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letter of Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) and the German Hydrogen Association
(DWV) · 1st Quarter 2006– 10th Year
ã Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH
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German Federal Government announces National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Innovation Program
HyWeb, 2006-03-20: During the opening ceremony of the second hydrogen filling station in Berlin on 14 March (see below), German Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee announced, that the German Federal Government will support hydrogen and fuel cell technology through a new National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Innovation Program. The Government will intensify its commitment and allocate additional EUR 500 million in funding for the next 10 years."The development and demonstration of new technologies requires the commitment of motivated companies. We know that especially innovations in the mobility field play a decisive role in the international competitiveness of our business sector in the 21st century. Today we are witnessing the ecological hydrogen economy to go into the next stage transitioning from a dream to a real possibility," Tiefensee said.
MA
"We will intensify our committment and allocate additional EUR 500 million in funding for the next 10 years."
Wolfgang Tiefensee, German Transportation Minister, on the opening ceremony of the Berlin hydrogen refuelling station on 14 March 2006 (LBST translation)
CEP officially opens second hydrogen filling station in Berlin
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: The federal government, represented by the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Wolfgang Tiefensee, his French counterpart Dominique Perben, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Tourism and Maritime Affairs, officially opened the second hydrogen service station of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) in advance of the 6th German-French Council of Ministers in Berlin-Spandau. The CEP thus operates in Berlin one of the most important demonstration projects in Europe for sustainable mobility, and one of the largest worldwide.The hydrogen system is integrated into a newly erected conventional TOTAL service station. Hydrogen buses and automobiles of various kinds can be fuelled here with liquid (LH2) or gaseous (CGH2) hydrogen. The service station provides a platform for the European hydrogen project HyFLEET:CUTE, which will also be started in Berlin with a fleet of some 14 hydrogen buses used by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG).
The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) is an international association of the following companies: Aral, BMW, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM/Opel, Hydro, Linde, TOTAL and Vattenfall Europe. Its goal is to technologically expand the potential of the energy source hydrogen and to experiment toward making it suitable for routine use and compatible with systems. The Clean Energy Partnership is initially planned to run until December 2007. It is a component of the national sustainability strategy and will be sponsored by the German federal government.
Presently, the demonstration project consists of 16 hydrogen automobiles: BMW is contributing two hydrogen-powered vehicles of the 7 series, DaimlerChrysler ten vehicles of the A-class type F-Cell, Ford three Focus FCV Hybrids and GM/Opel one HydroGen3 to the project. The vehicles with fuel cell drive from DaimlerChrysler and Ford will be operated with gaseous hydrogen.
The vehicles from Opel and BMW will be operated with liquid hydrogen: The Opel will be powered with fuel cells, the BMW by a hydrogen internal combustion engine. All vehicles are emission-free: Only water vapour comes out of the exhaust pipe! The vehicles have passed through the testing stage and will be driven by customers on a daily basis. The automobile manufacturers of the CEP anticipate a market launch in the coming decade.
Image: CEP
Links:
Clean Energy Partnership (CEP)
Hydrogen Filling Stations Worldwide (H2Stations.org)PS
HyChain-Minitrans to deploy 150 hydrogen vehicles in four European regions
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: In the course of a Launching Ceremony on 31rd January 2006, the European project HyChain-Minitrans was formally launched. The HyChain-Minitrans project will allow users in four regions of the European Union to test 150 electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Target applications comprise scooters, tricycles, wheelchairs, small utility vehicles and minibuses.
The fuel cell vehicles will be deployed in the following EU regions: Rhône-Alpes region / France (the greater urban community of Grenoble Alpes Métropole), Emilia Romagna / Italy (city of Modena), Castilla y León / Spain (cities of Soria and León) and Nordrhein Westfalen / Germany (the greater urban community of the Emscher Lippe region).
The vehicles will be fuelled with hydrogen that comes in exchangeable cartridges. Vending machines will make it possible to replacing an empty cylinder of hydrogen with a full cylinder of hydrogen of up to 70 MPa (700 bar).
The Project will take place over a 5-year timeframe. It consists of two phases. From 2006 to 2007 focus is put on manufacturing vehicles and developing infrastructure. From 2008 to 2010, the vehicles will be tested in the four regions under actual conditions.
HyChain-Minitrans is co-funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General Energy and Transport with EUR 17 million out of a total budget of EUR 37.6 million. The project is coordinated by Air Liquide. Further project partners are AXANE, BESEL, WIN, CEA, INERIS, INPG, PAXITECH, ASCOPARG, CIEMAT, DERBI, RUCKER, CEU, DOMENECH, IBERDROLA, WI, HYDROGENICS, MASTERFLEX, FAST, VEM and DEMOCENTER.
PS
HyRoad paved its way in California
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: Mid March, federal, state and local representatives formally dedicated the HyRoad demonstration program during a ceremony at AC Transit's Oakland, California/USA, operating division.The HyRoad program is one of the most comprehensive hydrogen fuel cell demonstration in North America . It includes:
- Three very quiet, zero-emission fuel cell hybrid electric buses, built on a Van Hool chassis, powered by UTC Power PureMotion™ 120 kW fuel cell systems and ISE hybrid-electric drive systems. Hydrogen is stored in pressure vessels on board. With this, twice the fuel efficiency of diesel is achieved.
- A fleet of up to ten zero-emission Hyundai and Kia fuel cell cars, powered by UTC Power fuel cells.
- An on-site Chevron Hydrogen energy station that integrates state-of-the art technologies to reform natural gas into hydrogen. Dispensing capacity is up to 150 kg of hydrogen daily, enough to fuel the demonstration fleet of three fuel cell buses and ten fuel cell vehicles.
- The use of hydrogen fuel cell hand tools by AC Transit mechanics.
The HyRoad demonstration project aims at providing participants with a better understanding of hydrogen's commercial potential. The public will also experience hydrogen on a day-to-day basis.
More than 28 businesses and government agencies are involved, among these are ABC Companies, AC Transit, Chevron, DOE, Honda, ISE Corporation, Kia, UTC Power, Van Hool.
HyRoad is funded by grants from various federal, state and local agencies.
Link: HyRoad
PS
Fuel Cells – Risks and opportunities for trade and small businesses
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: Trade and small businesses have to deal more intensively with the increasing sector of decentralised energy supply including fuel cells technology – otherwise there is a high risk of loosing jobs in trade. This is the key message from a report, which was recently published by the German research group BERTA (Fuel Cell Development and Validation for Stationary and Mobile Applications). The study concludes that, thus, already today, trade and small businesses should give attention to this new technology.In fact, trade could also gain from the new technology by establishing new business concepts, such as contracting. For this it is not needed to wait until the fuel cell technology is available over the counter. The trade sector could start developing new business with already existing CHP system technologies, such as engines.
Trade in total will be strongly affected by the introduction of fuel cell systems. That is why the research project also examined possible impacts with regard to job profiles, vocational training and qualification. A master plan for education and training takes this into account. Train-the-trainers materials, e.g. sample case, were developed. A co-ordination body "Fuel Cells Trade" was set up to provide information, inter alia through www.hpi-hannover.de/brennstoffzelle (German only).
Members in the BERTA project are the University of Hanover Heinz-Piest-Institute for Trade Technologies (HPI), together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), Karlsruhe, and L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH, Ottobrunn (all Germany). BERTA is financed by the former Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour in the framework of the Future Investment Program of the Federal Government.
The BERTA report (German) is available from the Fraunhofer IRB publishing company, ISBN 3-8167-6967-5.
For further information please contact:
Wolfgang Koschorke
HPI, University of Hannover
Hannover, Germany
Koschorke@hpi-hannover.dePS
European cities making the case for hydrogen
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: Recent activities throughout European major cities are aiming at fostering the use of hydrogen (surely not exhaustive):Berlin/Germany: Germany's biggest public transport provider, BVG, has ordered 14 buses from the German company MAN with hydrogen powered internal combustion engines (ICE) to be successively deployed within the next two years embedded into the HyFLEET:CUTE project. One of the MAN buses will also contain a fuel cell auxiliary power unit. An electric Mercedes bus retrofitted by BVG to run with a liquefied hydrogen ICE will be commissioned in spring 2006. Eventually, ten DaimlerChrysler f-cell vehicles, two hydrogen powered ICE 7-series by BMW, two H2-ICE Ford Focus and one HydroGen3 by General Motors/Opel will be on the road. The second CEP hydrogen fuelling station has just been opened (see article in this edition).
Link: CEP Berlin
Hamburg/Germany: A newly developed district along the Hamburg harbour shall be supplied with combined heat and power from a fuel cell. A hydrogen ferry boat with 100 seats and a 100 kW fuel cell is targeted in the framework of the "ZEMSHIP" project. The CUTE fleet of three DaimlerChrysler fuel cell buses was extended to nine in the framework of the HyFLEET:CUTE project.
Link: HyCity Hamburg
London/UK: The Mayor's of London has just presented his Hydrogen Vision for London: 70 new hydrogen vehicles plus complementary hydrogen infrastructure shall be in place by 2010. Thereof, 10 new hydrogen fuelled buses for which the procurement process is currently underway.
Link: London Hydrogen Partnership
Turin/Italy: Current projects in the field of automotive applications are an IVECO hydrogen fuel cell bus (CityCell) and a fuel cell powered Fiat Panda. A 100 kW solid oxide fuel cell running on natural gas is providing combined heat and power. Furthermore, a fuel cell and hydrogen testing facility has been established.
Link: EOS
Venice/Italy: The Hydrogen Park project wants to make use of the several thousands of Nm³/h of hydrogen from the Venice industrial area. Applications like hydrogen powered "vaporetti" (Venetian water taxis) are envisaged among a number of other activities in the field.
Link: Presentation at the HFP TechDays'05
PS
Van Hool and UTC team up to target fuel cell bus market in Europe
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: According to a statement of UTC Power, Conneticut/USA, the company will work together with Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool to deliver a fuel cell-powered bus to DeLijn, the largest bus fleet operator in Belgium. The bus will operate in Belgium for six months before being leased to other transit agencies in Europe. With this, the two companies hope to advance the use of fuel cell hybrid-electric technology.PS
IEC safety specification designed to allow fuel cells on planes
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has recently published a safety specification for small fuel cells which is a key requirement if portable fuel cells are to be allowed on passenger aircraft. The specification covers fuel cells in devices such as cell phones, music players, gaming consoles, flashlights, and laptop computers.
Numerous fuel sources for fuel cells are covered by the new IEC specification, such as hydrogen, methanol, formic acid, borohydride, and butane. The specification includes rigorous testing and design requirements to ensure safety during use and transportation.
The IEC, an international standards body, worked with the U.S. Fuel Cell Commission and representatives from similar agencies across the globe in developing the specification. The safety specification IEC/PAS 62282-6-1 (2006-02), "Fuel cell technologies – Part 6-1", may be found on the organization's web site.
Manufacturers are not required to comply with the specification. However, in case of non-compliance, devices that use fuel cells are prohibited from passenger aircraft under the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Technical Instructions permitting carry-on devices powered by fuel cells starting in 2007.Link: IEC
PS
New slush hydrogen production process successfully tested
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: ET EnergieTechnologie GmbH of Germany in cooperation with Magna Steyr of Austria has successfully tested a demonstration unit for the production of slush hydrogen in the framework of a study for the European Space Agency (ESA) financed from the German space budget of DLR. Slush hydrogen is a mixture of liquid and solid hydrogen that can be produced at temperatures around 13.8 K. Slush hydrogen has attractive characteristics for space applications:
- 10 to 20% higher density compared to liquid hydrogen,
- longer storage without losses,
- reduced boil-off losses,
- higher coolling capacity.
The tests were carried in the Hydrogen Test Center (WasserstoffTechnikum) of ET in Brunnthal-Nord close to Munich, where safety installations for handling crygenic substances – both hydrogen and helium – are available. Magna Steyr has developped and made available the generator which was used for the successful tests. It works on the principle of the snow canon, and promises, in contrast to conventional procedures, the production of mixtures with good flow and handling characteristics. Slush hydrogen is seen as promising in aerospace and mobil terrestrial applications, especially cars.
Further tests of the flow characteristics of the produced slush hydrogen are presently in preparation.
Images: ET
Hydrogen facilities of ET GmbH Hydrogen slush production equipment MA
Spotlight India
India presents hydrogen energy road map
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: End of November 2005, the Minister for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Shri Vilas Muttemwar, presented the National Hydrogen Energy Road Map to the public.Different aspects of hydrogen energy which include production, storage, transport, delivery, applications, safety, standards and codes, capacity building and awareness are considered in the Road Map. Key areas are hydrogen production technologies. In the area of hydrogen storage, various goals to be achieved by 2020 are identified.
The Road Map proposes two major initiatives, namely the Green Initiative for Future Transport (GIFT) – which comprises development and demonstration of hydrogen powered internal combustion engine and fuel cell based vehicles ranging from small two/three wheelers cars/taxis, buses and vans – and the Green Initiative for Power Generation (GIP) – targeting the stationary applications. If the National Hydrogen Energy Road Map is implemented as proposed, one million hydrogen fuelled vehicles would be on Indian roads by 2020 and 1,000 MW of decentralised stationary power applications set up in the same timeframe.
The Road Map projects required estimated investments of about Rs. 25,000 crore (approx. 4.5 billion euros), thereof about Rs. 1,000 crore (approx. 180 million euros) for research, development and demonstration and about Rs. 24,000 crore (approx. 4.3 billion euros) for infrastructure. The Road Map recommends a public private partnership for its realisation.
PS
India and Korea to collaborate on hydrogen and fuel cells
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: End of November 2005, India and Korea signed six Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in the hydrocarbon sector.Among others, there is one Memorandum of Understanding on Hydrogen and CNG. This was signed between Director (R&D), Indian Oil Corporation Shri B.M. Bansal and head, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), Mr. Kist Tae Hoon Lim. It covers a H2-CNG project feasibility study for Korea , safety regulations on CNG vehicles and the development of natural gas reformer for hydrogen production.
Another Memorandum of Understanding deals with hydrogen and fuel cells. This was signed between Director (R&D) Indian Oil Corporation and Senior Vice President, Korea Institute of Science & Technology (KIST) Mr. KGC Young Tae Kho. With this, cooperation is sought in the fields of storage of hydrogen-chemical hydrides / nano materials, fuel cell for power generation, evaluation technology of hydrogen and fuel cells, hydrogen safety codes and standards, and fuel cells for transportation.
PS
Hydrogen powered vehicles in India by 2007
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: Following an agreement between the Indian Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) and International Tractors Ltd (ITL), the first hydrogen driven vehicles may hit Indian roads by 2007. ITL will undertake commercial manufacture of two- and three-wheeler hydrogen vehicles developed by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). An initial batch size of some 500 units is expected. However, details are still to be worked out.BHU has been using 50 demonstration vehicles in its campus for the last several years. Hydrogen is stored in metal hydride. Each recharge currently gives around 70 km mileage. Costs of the vehicle are still three to four times higher than the conventional two- or three-wheeler.
While fuel cells are the long-term technology of choice, the short-term rational resides with hydrogen powered internal combustion engines, says the MNES minister.
PS
Electric vehicle manufacturer Reva to develop methanol mini car
HyWeb, 2006-03-16: An Indian group of defence scientists and automobile engineers joined forces to develop a fuel cell powered mini car that runs on methanol. While Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company (Reva) provides the vehicle body, the fuel cell is developed by state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). DRDO has been working on fuel cells for some 10 years now. The fuel cell development is taking place in the Naval Materials Research Laboratory near Mumbai.The vehicle is designed to also deliver external power which is seen as an option to supply a small households in India 's rural hinterland. Current mileage in driving-mode is 20 km per litre methanol which translates into a driving range of some 120 km. Top speed is 65 km per hour.
The car had its début at the Defexpo 2006.
It is planned to conduct exhaustive trials and gain user feedback to improve the car.
The Reva has so far sold 2,000 conventional electric cars in India and Europe . It now produces about 100 cars a month at its Bangalore facility with costs for various models ranging between Rs. 300,000 (~5,400 Euros) and Rs. 400,000 (~7,200 Euros). It is expected that the fuel cell car would cost about Rs. 150,000 (~2,700 Euros) more each.
PS
LBST Analysis
Why Bavarians are good at comparing car fuel consumptions
HyWeb-Gazette, 2006-03-16: Munich, Nockherberg: Karin P. goes to the traditional spring event "Starkbieranstich" (start of strong brown ale season), and drinks a "Maß" ("stone"). Munich, Marienplatz: Peter M. meets his friends for a traditional "Weißwurstfrühstück" (breakfast with white wurst) and drinks two light white beers ("leichtes Weißbier"). Now, who drinks more?Both swallow one liter of liquid, thus the same quantity. Starkbier, though, contains around 7.5% alcohol, while leichtes Weißbier only contains 3%. Thus, Karin consumes significantly more alcohol than Peter, which, among others, means that Karin will have to wait longer before she can live up to the challenges of traffic again.
Equipped with this knowledge we can now face the more abstract problem of comparing car fuel consumptions. Here again, one liter is not equal to one liter, only that here alcohol content is not the interesting criterion, but energy content. One liter of diesel contains around 10 kilowatthours of energy, while gasoline only contains around 8.8 kWh. Thus, a diesel car and a gasoline car consuming one liter each consume different amounts of energy.
Concrete example: An M. vehicle consumes 10.2 liters of diesel for 100 kilometers, while an L. vehicle consumes 11.2 liters of gasoline for 100 km. Which car consumes more? The 10.2 l diesel are equivalent to 102 kWh, while the 11.2 l gasoline are equivalent to 99 kWh. Thus, the gasoline car is more efficient, consumes less. Why this is important? Because a gasoline vehicle not only consumes less energy but also emits less greenhouse gases. The higher energy content of 1 litre of diesel is accompanied with a higher potential to emit greenhouse gases.
Should any non-Bavarians still have doubts on the correctness of this argumentation, a visit to Munich is certainly helpful!
MA
P.S. The need to do comparisons of car fuel consumptions based on energy content (i.e. kWh) becomes even more obvious talking about hydrogen: one liter of liquid hydrogen contains 2.36 kWh of energy compared to the 10 kWh/l for diesel and 8.8 kWh/l for gasoline, and for gaseous hydrogen the liter numbers almost don't make sense at all. The data used here and more are available at www.H2data.de
Breaking News
LBST launches advanced information system on worldwide hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles
HyWeb, 2006-03-08: This month, Germany based strategy and technology consultant L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) has launched an advanced information system on worldwide hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles. More than 400 prototypes with hydrogen powered internal combustion engines, fuel cells and even gas turbines are presented. Access to the information system is open to any interested party and free-of-charge.
The webpage www.H2Mobility.org provides information on current and past developed cars, buses, trucks, bikes, ships, airplanes as well as space, railway, utility and other speciality vehicles.
All hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles are presented in chronological order of appearance. It is differentiated between the different drivetrains, namely hydrogen internal combustion engines and fuel cells.
Each hydrogen vehicle is described in more detail in an individual data sheet. The profiles comprise technical data and images.
Additional timelines are available for selected car manufacturers. The interested reader thus can get an overview on the company specific history of hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles R&D.
H2Mobilty.org provides an overview of hydrogen and fuel cell prototypes for mobile applications. Up to now more than 300 different fuel cell and more than 100 different propulsion systems with internal combustion engines have been presented to the public (see graphic).
Development of alternative propulsion systems is predominantly taking place for cars. Between 1997 and 2001 most car manufacturers focused on developing and demonstrating fuel cell systems with onboard reforming of methanol or gasoline fuel. Since 2002, the development is focused on small series production of pure hydrogen fuelled fuel cell cars. Technology validation under real life conditions has become another issue.
During 2006 H2mobility.org will extent its charge-free service. In addition to the existing overview of prototype development H2Mobility.org will also provide an insight into fleet vehicles and demonstration projects comprising mobile applications.
H2Mobility.org is an successor activity of www.H2Cars.de which has also been an information service provided by the company LBST.
Beside the development of hydrogen powered vehicles the build-up of hydrogen fuel infrastructure is in the focus of interest for industry and consumers. For this, LBST's www.H2Stations.org informs about past, existing and planned hydrogen fuelling stations worldwide.
L-B-Systemtechnik (www.LBST.de), based in Ottobrunn near Munich in Germany, is a technology and strategy consultant for sustainable energy and transportation systems. Hydrogen, fuel cells and renewable energies are major fields of activities since more than 20 years. LBST coordinates European projects with high strategic relevance, consults industry, government and administrative bodies as well as NGOs.
Link: www.H2Mobility.org
MZ/PS
Nissan begins leasing fuel cell cars
HyWeb-Gazette 2006-02-27: Nissan Motor Co. said in late December that it has begun leasing its advanced fuel cell vehicles in Japan. The Japanese car maker, which has French carmaker Renault as 44% stakeholder, has obtained approval from the Japanese government on December 13 to run on public roads its fuel cell vehicle based on its X-Trail sport-utility model, according to Dow Jones Newswire.The fuel cell is proprietary Nissan technology, while earlier Nissan fuel cell vehicles used stacks from UTC Fuel Cells of the USA.
MA
PSA and Intelligent Energy cooperate on fuel cells
HyWeb-Gazette 2006-02-27: Intelligent Energy, fuel cell development company of the United Kingdom, announced a cooperation with French PSA Peugeot Citroën, whereby Intelligent Energy’s automotive fuel cell systems are to be tested and integrated within PSA Peugeot Citroën’s electric vehicles for future deployment in electric vehicle fleets.Under this joint programme, Intelligent Energy will utilise its proprietary Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology in order to deliver a series of advanced, compact and efficient 10 kW systems, which will be configured to fit into PSA Peugeot Citroën's electric vehicle architecture. These will be tested for full durability under typical automotive environmental conditions in extensive in-vehicle track and road testing in France and England.
“Before introducing hydrogen and fuel cell technology within our vehicles, it is essential realistically to assess fuel cell systems under harsh vehicle conditions, testing out vibrations and thermal management conditions” commented Bruno Costes, program director for PSA Peugeot Citroën.
In the short term, PSA Peugeot Citroën is committed to improving automotive fuel efficiency and the use of biofuels. In the longer term, PSA Peugeot Citroën believes that the development of new energy sources is key to reducing CO 2 emissions and to curbing the greenhouse effect. In the medium term, the PSA’s goal is to exploit prevailing electric vehicle technologies and offer hybrid vehicles that combine electric propulsion systems and internal combustion engines, whilst considering different applications of fuel-cell technology for longer term use.
Intelligent Energy’s unique and proprietary design is based on the use of thin metallic bipolar plates that make the fuel cell stack extremely compact and well suited to mass manufacture. The design eliminates the need for pre-humidification of the reactants and minimises the balance-of-plant components. The stacks can be rapidly started from freezing conditions and can achieve full-load in less than 2 minutes from -20°C. The first 10 kW fuel cell system has been delivered to PSA Peugeot Citroën and is presently undergoing laboratory testing. Revised systems will be designed specifically for their vehicle packaging requirements.
The United Kingdom’s DTI (Department of Trade & Industry) is supporting the project under its New and Renewable Energy Programme and the project also involves leading UK and European automotive component suppliers.
MA
Fuel cell cooperation of Vaillant and Webasto
HyWeb-Gazette 2006-02-27: Vaillant Group, European heating appliance manufacturer, and Webasto AG, international automotive supplier, both headquartered in Germany, have signed a cooperation agreement on the joint development of fuel cells for automotive and stationary applications.The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) modules developed by Webasto for mobil applications as Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) will now be employed for stationary applications for residential heat and power supply.
Vaillant is developing fuel cell heating appliances based on PEM fuel cells for multi family homes and small commercial applications since 1998, and has gained major experience through field tests of prototype systems in Europe. The cooperation with Webasto will allow Vaillant to extend its fuel cell development activities to single family homes. The development for multi family homes and small commerce will be continued in parallel.
In the famework of this cooperation, Webasto will develop the thermally insulated core module, including the SOFC fuel cell, an afterburner and the reformer. Vaillant will integrate the core module with further system components into a complete fuel cell heating appliance, and will include this intelligently and efficiently into the heating system of a single family home.
MA
Fuel cell business of Sulzer Hexis continued
HyWeb, 2006-01-03: The fuel cell business of Sulzer Hexis will be continued by an unnamed Swiss foundation, according to an announcement of Sulzer on 22 December 2005. The foundation will finance the future development work. As of January 1, 2006, the foundation has acquired 100% of the shares of Sulzer Hexis AG. This will allow the development of fuel cells to be continued at the established site. The company will be renamed Hexis AG as soon as possible. Dr. Alexander Schuler, currently head of systems development at Sulzer Hexis, will be the managing director of the Hexis AG.MA
Interesting Websites www.H2Mobility.org
All H2/FC vehicles, trains, ships, aircrafts, ...www.H2Stations.org
All hydrogen filling stations world-widewww.Infotools.HFPeurope.org
Data base information tools on H2/FC projects, Centres of Excellence, introductory information on energy, hydrogen and fuel cellswww.H2Data.de
Fundamental hydrogen datawww.EnergyShortage.com
Information and facts about fossil energy resources
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