customer annually. The company expects to be selling more than 25,000 units a year by 2024.
Since Marsh joined the company in 2008, Plug Power shifted its model from a focus on research and development to manufacturing fuel cells for the material handling industry. More recently, Marsh has been mapping out a diversified future for the company beyond material handling.
For example, Plug secured a deal earlier this year to supply hydrogen fuel cell-powered engines for 100 electric delivery trucks for DHL in Germany. The company also started a pilot program last year in which electric FedEx trucks delivering packages in the Albany area were outfitted with hydrogen fuel cells.
As part of its five-year plan, Plug expects to generate $200 million of annual revenue from the on-road electric vehicle market and $50 million of revenue from stationary applications (like power stations or data centers) by 2024.
Plug's stock was selling at $2.82 on Monday morning. The company will release its third quarter earnings this week.
https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2019/11/04/plug-power-hydrogen-supply-electrolysis.html
Hydrogen fuel cells becoming viable in maritime sector
05 Nov 2019
The business case for hydrogen is starting to gain momentum in maritime, but what are the environmental and financial opportunities of developing zero-emissions vessels?
Within five years, vessels using hydrogen-powered fuel cells and batteries will make up a significant segment of the coastal fleet, according to Hyon managing director Tomas Tronstad.
Speaking at Riviera’s Maritime Hybrid and Electric Conference in Bergen, Norway, Mr Tronstad said the business case for hydrogen was starting to gain momentum. “There is really a push by regulators, a push by state-owned operators using their purchasing power and a pull from (government) authorities offering co-funding. There is also a pull from operators because they want to be green and from companies such as ours that are offering a more viable solution.”
Mr Tronstad’s company, Hyon AS, jointly formed by Nel, Hexagon Composites and Power Cell, is collaborating on two hydrogen fuel-cell vessel projects aimed at producing zero emissions. One is Project ZEFF, a zero-emissions fast ferry and another, Project Seashuttle, is a zero-emissions coastal container ship with automated cargo handling.
Both projects are among six that won backing under the Pilot-E initiative, a more than €100M (US$110M) scheme involving Norway’s Research Council, Innovation Norway and Enova. Pilot-E is aiming to speed up the development of zero-emissions technology. Norway already has regulations in place that require vessels operating in its fjords to be emissions free by 2026.
Seashuttle, which Mr Tronstad detailed at the conference, won €6M (US$6.6M) of backing from the Norwegian Government to develop two zero-emissions, 200-container coastal freighters connecting Poland, Sweden and the Oslo fjord. Hyon’s partners in the project are European multi-modal operator Samskip, logistics consultant FlowChange, technology firm Kongsberg Maritime, and Massterly, an autonomous vessel technology joint venture between Kongsberg Maritime and Wilhelmsen.
Hydrogen – a global business
“What is not generally known is that hydrogen is a giant, global business, with daily consumption and handling of about 70M tonnes for industrial processing,” explained Mr Tronstad. He said what is new is its use for electricity storage and energy in transport.
Mr Tronstad has a deep knowledge of fuel-cell development in the maritime environment, having served as project manager for the industry research project FellowSHIP, which began exploring the use of maritime batteries and fuel cells in 2003. The first prototype marine fuel cell was installed in Eidesvik Offshore’s platform supply vessel Viking Lady in 2010.
Incorporating a high degree of autonomous technology, the Seashuttle vessels will be fitted with a diesel- or gas-electric propulsion, batteries and hydrogen fuel cells to maximise operational flexibility, providing perhaps as many as 40 different propulsion modes, said Mr Tronstad. The sizing of each propulsion system has not yet been determined, but testing is being conducted at Kongsberg Maritime’s laboratory, simulating the generators, diesel generators and propellers in combination with a physical fuel cell and batteries.
Hyon will draw on its joint venture partners’ respective areas of expertise in hydrogen production and storage, hydrogen fuel-cell stack and systems manufacturing and refuelling in developing the Seashuttle vessels.
Mr Tronstad said the initial goal of the Seashuttle operation will be to produce zero emissions for 20% of the coastal route.
Europe’s largest multi-modal transportation company, with a fleet of six vessels and 300 trucks, Samskip, wants to lead the way in Norway’s sustainable shortsea shipping by using hydrogen fuel cells. To do so, however, the Seashuttle partners must overcome a number of challenges, pointed out Mr Tronstad. Topping the list were regulatory approvals, safety evaluations and devising a seamless transition between propulsion power modes.
With various shipping initiatives underway to meet IMO’s initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by 50% by 2050, Mr Tronstad is optimistic that those challenges would be met.
Emissions regulations cause concern
Tightening emissions regulations and rapid changes in technology have created a level of uncertainty among vessel owners regarding what investments they should be making in their fleets in order to retain their value.
“Owners are worried,” said ABB vice president market development, marine and ports Jorulf Nergard, speaking at the conference in Bergen. “They want to know what the rules are. One thing that is certain,” said Mr Nergard, “is that all the discussions are trending towards emissions free. The only question is, on what scale?”
Mr Nergard pointed out that the push for battery-hybrid and fuel-cell propulsion is not necessarily about saving fuel, it is more about global regulations aimed at reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions and reducing damage to the environment.
“First, it was about reducing NOx and SOx,” he told conference delegates. “Now, it is about limiting carbon to combat climate change.”
Mr Nergard, too, cited Norwegian government regulations that will create a zero-emissions vessel area within the country’s fjords starting in 2026.
This has led to a boom in orders for new ferries with battery-hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell technology. “There are 50 ferries on order or under construction and could well be 100 in the next few years,” he said.
ABB is one of nine European companies working in a consortium to develop two commercially operated zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel-cell vessels under a European Union-backed project.
Called Flagships, the project will develop a pushboat for operation on the Rhone River by France’s Compagnie Fluvial de Transport (CFT) and a public ferry for operation by Norway’s Norled. Both will utilise hydrogen produced by renewable energy.
Others in the consortium are Norwegian design company LMG Marin, Danish fuel-cell technology firm Ballard Europe, French vessel energy monitoring and management company PersEE, Finnish research centre VTT and Norwegian industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech.
Mr Nergard pointed out that a vessel built today will be in service in 10, 20 or perhaps even 30 years. He said owners need to ask, “How should it be equipped? What will its powertrain look like? The bottom line is that it needs to be flexible.”
Earlier this year, ABB launched Onboard Microgrid, a compact DC-based power distribution system for smaller vessels using batteries, fuels or a combination of the two. Designed for use in tugboats, ferries, and workboats, Onboard Microgrid is based on the same principles as ABB’s power distribution system Onboard DC Grid for larger vessels, such as OSVs or construction support vessels.
Mr Nergard said the system allows for improved efficiency and load sharing between batteries, fuel cells, biodiesel or biogas-driven propulsion systems: “We can have a DC link and connect all of the producers of energy in the vessel. It opens up the possibilities for battery, fuel, diesel or combined.”
https://www.rivieramm.com/news-content-hub/news-content-hub/hydrogen-fuel-cells-becoming-viable-in-maritime-sector-56714
S. Korea builds hydrogen plant
November 05, 2019
South Korea has built a hydrogen plant in the country’s western region, the Oceans Ministry said Nov. 5, in a move that could further boost its efforts to support the promotion of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.
The Korea Western Power Co.’s plant in Taean, some 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, can transform carbon monoxide into hydrogen by using marine microorganisms in the deep sea, the ministry said in a statement.
The plant has an annual capacity of about 330 tons of hydrogen, an amount that can power about 2,200 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles a year.
The ministry said the plant will be up and running for more than six months continuously to make sure the plant’s operation makes economic sense and is safe.
The move came as South Korea has been seeking to go green and promote fuel cell electric vehicles that do not emit the greenhouse gases largely responsible for global warming.
http://www.theinvestor.co.kr/view.php?ud=20191105000704
Germany’s hydrogen infrastructure to be further expanded thanks to BMVI/H2 Mobility MoU
Nov 05, 2019
Germany’s hydrogen station network will continue to be expanded by up to 15 stations a year for the next two years, H2 Mobility Deutschland and Germany’s transport ministry agreed today.
The new deal, signed this morning at the Stakeholder Conference on the National Hydrogen Strategy in Berlin, means more than 60,000 fuel cell cars and 500 commercial vehicles will be able to refuel in Germany by the end of 2021.
The first phase of hydrogen infrastructure expansion will be completed by mid-2020, when there will be 100 hydrogen stations in seven regions – Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich – as well as along the connecting arteries.
Today’s Memorandum of Understanding, signed by H2 Mobility Managing Director Nikolas Iwan and Germany’s transport minister Andreas Scheuer, will see an additional 30 stations by the end of 2021 and these stations will be larger.
Nikolas Iwan: Hydrogen still underestimated as a technology
“While most stations today have a capacity sufficient for refuelling 40 to 50 cars per day, in the future it will be possible to fill up about three times as many vehicles at one station,” Iwan explained.
“H2 Mobility is thus not only preparing itself for the market ramp-up of hydrogen-powered passenger cars, but is also making it possible to service light and heavy commercial vehicles at selected sites.”
H2 Mobility said the new hydrogen stations will be set up in the regions with the greatest demand for hydrogen.
https://www.h2-view.com/story/germanys-hydrogen-infrastructure-to-be-further-expanded-thanks-to-bmvi-h2-mobility-mou/
High hopes for hydrogen to get sustainable transport on track
Oct 31, 2019
Net-zero emissions targets in UK and France are helping to drive the regulations and incentives that will be needed to finally take this low-carbon transport technology to scale, reports Angeli Mehta
Hydrogen has long been viewed as critical to getting mass transportation on the road to zero emissions by a host of bodies, from the International Energy Agency to the European Commission and the UK government, which also point to its contribution to tackling air pollution.
But its development has been stymied by the need for investment in costly infrastructure from the get-go, in contrast to electric vehicles, whose growth has not faced the same barriers.
“Hydrogen works at scale – it’s completely the opposite of the battery electric vehicle. EVs are great – you plug your car in at home. But scale up, and significant new charging infrastructure and grid upgrades are needed,” says Ben Madden, director at consultancy the UK’s Element Energy.
Given the investment in a filling station, it needs more than one or two buses. It can’t be ‘build it and they will come'
“It’s the opposite for hydrogen. Supply and demand need to be together. Given the investment in a filling station, it needs more than one or two buses. It can’t be ‘build it and they will come’.”
So far there have been a series of demonstrator projects across Europe, backed by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. Over the past 10 years, this public-private partnership has tackled every aspect of hydrogen infrastructure, from buses and taxis to fuel cell technology and hydrogen production. Its aim is to drive down prices and develop expertise and experience.
One example is Aberdeen’s hydrogen bus project. Since 2015, 10 hydrogen buses have helped the city avoid more than 100 tonnes of CO2 and built public awareness of hydrogen, according to Mark Griffin, hydrogen market development manager at industrial gas group BOC.
Fuel costs for new vehicles are getting closer to parity with diesel. Moving from retrofitting buses, to having the whole bus designed to run on hydrogen, means “a lot of inefficiencies have been removed,” says Griffin. He estimates that whereas a single-decker bus used to require 10-11kg of hydrogen to travel 100km; now the same distance can be covered on 7kg by a higher-capacity double-decker.
Griffin points out that past funding has been directed at isolated projects – a 60kg-a-day station and a small number of vehicles.
Now city-regions are starting to work with infrastructure providers to build up demand and drive the price down, he says.
One of the most effective levers is emissions standards or fuel economy standards – that’s driven the development of battery electric
Next year, London will have 20 hydrogen double-deckers, made by Northern Ireland’s Wrightbus, which was rescued from administration last month by Bamford Bus Company. They’ll run alongside electric buses in a new ultra-low emission zone, which drivers of conventional vehicles will have to pay £100 a day to enter. Hydrogen fuel cells produce only water, so are an important tool in reducing city pollution.
But it’s time to go beyond demonstrator projects, says Madden.
Kobad Bhavnagri, head of special projects for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, says investors will back hydrogen once they see a viable business case, but this needs to be created by governments though regulation or subsidy. “One of the most effective levers is emissions standards or fuel economy standards – that’s driven the development of battery electric. Another [lever] is subsidy – both are needed.”
The zero-emission vehicle mandate in California, together with expanding refuelling infrastructure, is leading to more hydrogen vehicles on the roads. The US, Japan, Korea and China have all announced ambitious targets for fuel-cell electric vehicle deployment by 2030.
“The policy-making conversation is becoming a little more real, with net-zero economy-wide emissions targets [in UK and France]. That really focuses minds and sharpens the pencils.”
There are a couple of examples where supply and demand are lining up. Madden points to a partnership between Hyundai and Swiss company H2 Energy, which has found enough buyers for 1,600 HGVs and persuaded Hyundai to build them. The aim is a nationwide network by 2023. A 2 megawatt (MW) electrolysis system will be built at a hydropower plant, and the energy partners will develop the refuelling infrastructure to make the business case.
Fuel cell traction is … a quickly feasible alternative to expensive electrification
In Germany, rail operators are moving ahead with hydrogen trains. The world’s first two have been running on regional lines since last year. By the end of 2022 Germany should have more than 40 trains built by Alstom, with 27 of them replacing diesel engines in the Rhine-Ruhr industrial zone. The hydrogen supply is the by-product of other chemical processes from the region’s industry, and the trains will refuel at an industrial park, which is already used by trucks and buses.
“Fuel cell traction is … a quickly feasible alternative to expensive electrification,”?said Tarek Al-Wazir, minister of transport for the state of Hesse, when the deal was announced in May.?"In Hesse, transport is responsible for one third of greenhouse gas emissions. Steam instead of diesel soot is therefore an exciting approach.”
The fact that buses and trains refuel at depots means a guaranteed demand at a small number of locations, which will be crucial if hydrogen prices are to fall.
Griffin suggests hydrogen trains will not be far behind in the UK. “We definitely need to think about volume from the train perspective, and use it to encourage other markets to start to build momentum.”
Alstom and Eversholt Rail have been designing a train that could operate on UK tracks by re-engineering existing diesel stock. Meanwhile, a collaboration between Birmingham University and industrial partners have led to the development of the HydroFLEX, an existing train retrofitted with hydrogen fuel tanks, fuel cell and battery pack that will enable it to run independently, and on electrified routes. It’s been given the go-ahead for mainline testing.
Last year, the government announced diesel trains should be phased out by 2040, but it has balked at the costs of electrification. Hydrogen would have the advantage that no rail infrastructure changes are required, says Griffin.
They’ve made it hard for hydrogen to get access to RTFO certificates. This seems like a big missed opportunity to get hydrogen moving
In Paris, HysetCo, a collaboration between Air Liquide, Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP), energy infrastructure group Idex, and Toyota, plans to have a fleet of 600 hydrogen-powered taxis in the Ile de France region by the end of next year. Having 600 taxis will guarantee sufficient demand at a limited number of refuelling stations. The effort forms part of Paris’s aim to have zero emissions mobility for the 2024 Olympic games, following on from Tokyo’s efforts to promote hydrogen for next year’s games.
If increasing hydrogen demand depends on bringing costs down, then the other side of the coin is to be able to produce enough of the fuel cleanly. At the moment most hydrogen used in industry is produced by steam reformation of methane, which produces carbon dioxide. Carbon capture and storage would be needed to tackle those emissions. A cleaner, but so far less efficient, process is to use electricity from renewables to split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen.
In the Netherlands, the gas infrastructure company Gasunie and Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel’s fine chemicals division) are to expand their proposed green hydrogen plant by a factor of three after it won a contract to supply the hydrogen to SkyNRG, a company making sustainable aviation fuel (See The long haul to getting aviation biofuel off the ground).
In the UK, the Committee on Climate Change says that to produce enough green hydrogen for power and transport would mean “extremely challenging” build rates for low carbon electricity generation, and green hydrogen will still be more expensive than gas reforming. Globally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the cost of producing hydrogen from renewables could fall 30% by 2030 and it wants to see trade in hydrogen encouraged.
The UK government has allowed hydrogen into the mix through inclusion in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). This places an obligation on transport fuel suppliers to ensure that 8.5% (in 2019) of their supply comes from renewable or sustainable sources.
“But it is concerned [that hydrogen] might mess up the biofuels policy, so they’ve made it hard for hydrogen to get access to RTFO certificates. This seems like a big missed opportunity to get hydrogen moving,” says Madden.
If hydrogen’s long-standing potential is to be reached, governments and companies need to be taking ambitious and real-world action now
The government contends that using existing renewable energy to power an electrolyser, is “robbing” the grid, so production is considered to have used high greenhouse gas intensity power. The only, but challenging, solution is to have a direct connection between a new windfarm and deployment of an electrolyser.
The IEA is urging governments to tackle the hurdles of infrastructure development, and regulation that limit the development of a clean hydrogen industry. ”If hydrogen’s long-standing potential is to be reached, it says, governments and companies need to be taking ambitious and real-world action now".
Angeli Mehta is a former BBC current affairs producer, with a research PhD. She now writes about science, and has a particular interest in the environment and sustainability. @AngeliMehta.
Explainer: How hydrogen fuel cells work
Like battery electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) use electric motors to drive the wheels. However, they store energy onboard as compressed hydrogen, rather than just in a battery.
Hydrogen reacts with oxygen from the air in an onboard fuel cell to produce electricity. Water is the only by-product. No greenhouse gas or air pollutant emissions are produced, meaning FCEVs are zero-emission vehicles. Fuel cells are typically 40-60% efficient (comparing energy input to energy output) and since hydrogen occurs rarely in its pure form, energy is required to create it.
Overall greenhouse gas emissions from hydrogen as a transport fuel are therefore highly dependent on its production method. Hydrogen is primarily produced for chemical feedstock applications. Used in a fuel cell, hydrogen produced via steam methane reformation (SMR) – currently the typical hydrogen production pathway – delivers greenhouse gas savings of between 10% (compared with a diesel HGV) and 43% (compared with a petrol car). The addition of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to the SMR production pathway could significantly increase greenhouse gas savings, but has yet to be demonstrated at a commercial scale in the UK.
Hydrogen can also be produced by electrolysis: using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Assessed using current electricity grid emissions, this pathway does not deliver significant greenhouse gas savings compared to conventional fuels. Using electricity to produce hydrogen creates an efficiency loss compared to the direct use of electricity in a battery electric vehicle. However, as the electricity grid decarbonises, this pathway has the potential to deliver larger greenhouse gas savings.
http://www.ethicalcorp.com/high-hopes-hydrogen-get-sustainable-transport-track
Behind the wheel of a hydrogen-powered car
5 November 2019
It's a question I couldn't avoid as I drove across central England in a borrowed car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
The Hyundai ix35 was fast, eerily quiet - they've installed a little electronic jingle so you can tell when you've switched it on - and there was a reassuring 230 miles (370 km) left on the clock.
And best of all, I drove with the smug knowledge that when a vehicle is powered by hydrogen, the only exhaust product is water.
Quite a difference from my own 13-year-old, one-litre petrol engine: noisy, slow and undeniably dirty.
So why, I wondered, is this clean, green technology lagging far behind the hybrid and all-electric sectors?
The relatively small hydrogen market is dominated by the Asian giants: Toyota, Honda and Hyundai.
In early October in Tokyo amid great razzmatazz, Toyota unveiled its latest fuel cell Mirai saloon, which it hopes to launch in late 2020.
European brands including BMW and Audi are also fine-tuning their own hydrogen vehicles.
But this is a sector in which the upstart start-up can claim a modest place too.
Outside Llandrindod Wells, a small market town in central Wales, Riversimple aims to lease, not sell, its futuristic hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to a strictly local market.
They have just two cars on the road so far, with Numbers 3 and 4 under construction in Riversimple's meticulously clean production facility.
"The car's called the Rasa - as in tabula rasa, or clean slate," says the company's founder and chief executive, Hugo Spowers.
"We're using fuel cells off the shelf: ours was made for fork-lifts for Walmart warehouses."
The Rasa will do a tidy 60mph (100km/h) and has a range of around 300 miles (480km) on a single 1.5 kg hydrogen tank.
"In purely calorific terms," Spowers concludes, "our car is doing the equivalent of 250 miles to the gallon."
That sounds impressive - so how do hydrogen powered cars work?
At the heart of the car is a fuel cell, where hydrogen and oxygen are combined to generate an electric current, and the only by-product is water. There are no moving parts in the fuel cell, so they are more efficient and reliable than a conventional combustion engine.
While the cars themselves do not generate any gases that contribute to global warming, the process of making hydrogen requires energy - often from fossil fuel sources. So hydrogen's green credentials are under question.
And then there is the question of safety. Hydrogen is a notoriously explosive gas.
That's why manufacturers disclose plenty of reassuring detail on their websites.
The Toyota Mirai, for example, boasts triple-layer hydrogen tanks capable, the company says, of absorbing five times as much crash energy as a steel petrol tank.
The twin hydrogen tanks in the Honda Clarity are similarly robust featuring layers of aluminium and carbon fibre and designed to resist both extreme pressure and extreme heat.
Still, not everyone is convinced.
EuroTunnel does not allow "vehicles powered by any flammable gasses", including hydrogen, to use the link between the UK and France.
The Riversimple business model - a three-year fixed price lease aimed at short-distance local drivers - is designed to negate the biggest problem affecting hydrogen cars: range anxiety.
With just 17 pumps across Britain, refuelling is a challenge, so the industry is stuck.
The public won't commit if they can't guarantee a refill wherever they need to drive, but hydrogen production companies are reluctant to install expensive pumps unless there's likely to be a consistent take-up.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50212037
Germany must beat Asia in hydrogen technology race - government
05 Nov 2019
The German government believes hydrogen is key not only for a successful energy transition, but also for the future of the country's famed industry. This is why Germany must beat Asian countries – in particular China and Japan – to claim global leadership in the technology, according to economy minister Peter Altmaier. Even if investment costs for making renewable hydrogen in electrolysers are much higher in Europe, the ship has not sailed yet for Germany, he added. Development cooperation minister Gerd Müller said technologies made in Germany could be used by African countries to produce green fuels. Industry and utilities applauded the government's hydrogen efforts.
Germany must secure a global leadership role in hydrogen technologies, because it is crucial for a successful energy transition, effective climate action, and also for the future of German industry, according to the government.
“Our goal is clear. We want Germany to be the global number one in hydrogen technology,” said economy minister Peter Altmaier at the government’s hydrogen stakeholder conference in Berlin. This concerns not only basic research, but also applications at an industrial scale, he said.
The government sees hydrogen made from renewables or from natural gas in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a key part of Germany’s future energy system.
The claims in regards to the global hydrogen economy have not yet been staked.
“Of course, I would prefer green hydrogen [produced through electrolysis from renewable power and water] over grey hydrogen [produced from natural gas, where CO2 is separated and stored, using CCS],” said Altmaier. However, hydrogen applications in all sectors will be developed and scaled up so quickly that production capacities for green hydrogen will not suffice for some time, he added.
Little was said at the conference about how exactly the government aims to ensure that leadership role. However, Germany is currently working on a hydrogen strategy to be finalised by the end of 2019.
"Green hydrogen is tomorrow’s oil"
In light of the planned coal and nuclear exit, the future role of gas in Germany's energy supply has become a crucial topic of discussion as it is less CO2-intensive than oil and coal when burned. Natural gas currently covers almost a quarter of Germany’s primary energy consumption, mostly used for heating and cooling in households and public buildings and in industrial process heating systems.
However, to reach ambitious long-term climate targets, it would have to be gradually substituted with CO2-free or CO2-neutral gases, such as hydrogen. This can be used to store energy, as an energy source for sector coupling, and in the transport sector, e.g. in fuel cell cars, or to make synthetic fuels.
In the long term, Germany would not become a leading producer of climate-neutral hydrogen itself. Just like the country imports large parts of its energy today – fossil oil, gas and hard coal – it would import climate-friendly fuels from countries where renewable power is much cheaper, said Altmaier.
Michael Müller, parliamentary state secretary in the education and research ministry, agrees: “Green hydrogen is tomorrow’s oil, in our view. For Germany, I see huge export opportunities not for hydrogen, but for the technologies,” he said at the conference.
China and Japan biggest competitors
“The claims have not yet been staked” in the global hydrogen technology industry, Altmaier told the Berlin conference.
However, while Germany aims for leadership, other countries might be one step ahead on key technologies, such as hydrogen production. Chinese manufacturers of a certain type of electrolyser – used to produce green hydrogen from renewable power and water – have much lower capital expenditures than their European counterparts, write Matthias Deutsch and Andreas Graf from the think tank Agora Energiewende* in a guest post in EurActiv.
Still, “the ship has by no means sailed,” said Altmaier, adding the cost comparison was an old discussion and simply due to lower labour costs. “Despite this, Germany has defended its global technological leadership role, and intensified it in many areas. Our goal has to be to offer the most sophisticated, innovative and environmentally-friendly technology,” said the minister.
Deutsch and Graf call for EU-wide support for innovation. “Europe should take on the challenge of looming low-cost competition from Asia for electrolyser manufacturing by giving its own electrolysis suppliers the opportunity to scale, learn and reduce costs quickly enough to become competitive,” they write and propose an EU-wide green hydrogen quota.
Aside from China, Altmaier sees Japan and other Asian countries as the biggest competitors on hydrogen technology. “There are also European neighbours interested in what is happening in Germany, and there is the possibility that others join our example,” said Altmaier.
Using hydrogen to safeguard wealth in Germany, create jobs in Africa
German leadership would not only benefit the country’s own prosperity, said minister Müller. “The hydrogen and methanol industry can and must become the future of Africa's energy supply.”
Germany should use the leadership role on climate-neutral hydrogen and methanol production in Africa, because it is the continent of the sun, and fuels could be produced at low cost. Energy partnerships with African countries would lead to win-win situations for everyone involved, he said.
Industry association BDI says current hydrogen hype is justified
German industry association BDI welcomed the government’s focus on hydrogen. “The current hydrogen hype is justified,” the BDI wrote in a position paper.
“Ambitious climate action in German industry can only be done with hydrogen,” said deputy managing director Holger Lösch. “Besides a long-term perspective, the BDI expects that a national hydrogen strategy sends a strong signal for initial applications on an industrial scale.”
Kerstin Andreae, former Green Party MP and new head of energy industry association BDEW, also said that it is correct to see hydrogen as an “all-round talent of tomorrow’s energy supply”. However, a market for it and other green gases had to be created. To help hydrogen’s breakthrough, the tax and levies on electricity have to be reduced significantly, and renewables expansion continued, said Andreae. “Hurdles for renewables expansion are automatically also hurdles for tapping the potential of hydrogen.”
Local utility association VKU head Katherina Reiche said hydrogen could play a role for the energy transition in a regional context in the short term, especially in areas of transport and industry where there are no alternatives. She warned that the basic condition for its use “is the continued resolute expansion of renewable energies, as well as the speedy development of a strategy on the economic cooperation with future hydrogen export countries.”
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germany-must-beat-asia-hydrogen-technology-race-government
Twitter: We’re almost falling in the same trap as we did w/ solar, where we were underestimating the industry’s ability to cut cost & scale up. That’s what we might be seeing here w/ hydrogen. – @jonandrelokke of @nelhydrogen is optimistic on speed of hydrogen cost reduction. #BNEFsummit
We’re almost falling in the same trap as we did w/ solar, where we were underestimating the industry’s ability to cut cost & scale up. That’s what we might be seeing here w/ hydrogen. – @jonandrelokke of @nelhydrogen is optimistic on speed of hydrogen cost reduction. #BNEFsummit pic.twitter.com/jIy0BtEdu4
— BloombergNEF (@BloombergNEF) October 22, 2019
Twitter: Congratulations to ZeroAvia on this great milestone, finally someone that understands that aviation cannot be solved with batteries alone!!!
Congratulations to ZeroAvia on this great milestone, finally someone that understands that aviation cannot be solved with batteries alone!!! https://t.co/NdsnN2Jq8s
— Jon Andre Løkke (@jonandrelokke) November 4, 2019
Correction: Nel ASA: Invitation to presentation of Q3 2019 results
(Oslo, 1 November 2019) Nel ASA (Nel) will announce its third quarter 2019 report on Thursday 7 November at 07:00 CET and will host an open presentation at 08:00 CET.
Location: Hotel Continental, Oslo, Norway
Time: Thursday 7 November 2019 at 08:00 CET
Presenter: Jon André Løkke, CEO Nel ASA
Language: English
The presentation will be broadcasted live at www.nelhydrogen.com and can also be viewed at https://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=98164395
https://nelhydrogen.com/press-release/correction-nel-asa-invitation-to-presentation-of-q3-2019-results/
Nel ASA: Invitation to presentation of Q3 2019 results
(Oslo, 1 November 2019) Nel ASA (Nel) will announce its third quarter 2019 report on Thursday 7 November at 07:00 CET and will host an open presentation at 08:00 CET.
Location: Hotel Continental, Oslo, Norway
Time: Thursday 1 November 2019 at 08:00 CET
Presenter: Jon André Løkke, CEO Nel ASA
Language: English
The presentation will be broadcasted live at www.nelhydrogen.com and can also be viewed at https://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=98164395
The third quarter 2019 report and presentation will be made available through www.newsweb.no and www.nelhydrogen.com.
https://nelhydrogen.com/press-release/nel-asa-invitation-to-presentation-of-q3-2019-results/
Twitter: What's the tipping point for hydrogen infrastructure to be profitable? The answer might surprise you...
What's the tipping point for hydrogen infrastructure to be profitable? The answer might surprise you... https://t.co/JcMBMIoSVh
— Nel Hydrogen (@nelhydrogen) October 25, 2019
Twitter: -We will see renewable hydrogen outcompeting fossil hydrogen in the near future, and we're doing our part to make that happen, says @jonandrelokke at the #BNEFSummit
-We will see renewable hydrogen outcompeting fossil hydrogen in the near future, and we're doing our part to make that happen, says @jonandrelokke at the #BNEFSummit pic.twitter.com/2ixyFgsLNj
— Bjørn Simonsen (@bjornsimonsen) October 22, 2019
Twitter: What role will #hydrogen play in Norway's #energy future? Nel's @bjornsimonsen will be presenting at @NVE's #Energidagene (in Norwegian) on 18 October. Tune in to learn more! https://bit.ly/2oJj105
What role will #hydrogen play in Norway's #energy future? Nel's @bjornsimonsen will be presenting at @NVE's #Energidagene (in Norwegian) on 18 October. Tune in to learn more! https://t.co/jRoKwodn1h pic.twitter.com/nQKNgCKF7H
— Nel Hydrogen (@nelhydrogen) October 16, 2019
Twitter: New report by @EnergyNetworkAu says #hydrogen is part of the sustainable energy future that networks are delivering with $180m committed for infrastructure projects.
"Hydrogen creates opportunities across many sectors of the economy..."
New report by @EnergyNetworkAu says #hydrogen is part of the sustainable energy future that networks are delivering with $180m committed for infrastructure projects.
— Joanna Damerell (@JoSamps92) October 17, 2019
"Hydrogen creates opportunities across many sectors of the economy..." https://t.co/HbSed13VoO
Twitter: What role will #hydrogen play in Norway's #energy future? Nel's @bjornsimonsen will be presenting at @NVE's #Energidagene (in Norwegian) today. Follow along to learn more! https://bit.ly/2oJj105
What role will #hydrogen play in Norway's #energy future? Nel's @bjornsimonsen will be presenting at @NVE's #Energidagene (in Norwegian) today. Follow along to learn more! https://t.co/jRoKwodn1h pic.twitter.com/7KAFFAy9Fl
— Nel Hydrogen (@nelhydrogen) October 18, 2019
Hexagon awarded fuel systems order for Caetano Hydrogen Bus
October 18, 2019
Agility Fuel Solutions, a Hexagon Composites business, has been awarded an order to supply two fuel storage systems for a new hydrogen bus model from CaetanoBus, a leading Portuguese bus manufacturer.
“We’re pleased to leverage our extensive experience in lightweight, reliable and safe hydrogen storage systems to help CaetanoBus bring this exciting new product to the zero-emission public transport sector,” says Eric Bippus, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Agility Fuel Solutions.
CaetanoBus will showcase its new hydrogen bus at Busworld 2019 in Brussels this week. The hydrogen fuel cell bus, H2.City Gold, is an addition to their clean bus portfolio. CaetanoBus is the first bus manufacturer in Europe to utilize Toyota’s leading fuel cell technology.
“We work every day to combine our growth with urban sustainability and to build the future of cities with our partners,” says Jorge Pinto, CEO of CaetanoBus. “Adding the new hydrogen fuel cell bus to CAETANO clean bus portfolio is our best contribution to a future shaped by sustainable mobility solutions worldwide.”
Agility Fuel Solutions is a leading manufacturer of hydrogen fuel systems for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and has been producing systems since 2004.
Mitsui & Co. Ltd, one of the most diversified and comprehensive trading, investment and service enterprises in the world, is a shareholder of both Hexagon Composites and Caetanobus
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/10/18/1931725/0/en/Hexagon-awarded-fuel-systems-order-for-Caetano-Hydrogen-Bus.html
QUT at the forefront of hydrogen push for Australia
Oct 17, 2019
By 2030, Queensland is at the forefront of renewable hydrogen production in Australia, supplying an established domestic market and export partners with a safe, sustainable and reliable supply of hydrogen.
That’s the vision set out for the Australian state in its $19m Hydrogen Industry Strategy, released earlier this year.
Since the strategy was launched, Queensland has announced a raft of projects to accelerate the state’s drive towards a hydrogen-fuelled future, including:
BOC’s $3.1m project to produce renewable hydrogen in Queensland’s capital city Brisbane.
Queensland Government adding hydrogen-powered cars to its fleet.
Dyno Nobel assessing the feasibility of building a renewable ammonia facility powered by renewable hydrogen.
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is the forefront of Australia’s push to promote hydrogen fuel and will host the state’s first hydrogen refuelling station at its Kelvin Grove campus.
The state-of-the-art station will be able to refuel hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in under three minutes and will be used by the FCEVs added to the Queensland Government fleet.
QUT is also leading a $7.5m research project to establish a pilot plant producing green hydrogen fuel at the Redlands Research Facility. Earlier this year, QUT partnered with Japanese petroleum conglomerate JXTG to produce and export green hydrogen to Japan.
Professor Ian Mackinnon, from QUT’s Institute for Future Environments, was recently appointed as the strategic hydrogen advisor to the Queensland Government.
“The University’s commitment to hydrogen development in Australia facilitated through partnerships and strong working relationships with industry is a key step toward a workforce adequately skilled for expansion of the clean energy sector,” Professor Mackinnon said.
“These projects allow a sustainable transition to the production, handling and use of hydrogen and related technologies within the broader energy industry – attributes that feature prominently in the Queensland Hydrogen Industry Strategy and in the development of the National Hydrogen strategy.”
https://www.h2-view.com/story/qut-at-the-forefront-of-hydrogen-push-for-australia/
Hydrogen for transport in London
October 17, 2019
Dennis Hayter from Hydrogen London explores the extent of hydrogen-powered transport in the capital city of the UK, London
The London Hydrogen Partnership (now ‘Hydrogen London’) was established in 2002 as a public-private partnership between hydrogen industry and associated entities, collectively forming a centre of expertise for hydrogen and fuel cell (HFC) technologies, and the Greater London Authority (GLA). The GLA is the devolved regional governance body of London, with jurisdiction over both counties of Greater London and the City of London, with Sadiq Khan as the current Mayor.
Membership currently stands at 36 participants across the HFC spectrum, spanning hydrogen production, hydrogen distribution and fuelling station installation/operation; HFC technology developers; vehicle OEMs and vehicle/fleet operators; stationary and portable power systems suppliers and operators. The remit of the Partnership has broadly been to identify and implement hydrogen and fuel cell (HFC) based initiatives that demonstrate and deliver impacts in addressing London’s most pressing environmental challenges.
Air quality is a fundamental issue for London. The direct health impact of poor air quality has increasingly been recognised as a contributory factor to avoidable deaths and emissions from transport has been an area of attention for Hydrogen London and the wider GLA group.
London first participated in HFC bus trials during 2004-2006. These were deemed successful and with Transport for London (TfL) responsible for one of the largest urban bus network systems globally (7,500 London buses carrying 5.4 million passengers each weekday), but mostly operating on diesel fuel, the logic was to extend the zero-emission fuel cell bus fleet. Further HFC buses were added in 2011. In 2012, London operated a first full city centre, fuel cell-powered bus route (the RV1 Tower Bridge to Covent Garden route). These HFC buses run ~16 hours per day and the fleet has covered over 1 million passenger service miles without fundamental issue. The London RV1 fleet still operates. Further single and double deck HFC buses will be operated from 2020.
Other fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) have been deployed since 2011, including London taxis; passenger cars from Toyota and Hyundai in private fleet and taxi fleet operation – such as Green Tomato Cars running a fleet of 50 Toyota Mirai FCEVs; the GLA itself bringing FCEVs to their TfL and Metropolitan Police fleets – with the latter also fleet testing 2-wheel Suzuki Burgman scooters – and dual fuel hydrogen-diesel vans and service vehicles (such as for refuse collection). Hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) have been opened in and around the London area to support FCEV deployment, with 10 publicly accessible HRS in operation (plus two non-public HRS sites).
Beyond transport applications, increasing use of HFC systems has been seen in construction-related sectors for replacement of site-based diesel generators and equipment power, such as lighting systems. Large scale (200kW+) systems have also been installed for combined heat, power and cooling provision in new office buildings.
Collectively, these now proven HFC technology deployments will be a critical pathway to more widespread adoption for London to achieve the ‘greenest city in the world’ London Hydrogen Strategy 2017 pledge and a net-zero city target for 2050.
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/hydrogen-for-transport/76044/
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