AdvertisingHyWeb - Gazette
The news letter of L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) and the German Hydrogen Association (DWV) · 3rd Quarter 2003 – 7th Year ã L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH
HyWeb Event Calendar >> Archives >>
Interesting Projects HyNet - the European Thematic Network on Hydrogen European Integrated Hydrogen Project - EIHP
www.fuelcellpark.com
Introductory information on energy, hydrogen and fuel cells (website of the Bewag Fuel Cell Innovation Park, implemented by HyWeb)www.h2guide.de
Guide of German hydrogen projects by the German Hydrogen Association (in German language)Fuel cell drive project for municipal commercial vehicles – Bavarian fuel cell bus project
Tip: Add this page (www.HyWeb.de/gazette-e) to your bookmarks and surf directly onto the Hydrogen-Gazette!
Or: We send you an e-mail with every new edition of the Hydrogen-Gazette specifying the latest headlines. Just send me an e-mail (webmaster@HyWeb.de) indicating your name, company and e-mail address.
Impressum
Editor Matthias Altmann, L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST), webmaster@HyWeb.de Articles AFH - Association Française de l'Hydrogène
DWV - German Hydrogen Association (DWV)
MA - Matthias Altmann, LBST
JS - Jörg Schindler, LBST
RW - Reinhold Wurster, LBST
VB - Volker Blandow, LBST
WW - Werner Weindorf, LBST
WZ - Werner Zittel, LBST
UB - Ulrich Bünger, LBSTAddress see HyWeb Impressum
other News Letters The Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter Clean Fuels and Electric Vehicles Report
Monthly Technology Updates by Fuel Cells 2000
- Life Cycle Analysis of Hydrogen Fuel [pdf, 290 kB]
European Hydrogen Energy Conference, September 2-5, 2003, Grenoble, France, Jörg Schindler, L-B-Systemtechnik, OttobrunnConference presentations in section "Knowledge" under "Artikel/ Abstracts".
"The hydrogen economy is not an end in itself. It should only be considered as part of a safe, secure and renewable-based energy future. If hydrogen comes from fossil fuel or nuclear sources then it is completely incompatible with a sustainable energy policy. [...]
Without large-scale renewable energy production, concrete financial commitments and a serious demand-side energy policy, Europe runs the risk of discrediting hydrogen, preventing its own development and further damaging the environment through the ongoing use of fossil fuels and nuclear derived hydrogen."
Claude Turmes, MEP (Déi Gréng - Luxembourg, energy spokesperson of The Greens - European Free Alliance in the European Parliament), press release, 10 September 2003
EU roadmap towards a European Partnership for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy
HyWeb, 03-09-19: "Are you ready for the energy of the future?", asks the European Commission in a press release of September 10, which is presented in the following.In Brussels, on September 10, Commission President Romano Prodi, Vice President Loyola de Palacio and Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin presented a Communication on actions towards the launch of a European Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technology Partnership, steered by an Advisory Council, that will devise a Hydrogen Research Strategic Agenda. The Partnership will include all major hydrogen stakeholders, private and public, at EU level. The Commission will also fund hydrogen development and deployment research projects. It will foster joint public-private initiatives to promote commercialisation and business development. It will ensure a consistent policy framework, identify a realistic deployment strategy, boost international co-operation in this field, and promote education, training, information and dissemination of results in the hydrogen R&D area. The timetable, the definition of the structure, the terms of reference of the Advisory Council and invitation to note interest for participation in the Advisory Council will be ready as early as October 2003.
According to President Prodi: “However efficient our motor engines and electricity power plants are, if we continue to consume energy at the current rates, future generations will have to pay the price. Hydrogen can help address this issue. It is a promising energy vector, but its potential is yet to be fully exploited. This requires a firm political will and increased resources. We will meet this challenge. Our goal is to achieve a step-by-step shift towards a fully integrated hydrogen economy within the next few decades. We are strongly committed to this aim, and our actions follow up on our commitments.”
Vice-President De Palacio added: “"Hydrogen and fuel cells are key to achieving the EU objective of replacing 20% of vehicle fuels with alternative fuels by 2020. They can potentially reduce the European Union's dependence on oil while at the same time contributing to sustainable development. We have a vision for the hydrogen economy of the future: now we have to work with hydrogen players, both private and public, and with our international partners, including the US and Japan, towards turning that vision into reality.“
“In the near future hydrogen and fuel cells will help tackle the issues of security of energy supply, environmental impact and climate change, and more decentralised energy production,” said Commissioner Busquin. “EU policy initiatives and many EU-funded projects are already advancing research, development and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. But now we need to move up a gear to encourage hydrogen and fuel cells take-up. These are prime examples of the type of "frontier technologies" that are helping the Union to move towards its goal of a sustainable, knowledge-based economy.”
Sink or Swim
While the US and Japan are increasing considerably their investment in hydrogen-related research and development and actively co-ordinating with private partners, European public support from the EU and Member States remains at a significantly lower and fragmented level. To stay competitive, resources must be increased and efforts well co-ordinated to achieve critical mass and increase efficiency in the development of these key future technologies.
Therefore, last year, the Commission decided to strengthen its involvement by setting up a high level group on hydrogen and fuel cells, with the aim of proposing an integrated European vision of the role that hydrogen and fuel cells could play in achieving secure and sustainable energy, and how to turn that potential into reality. The group consisted of top-level stakeholders from across Europe, representing mainly the various industries and research community interested in these technologies.
The group's conclusions and recommendations were discussed and endorsed on 16-17 June 2003 at the major European conference "The hydrogen economy - a bridge to sustainable energy". The conference brought together around 450 participants representing high-level policy and decision-makers from public administrations and from the industrial, financial, scientific and research communities as well as recognised representatives of civil society.
An ambitious strategy
A broad consensus emerged that the overall policy of the Union on sustainable development must encompass an ambitious strategy on hydrogen and fuel cells, given their potential for contributing to security of energy supply, greenhouse gas reductions, for cleaner air and for storage and decentralised uses of energy, for diversifying primary energy sources and for facilitating the transition towards renewable energy.
The key recommended action coming out of the high level group and of the June conference was to set up a European Partnership, associating all relevant players and initiatives, both public and private, with an interested in the formulation and implementation of an integrated strategy for hydrogen.
Objectives and deliverables
The main goal of the European partnership for the sustainable hydrogen economy is to facilitate the development and deployment of costcompetitive, world class European hydrogen and fuel cell based energy systems and component technologies for applications in transport, stationary and portable power. In the future, anything from cars to power plants and mobile phones might be powered by hydrogen.
The scope and operational structure of the European Partnership should be such as to ensure a balanced and active participation of the major stakeholders (i.e. industry, scientific community, public authorities, civil society), as well as to allow efficient co-ordination of the European, national, regional and local research, development and deployment programmes and initiatives.
It will help to develop awareness of fuel cell and hydrogen market opportunities and energy policy scenarios and to foster future co-operation, both within the EU and at a global scale. The European Partnership will contribute to the necessary co-ordination for optimising co-operation between the European hydrogen strategy and international initiatives, such as the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy recently proposed by the US Government.
Key elements of the integrated European strategy on hydrogen:
Strategic research agenda to define performance targets, priorities and timelines in order to create a substantial and co-ordinated increase in European technical and socio-economic research and development efforts and budgets in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, from fundamental science to validation programmes;
Proposals for lighthouse demonstration and deployment projects;
A policy framework that is coherent across transport, energy and environment to reward technologies that meet policy objectives;
A deployment strategy, including a European hydrogen roadmap and advice on policy measures;
Initiatives of public-private partnerships to promote commercialisation and business development, bringing together different industrial and financing organisations;
A framework to develop international co-operation;
A Europe-wide education and training programme, from schools to world-class research;
A communication and dissemination centre for all these initiatives.
Structure and timetable
To achieve these objectives, the European Partnership should draw together these new actions and initiatives, integrating as appropriate existing projects and activities in a structure open to all relevant stakeholders. The Partnership should be steered and monitored by an “advisory council”, representing a balance of expert knowledge and stakeholder interests.
The advisory council should provide guidance on how to initiate and push forward the elements above, building on existing European initiatives, networks and structures. Its secretariat would be funded jointly by the Commission and stakeholders. Moreover, the Commission might set up a “project team” of in-house experts.
As regards the timetable, the definition of the structure, the terms of reference of the Advisory Council and invitations for participation to the Advisory Council could be ready as early as October.
MA
Acceptance of hydrogen: AcceptH2 presents analysis of existing studies
HyWeb, 03-09-19: AcceptH2, started at the beginning of 2003, is a new project aimed at analyzing public perceptions of hydrogen and fuel cell technology by surveying passengers of hydrogen buses in public operation.AcceptH2 has published its first report, which analyzes and compares existing studies on the subject. Eight studies directly related to the subject are analyzed, and many more dealing with related subjects. The report can be downloaded from www.accepth2.com/results/index.html.
The objective of the project is to assess economic preferences towards the potential and actual use of hydrogen buses by conducting 'before' and 'after' economic valuation studies within London (UK), Munich (Germany), Luxemburg, Perth (Australia) and Oakland (California, USA). In addition, the project will assess the level of influence of the hydrogen bus demonstration projects in these cities on local perceptions of and attitudes towards hydrogen buses by comparing the studies within each city. Factors that explain the degrees of success and influence of each of the five demonstration projects will be analysed, and potential public perception barriers to the introduction of hydrogen buses will be identified. The project allows an important international comparison of public perception and preferences, with a focus on European countries. Recommendations for maximising the positive influence and uptake of demonstration and commercial projects will be developed and widely disseminated.
The European part of AcceptH2 is financed by the European Commission. Project partners are: Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (London, United Kingdom), L-B Systemtechnik GmbH (Ottobrunn, Germany), Saarland University (Saarbrücken, Germany) in co-operation with Western Australian Department for Planning and Infrastructure (Perth, Australia), Murdoch University (Perth, Australia), University of California Davis (Davis, California, USA), AC Transit (Oakland, California, USA).
More information about AcceptH2 can be found on the project website at www.accepth2.com.
MA
HyWeb link: Surveys at Fuel Cell Today
HyWeb, 03-09-18: Over the last two years, Fuel Cell Today has published more than 20 market surveys on various areas of fuel cell applications. These are freely available at www.fuelcelltoday.com/surveys.The latest is a survey of large stationary fuel cell systems.
MA
Fuel cell buses and hydrogen filling station in Hamburg
HyWeb, 03-09-17: On September 15, a hydrogen filling station was inaugurated supplying three fuel cell buses in the framework of the CUTE project. Project partners are Hochbahn, operator of the city buses, HEW, the local electric utility and subsidiary of Vattenfall Europe, and BP.
Photo: Hochbahn
The so-called HH2 buses (HH is the symbol for Hamburg on the car license plates) are in regular service since September 16. News on the project and on the actual schedule of the fuel cell buses can be found on the project website at www.hh2wasserstoff.de (in German language).
MA
Sweden opens first hydrogen fueling station
HyWeb, 03-09-17: On September 11, Sydkraft, a major Swedish energy company, officially unveiled Sweden's first public hydrogen fueling station in Malmo in southern Sweden. The Hydrogen Energy Station (HES), supplied by Stuart Energy Systems (Canada), provides both pure hydrogen and a blend of hydrogen and natural gas fuel. Sydkraft currently supplies natural gas fuel to the City of Malmo's entire bus fleet and intends to use the HES system to evaluate the technical, environmental and economic benefits of using a hydrogen/natural gas blended fuel (HyWeb, 03-03-14).The environmentally friendly fuel is produced directly on site. The electric energy needed for this is generated with wind power. The President of Sydkraft Gas, Per Lindell, said: "We want to demonstrate here that hydrogen is a clean, renewable fuel."
The Stuart Energy HES installed for Sydkraft is comprised of four modules: water electrolysis-based hydrogen generation, compression, storage and a natural gas/hydrogen dispenser and will produce about 80kg of high-purity hydrogen per day. A feature of this station is the ability of the dispenser to variably mix hydrogen and natural gas into a blended fuel (100% hydrogen to 100% natural gas).
Photo: GM
The first vehicle to visit the pump was GM/Opel's HydroGen3 prototype with fuel-cell propulsion system.
MA
Smart Fuel Cell presents commercial product
HyWeb, 03-09-01: The world`s first fuel cell system available to end users is on the market: SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (SFC) of Brunnthal near Munich, Germany, - technology and market leader in portable fuel cell products - presents the innovative technology together with Hymer, market leader in recreational vehicles, on the trade show "Caravan Salon Düsseldorf" (Germany, Aug. 30th - Sept. 7th) in Hall 17.SFC has optimised their system for use in recreational vehicles (RV`s) together with Hymer. Both companies demonstrate on the trade show how easy the fuel cell system can be installed in an RV and provide electricity to the board grid which powers a refrigerator, TV, lights or other devices. The fuel cell system SFC A25 reliably provides 50 Ah per day which covers the typical electricity demand of RV`s and sailing yachts - in summer and in winter. With one fuel cartridge of 2.5 litres liquid methanol the SFC A25 runs for 70 to 80 hours at full power. A cartridge has a weight of 2.2 kilogramms. Traditional leadacid batteries of similar capacity weigh about 50 kilogramms according to a SFC press release.
Manfred Stefener, founder and CEO of SFC: "We have tested our product intensively in many field tests - even under extreme conditions. The SFC A25 is very robust, safe, and reliable."
In addition to RV`s and caravans, the SFC system serves as a perfect power supply in many other markets. Among these are sailing boats or remotely operated devices such as sensors or data transmission equipment.
The SFC A25 is labelled with the "CE" sign, indicating full compliance with all applicable European regulations concerning health, safety, and environment. The exchangeable fuel cartridge containing 2.5 litres methanol was certified by the TÜV Product Service and is labelled with the "GS" sign, indicating "safety tested".
SFC offers the SFC A25 for sale on the trade show "Caravan-Salon Düsseldorf" for a special price of 3,990 Euro incl. VAT, and from October 2003 on through the webshop at www.smartfuelcell.de. The prices for Germany will be 4,990 Euro incl. VAT, a methanol cartridge will cost 14.90 Euro and will be delivered throughout Germany. SFC provides an extensive service warranty and a service hotline.
MA
Power outage: distributed and back-up power from hydrogen and fuel cells
HyWeb, 03-08-29: Stuart Energy Systems (Canada) was not severely hit by mid-August's major power outage in Northeast America. Its zero-emission Hydrogen Energy Station (HES) provided clean back-up power to the facility. The HES used its stored hydrogen to run a generator that provided power to the Company’s critical systems including computer network, telecommunication systems, elevators, fire and security systems and emergency lighting.Ballard Power Systems (Canada) introduced the Nexa ® RM Series, its hydrogen fueled stationary fuel cell power generator, just after the power outage. Developed to meet the needs of the uninterruptible power system (UPS) and telecommunications power markets, the Nexa ® RM Series is based on the Nexa ® power module. The Nexa ® RM Series is modular and its power output is scalable in 1 kW increments to meet individual customer requirements. Ballard has delivered Nexa ® RM systems for utility and server room UPS field trials and has scheduled deliveries for telecommunications field trials before year-end.
After the black-out, the US Fuel Cell Council urged Governors to adopt the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' "IEEE 1547 Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources With Electric Power Systems". The standard, which has recently been published, addresses the performance, operation, testing, and safety of interconnection products and services. Adoption of the standard is seen as a first step to create an environment for distributed resources to flourish.
Distributed generation technologies – including fuel cells, renewables, microturbines and other ancillary services – can be located closer to where the power is needed, reducing electricity transport on the already heavily charged electric transportation and distribution system.
Yesterday evening, a major power outage in London, United Kingdom, caused a breakdown of the transport system. Up to 500,000 commuters spent several hours to get home.
MA
FuelCell Energy to Acquire Global Thermoelectric for US$80 Million in Stock
HyWeb, 03-08-29: FuelCell Energy, Inc. (USA), developer of carbonate fuel cell products for stationary power, and Global Thermoelectric Inc. (Canada), developer of solid oxide fuel cell technology, announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for FuelCell Energy to acquire Global Thermoelectric in an all-stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, the transaction is valued at US$2.72, per Global common share for a total value of approximately US$80 million. The proposed combination has the unanimous support of both companies' boards of directors.The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2003 and is subject to approval by the shareholders of each company as well as court and regulatory approvals.
MA
HFCS: Containerized fuel cell system for marine applications
HyWeb, 03-08-29: HDW - Fuel Cell Systems GmbH (HFCS) of Kiel, Germany, which has been established by German shipyard HDW in September 2002, has announced the development of a maritime fuel cell system.HFCS will in the short-term introduce a fuel cell demonstration unit for maritime application into the market, according ot a company press release. This unit will use an existing fuel cell systems, which will be adapted for maritime applications and according to the requirements of the classification societies. Siemens delivers the fuel cell, Germanischer Lloyd develops the safety concept and will certify the entire system.
The fuel cell system opreated with pure hydrogen has an electric output of 16 kW and will be installed in a 20 ft container. It will complement existing electric systems onboard ships and will operate under realistic conditions in parallel to the ship system, or as a stand-alone system. For future applications, a diesel reformer for ship onboard hydrogen production will be developed in a separate project.
According to HFCS assessments, maritime fuel cell systems in the kW range will be low temperature fuel cells, and high temperature fuel cells in the MW range.
MA
London Bus Project delayed
DWV, 03-08-22: A committee of a London council has stopped the planning of a hydrogen filling station which was to serve the three buses of the CUTE project. The plant was to be integrated into an existing BP station in Romford (East London). While the officers of the council approved the project the latter itself rejected it because of safety concerns. A BP spokesman commented that the company has thousands of LPG stations, and hydrogen is not such different. The project itself, or at least its London part, appears not to be in danger; the participants think about an appeal or another site. But the new development will certainly incur a delay.DWV
European Hydrogen Conference
DWV, 03-08-22: From 2. to 5. September the European Hydrogen Energy Congress (EHEC) will be held for the first time. The Association Française de l’Hydrogène is the organizer, and the venue is Grenoble. EU transport and energy commissioner and commission vice president Loyola de Palacio and research commissioner Philippe Busquin will be patrons, as well as for the French government environment minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, industry minister Nicole Fontaine and research and technology minister Claudie Haignéré. This is a clear expression of the interest for the field now in politics.EHEC is the biannual conference of the European Hydrogen Association (EHA) and continues the tradition of the „Hypothesis" Conferences which were held every other year since 1995, the last of them 2001 in Stralsund (Germany).
More information about the Conference can be found at http://www.afh2.org/index.php?page=ehec2003_2_introduction_en .
DWV
India: Hydrogen Roadmap
DWV, 03-08-22: The Indian government has installed a group which will think about the best way to hydrogen energy for the country. Members come from the Prime Minister's office, the ministries of finance, external affairs, petroleum, non-conventional energy sources and science and technology as well as institutes like IIT, Delhi, TERI, Benares Hindu University and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. Their job is to suggest a strategy on going commercial with specific hydrogen energy applications, suggest areas of comparative advantage for India among the end-uses and suggest measures for research and commercial collaboration internationally.DWV
"On hydrogen power, we’ve reached the point of no return. It will happen."
Alain Bugat, General Manager of CEA, France, in AutoWeek online, June 24, 2003
Climate change: WMO "Record extremes in weather"
HyWeb, 03-07-16: The World Meteorological Organization has issued an announcement summarizing the record weather extremes around the globe in June.In June, record high temperatures were recorded across southern France, with maximum temperatures exceeding 40°C in parts of southwest France. This resulted in June average temperatures of 5 to 7°C above the long-term average. In Switzerland, the month of June was the hottest in at least the past 250 years. In Geneva, maximum daytime temperatures did not drop below 25°C, making June the hottest June on record for the city.
In the United States, there were 562 tornados during May, which resulted in 41 deaths. This is 163 tornados or 41% more than the previous maximum in June 1992. In the eastern and southeastern part of the US, wet and cold conditions prevailed for well over a month. Weekly negative temperature anomalies of -2°C to -6°C were experienced in May while precipitation excesses, ranging from 50 mm to 350 mm over a period of more than 12 weeks starting in March 2003, have been recorded.
In India, this year’s pre-monsoon heat wave brought peak temperatures of between 45°C and 49°C which correspond to weekly temperature departures from the normal of +2 to +5°C. At least 1400 people died in India due to the hot weather. In Sri Lanka, heavy rainfalls from Tropical Cyclone 01B exacerbated already wet conditions, resulting in flooding and landslides and killing at least 300 people. The infrastructure and economy of southwestern Sri Lanka was heavily damaged. A reduction of 20-30% is expected for the output of low-grown tea in the next three months.
In recent years the number of such record extreme events have been increasing. Monthly and annual temperature averages have been gradually increasing over the past 100 years. According to recent climate change scientific assessment reports of the joint WMO/UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average surface temperature has increased since 1861. Over the 20th century the increase has been around 0.6°C. This value is about 0.15°C larger than that estimated by the previous reports.
The increase in temperature in the 20th century is likely to have been the largest in any century during the past 1000 years. It is also likely that, in the Northern Hemisphere, the 1990s were the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year. The trend for the period since 1976 is roughly three times that for the past 100 years as a whole. Global average land and sea surface temperatures in May 2003 were the second highest since records began in 1880. Considering land temperatures only, last May was the warmest on record.
According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich also experienced the hottest June since 1811 with average temperatures an unbelievable 2.4°C higher than the previous record of last year. A new record was also achieved for the local definition of "Biergarten-Temperatur": 20 evenings with temperatures exceeding 20°C at 10 o'clock pm compared to 10 evenings last June!
MA
RMI: 20 hydrogen myths
HyWeb, 03-07-16: The well-known Rocky Mountain Insitute, USA, has published the documented white paper "Twenty Hydrogen Myths", which demystifies hydrogen energy, debunks popular misconceptions, and proposes a surprisingly easy, attractive, and profitable path to the hydrogen economy. Download this highly recommended document from www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid171.php#20H2Myths.MA
Comments on and analysis of the Eliasson/ Bossel papers
HyWeb, 03-07-15 (minor amendments and changes on 03-09-19): In 2002, Baldur Eliasson and Ulf Bossel have circulated an article "The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?" [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] which has aroused interest in various groups and at various levels contradicting the common view of a number of recent and comprehensive industry-led projects. The present analysis is meant to point at some major weaknesses of the [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] approach and also adresses some faulty calculations or assumptions regarding individual processes in a hydrogen supply chain. In a revision of the paper ("Energy and the hydrogen economy" [Bossel, Eliasson 2003]) the two authors have built upon their former assumptions (with some corrections) and have added some comments. A third, final version of the paper has been published with further corrections and additions, but still building on their original approach, which is fundamentally criticized in the present analysis [Bossel, Eliasson, Taylor 2003].LBST has analysed the two early versions of the paper in detail in a report. The major evaluation has been carried out on the original version, and an addendum provides further analysis of the second version [LBST].
[Eliasson, Bossel 2002] argue on different levels: (1) a detailed technical level and (2) a strategic level without embedding the arguments in a systematic analysis. Instead of evaluating complete energy chains and thereby trying to prove the deficiency of a hydrogen energy system they prefer to concentrate on the identification of "killer-criteria" for individual hydrogen specific processes, e.g. central and decentralized hydrogen production, hydrogen compression, hydrogen liquefaction, hydrogen storage and hydrogen transport by truck and by pipeline.
The line of argumentation builds exclusively on energy efficiency without considering greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions, or costs. In addition, only components of the fuel production and supply part of the entire chain are considered, the use technology (e.g. fuel cell car) is excluded. This gives a distorted picture, emphasizing the lower energy efficiency in fuel production and supply, while not taking into account the higher energy efficiency of the use technology.
LBST has made the effort to use the assumptions of [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] and calculate the entire Well-to-Wheel fuel chains, and compare them to the results from LBST's extensive research work for and in close cooperation with national and international industrial companies (HyWeb, 03-07-11).
In fact, even when one calculates complete energy chains with the differing assumptions of [Eliasson, Bossel 2002], the effect is not least as big as the reader is led to believe.
This is probably the most surprising result of this analysis. Whether hydrogen as an energy carrier makes sense, is to quite a large extent independent of the differences in assumptions on some individual processes. The entire fuel production, supply and use chain has to be considered, which reveals the positive results for hydrogen known from a number of recent and comprehensive industry-led projects. Greenhouse gas emissions and costs are the major evaluation criteria for this, while primary energy requirement is only a secondary criterion. In addition, future technical and commercial advances have to be taken into account for the upcoming hydrogen energy economy.
Figure 1 shows the fuel supply efficiency of various paths including a wind power to hydrogen path based on the assumptions in [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] (red arrow); an error bar accounts for the fact that some of the elements of the chain have not been discussed in [Eliasson, Bossel 2002]. Even though [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] have used energy consumptions for some processes (e.g. electrolysis, compression) which are significantly higher than those LBST uses, the overall result is only 11% above that of LBST (column left of the red arrow). It is also noteworthy that the energy efficiency of biomass to methanol (column three from right) is the same as for compressed hydrogen from wind power, which contradicts the final conclusion of [Eliasson, Bossel 2002]: "Time has come to shift the attention for a 'Hydrogen Economy' to a 'Methanol (or else) Economy' ...".
Figure 2 shows that calculating the entire fuel chain from Well-to-Wheel including a hydrogen fuel cell car renewable hydrogen reveals equal overall energy efficiency as diesel powering combustion engine cars, even when using [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] assumptions.
Figure 3 displays the self-evident fact that renewable fuel paths have zero GHG emissions.
Figure 1: Energy requirements fuel supply (Well-to-Tank); the red arrow points at the result using the [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] assumptions
* Residual woody biomass, **CGH2 transport via truck (distance: 500 km)Figure 2: Energy Requirements including vehicle (Well-to-Wheel); the red arrow points at the result using the [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] assumptions
* Residual woody biomass, **CGH2 transport via truck (distance: 500 km)Figure 3: Greenhouse gas emissions including vehicle (Well-to-Wheel); the red arrow points at the result using the [Eliasson, Bossel 2002] assumptions
* Residual woody biomass, **CGH2 transport via truck (distance: 500 km)MA/WW/UB/JS
[LBST] Weindorf, W., Bünger, U., Schindler, J., L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH, Ottobrunn: Comments on the Paper by Baldur Eliasson and Ulf Bossel "The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?", including addendum with comments on the Paper by Ulf Bossel and Baldur Eliasson "Energy and the hydrogen economy", 2003; download (pdf, 135 kB)
[Eliasson, Bossel 2002] Eliasson, B., ABB Switzerland Ltd., Corporate Research, Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland; Bossel, U., Fuel Cell Consultant, Oberrohrdorf, Switzerland: The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?; 2002
[Bossel, Eliasson 2003] Bossel, U.; Eliasson, B.: Energy and the hydrogen economy, January 8, 2003
[Bossel, Eliasson, Taylor 2003] Bossel, U.; Eliasson, B.; Taylor, G.: The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak?; April 15, 2003
MTU Friedrichshafen and RWE establish fuel cell joint venture
HyWeb, 03-07-15: MTU Friedrichshafen and RWE Fuel Cells, both of Germany, have signed a joint venture contract, which has become effective as of july 2003 subject to the approval of the European Commission. The new company, which will be 25.1% owned by RWE, is named MTU CFC Solutions GmbH.MTU Friedrichshafen contributes its MCFC technology to the joint venture, while RWE contributes access to the customer. Series production of the fuel cell systems is scheduled to start in 2006.
MA
Masterflex wins Airbus fuel cell development contract
HyWeb, 03-07-15: Masterflex of Gelsenkirchen, Germany, has won a contract from Airbus Deutschland GmbH for the development and construction of a fuel cell system. This system will allow to test areas where fuel cells could be employed in commercial aircraft.Masterflex plans to launch its first hydrogen-based fuel cell for series production in 2004. They will initially be used as a power source for mobile office equipment, such as laptop computers and printers (HyWeb, 03-02-10).
MA
Boeing fuel cell demonstrator airplane project
HyWeb, 03-07-14: Boeing has announced its partners for a demonstrator airplane project aimed at exploring the use of fuel cell technology for future aerospace applications. The research project, led by the Boeing Research and Technology Center in Madrid, Spain, includes Intelligent Energy (UK), Diamond Aircraft Industries (Austria), the Spanish companies Sener and Aerlyper, and Advanced Technology Products (ATP), from the United States. In addition, Polytechnic University of Madrid and Polytechnic University of Catalonia will be involved in the project.The project will evaluate the potential application of fuel cell technology - which is cleaner, quieter and more efficient than current gas turbine technology - for future commercial airplane products. As part of the evaluation, the project will develop and flight-demonstrate an electric-motor-driven airplane powered by fuel cells.
With respect to the five partners collaborating in the project, Diamond Aircraft of Austria will supply the demonstrator airplane, based on a certified Katana Xtreme motor-glider (in Europe called the Super Dimona); Intelligent Energy of the United Kingdom will provide the Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell hardware and technical support; Sener will design and build a fuel cell controller unit to be used in research activities; Aerlyper will integrate the electric motor into the airplane and perform airframe modification work; and ATP will supply the motor, batteries, and controllers to complete the electric propulsion system, and perform the flight testing of the airplane.
Work to integrate the fuel cells into the demonstrator airframe is expected to begin at the end of summer 2003. This would enable a possible flight test in late 2004 or early 2005. While test results are not expected to allow for any near-term applications of the new technology to production aircraft, they are expected to contribute to the eventual use of this technology in aircraft to provide cleaner, more efficient performance.
MA
Hydrogen Congress
DWV, 03-07-14: The International German Hydrogen Energy Congress will be held from 11. to 12. February in Essen (Germany). The international component will be even stronger than during the predecessor event held in November 2002; conference language will be English, with simultaneous translation. Wolfgang Clement, minister for economy and labour, will be the patron. The meeting will have three parts: conference, exhibition and „Young Hydrogen".More information at www.h2congress.de
DWV
Hydrogen for chemistry in Leuna, Germany
DWV, 03-07-14: Linde has meanwhile installed four steam reformer at and around Leuna (Saxony, Germany) to supply hydrogen to the companies of the Saxon Chemistry Triangle. A Total refinery and a Dow Chemical polyethylene production are among the customers. The latest plant was started on 2. June at Leuna. It was an investment of 40 M€, and the production capacity is now 140,000 m3 per hour. Linde board member Belloni said that the site would be expanded further.DWV
Home refueler by Shell and Vandenborre
DWV, 03-07-14: Shell Hydrogen and the Belgian Vandenborre Technologies signed an agreement in June about the marketing of a small device developed by Vandenborre which is something like a home hydrogen filling station. It is a small electrolyzer which generates hydrogen from tap water. The only emission is oxygen. The user of a hydrogen car (with gas tank) can connect his vehicle to the device in the evening and has a full tank in the morning.Shell Hydrogen will conduct market analysis of the potential of home hydrogen refuelling, while Vandenborre Technologies will develop and manufacture home refuelling units. The companies expect to introduce a first prototype for field testing within a year, targeted for a European market. The companies see this as a contribution to the building of a hydrogen infrastructure.
Vandenborre Technologies recently became a part of the Canadian company Stuart. The development for the home electrolyzer was mainly done by the German daughter company Hydrogen Systems in Grimma (Saxony). There the device was built, inspected and approved according to the applicable rules.
DWV
BMW: Full speed with hydrogen
DWV, 03-07-14: Internal combustion engines running on hydrogen are not only cleaner, but also deliver more power than conventional gasoline motors. This was said by Dr. Burkhard Goeschel, BMW board member responsible for development, during a meeting in Vienna. He said that BMW engineers have opened the door towards a fully new power range by controlling the hydrogen combustion ideally and at the same time optimizing the ration of hydrogen to air. „The research results already achieved are impressive", Goeschel said, „the output is above that of today's gasoline motors. ... Our objective is a total efficiency of 50%."DWV
Singapore and the infrastructure
DWV, 03-07-14: The South East Asian State will open the first public hydrogen filling station of the region. BP and Air Products will install it in an existing BP station. It will be operating during the first quarter of next year. At the same time DaimlerChrysler will send seven hydrogen cars to Singapore for test purposes. The filling station will cost between 0.5 und 1 M$ and will be able to serve eleven cars per day.DWV
Well-to-Wheel: Comparing MIT and GM-LBST
HyWeb, 03-07-11: Two major studies of Well-to-Wheel greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of conventional and fuel cell cars using a variety of conventional and alternative fuels have been published recently.The "European Well-to-Wheel study" by General Motors and L-B-Systemtechnik [GM LBST 2002] has been published in 2002. While GM has contributed the vehicle simulations calculating the fuel efficiencies of all propulsion and fuel concepts (Tank-to-Wheel), LBST has contributed the fuel production and supply values (Well-to-Tank) in discussion with BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalFinaElf. The study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been published this year [MIT 2003].
The MIT study has received considerable attention by the general press with the alleged major study result that there was no advantage of fuel cell vehicles concerning energy use and GHG emissions compared to hybrid diesel vehicles.
In the following, the results of the two studies are compared with the objective of analyzing and assessing the differences, and with the goal to verify whether hydrogen fuel cell cars offer GHG emission advantages over diesel hybrid cars.
For two reasons, the results of the two studies cannot be compared directly: On the one hand, the MIT study includes energy requirements and GHG emissions of the manufacturing of the car (between 18 and 23 g/km), which the GM-LBST study does not, and on the other hand, the two studies use different base vehicles for their respective analyses. The MIT study uses a much smaller car than the GM-LBST study relying on an Opel Zafira minivan. Therefore, emissions from vehicle manufacturing have to be separated from the MIT study results, and all values have to be normalized to the respective baseline vehicle/ fuel combination, which is a gasoline internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle in both cases.
The following tables summarize the MIT study results (values for fuel cell cars are the average of the two propulsion concept scenarios "components" and "integrated") and the GM-LBST study results. The results of both studies are then compared in the subsequent graph.
Table 1: Life-Cycle GHG Emissions of the MIT study
Operation
[g/km]Fuel Cycle
[g/km]Total
[g/km][% of baseline]
Gasoline ICE (Baseline) 126
32
158
100
Diesel ICE 99
16
115
73
Diesel ICE Hybrid 70
11
81
51
Hydrogen FC 0
90
90
57
Hydrogen FC Hybrid 0
75
75
47
Gasoline FC 87
22
109
69
Gasoline FC Hybrid 68
17
85
54
Table 2: Life-Cycle GHG Emissons of the GM-LBST study
Operation
[g/km]Fuel Cycle
[g/km]Total
[g/km][% of baseline]
Gasoline ICE (Baseline) 185
32
217
100
Diesel ICE 146
20
166
76
Diesel ICE Hybrid 123
17
140
65
Hydrogen FC 0
117
117
54
Hydrogen FC Hybrid 0
109
109
50
Gasoline FC 134
24
158
73
Gasoline FC Hybrid 117
20
137
63
Figure 1: Relative GHG emissions of the MIT study versus the GM-LBST study
(1) GM-LBST study: GHG emissions are zero; MIT study: not explicitly calculated
The following conclusions are obvious from the graph:
- Uncertainty levels given in the MIT study are generally smaller than in the GM-LBST study. This is especially noteworthy for the gasoline reformer fuel cell cars. Uncertainty levels indicated by the error bars are mainly due to uncertainties in the vehicle simulation.
- Hybrid diesel cars are significantly more fuel efficient in the MIT study than in the GM-LBST study compared to the gasoline ICE baseline car resulting in significantly lower GHG emissions of the MIT diesel cars compared to the GM cars.
- The MIT fuel cell car powered by natural gas derived hydrogen has slightly higher GHG emissions than the corresponding GM car (third column in the graph). For the fuel cell hybrid versions MIT comes to slightly lower emissions than GM.
- As a result of the latter two points, the MIT study comes to the conclusion that diesel hybrid cars have slightly lower GHG emissions than fuel cell cars powered by natural gas derived hydrogen, while fuel cell hybrid cars are slightly better than diesel hybrids. Combining these results with the uncertainties of fuel cells, MIT comes to the conclusion that fuel cell cars do not offer advantages over diesel hybrid cars.
- Even though the MIT study does not explicitly calculate values for hydrogen from renewable energy sources it states that GHG emissions are essentially zero. This acknowledges the fact that fuel cell vehicles offer significant advantages in GHG emissions as soon as renewable energies are used for hydrogen production.
As a general conclusion it can be said that MIT comes to more optimistic results for the fuel efficiencies of hybrid cars compared to non-hybridized propulsion concepts than GM-LBST with most other results being very similar in both studies. Whether fuel cell cars powered by natural gas derived hydrogen have GHG emission advantages has to be verified in future studies and realized cars. Both studies agree in that they do not have disadvantages compared to the most advanced conventional concepts possible.
The alleged major conclusion that fuel cell cars did not offer advantages over diesel hybrid cars is a simple misunderstanding as it misses the fundamental advantage of hydrogen fuel cell cars having the capability of providing zero Well-to-Wheel GHG emissions by using renewable energies for hydrogen production.
MA/WW
[GM LBST 2002] GM Well-to-Wheel Analysis of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Advanced Fuel/Vehicle Systems – A European Study; prepared for General Motors Corporation (GM) by L-B-Systemtechnik, Ottobrunn, Germany; September 2002; http://www.lbst.de/publications/studies__e/2002gmwtw__e.html including new slide presentation of key results
[MIT 2003] Weiss, M., A.; Heywood, A., S.; Natarajan, V., K.: Comparative Assessment of Fuel Cell Cars; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), February 2003, Publication No. MIT LFEE 2003-001 RP, http://lfee.mit.edu/publications/
Hydrogen energy is a global issue
DWV, 03-07-11: Greenhouse effect and fossil resource depletion are global energy problems. Hydrogen and fuel cells are important elements of an equally global and sustainable solution to them, both for industrialised and developing countries.The European Hydrogen Association will play a pan-European role, profiting by the network of national hydrogen associations to inform the decision makers, enhance the social acceptance, and encourage demonstrations at the national level or within major industries like car makers, energy suppliers, and oil companies.
The EHA role will be in particular to push the hydrogen energy as a main means to favor energy saving and protection of the environment, leading to a global improvement of social health.
The European Hydrogen Association will therefore step up its work in promoting these technologies on an international level. On the European level, continued cooperation with the European Commission will be of primary importance. A number of “Networks of Excellence” are to be created in the 6. Framework Program for Research, and EHA sees many ways to contribute to them, being a Network of Excellence itself by its very nature.
Among the other partners are the International Energy Agency and the International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Among the tasks immediately at hand are the European Hydrogen Energy Conference (EHEC) to be held from 2. to 5. September in Grenoble (France) and also the World Hydrogen Energy Conference 2006 to be held in Lyon. The venue of the EHEC 2005 will be announced in September.
The new board, which was elected during the General Assembly held in Utrecht (The Netherlands) on 11. June, accepted these items as central parts of the work program. New EHA president is Prof. Lars Sjunnesson from Sweden, a member of the High Level Group on Hydrogen which has been installed by the European Commission. Mr. Georges Fratacci (France) was elected as Vice President, Dr. Ulrich Schmidtchen (Germany) as secretary, and Dr. Christer Morén (Sweden) as treasurer. Another member of the board is Prof. Jobst Hapke (Germany).
The associations from Norway and The Netherlands are expected to join EHA in the near future. A number of recently founded national hydrogen association from various countries in Europe have also expressed their interest to join EHA.
DWV
Hydrogen infrastructure is now the urgent task
DWV, 03-07-11: Installing an infrastructure for hydrogen as car fuel is the central task for the years to come on the way to a traffic system based on renewable energies and producing less emissions. This was the result of an event held on June 5 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the members of DWV at Hanau (Frankfurt area). Speakers from car industry, gas industry and well-known advisors gave their opinion in presentations and a round-table discussion. They agreed that this is the task where the political sector is most important for creating the necessary boundary conditions.All car makers put great effort in the development of serial cars running on hydrogen. They will be available for the normal customer not later than 2010. About 2000 hydrogen filling stations would be necessary in Germany to ensure their supply. Car makers and energy suppliers see this task and work on it. DWV will accompany this process by maintaining close contact with the decision makers and informing the public about the state and what remains to do.
DWV is also the fuel cell association of Germany. In the years to come this will be expressed even more than before. The meeting elected Prof. Juergen Garche (ZSW Ulm), an internationally acknowledged specialist, as new DWV board member.
New DWV chairman as successor of Dr. Rolf Ewald is Dr. Johannes Toepler . Dr. Joachim Wolf was elected as vice chairman. Dr. Ewald, the outgoing chairman, had held this office since the foundation of DWV seven years ago and thus has contributed a lot to the development of the association.
DWV
New research chair on hydrogen storage in Canada
HyWeb, 03-07-09: The Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) has announced the creation of the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Hydrogen Storage. NSERC is providing CAN-$1 million in funding over five years.The Government of Canada's partners in this initiative are Hydrogenics Corporation and Stuart Energy Systems Corporation, who will jointly contribute CAN-$450,000 over five years.
The new chairholder, Professor Richard Chahine, and his research team will concentrate their efforts on developing reliable technologies for storing and transporting hydrogen.
MA
Ford fuel cell vehicles to be tested in Vancouver
HyWeb, 03-07-09: Ford Motor Company, Natural Resources Canada and Fuel Cells Canada have announced plans to place a fleet of hydrogen-powered Ford Focus fuel cell vehicles on the streets of Vancouver, Canada, early next year in a long-term real-world test.The vehicles are part of a three-year collaborative development program. The goals of the program include technology testing, driver acceptance evaluation, evaluating comfort with hydrogen fueling and educating the public on the benefits of and challenges posed by the introduction of fuel cell vehicles.
The vehicles in this program will be a hybrid-electric fuel cell version of the Ford Focus, utilizing a Ballard fuel cell and a Dynetek compressed hydrogen storage tank. The Focus Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) employs a regenerative braking system and an advanced nickel metal-hydride battery for electrical energy storage.
MA
TÜV brochure "Hydrogen - a world of energy"
HyWeb, 03-07-09: TÜV Süddeutschland of Germany has published the comprehensive brochure "Hydrogen - a world of energy". It gives an overview of all areas of hydrogen and fuel cells, from production over storage and infrastructure to use. 40 German and international companies, research organizations and projects present the various products and services in a clear and informative way.The brochure is a good start into the matter and gives an overview of the multitude of technical and conceptual options, of the state-of-the-art and of the perspectives.
"Hydrogen - a world of energy" can be ordered or downloaded from www.hydrogenperspectives.com.
MA
High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells conference in Brussels
HyWeb, 03-07-01: On June 16 and 17, the European Commission lead by President Romano Prodi, Vice-President and Energy and Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio and Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin held the conference "The hydrogen economy - a bridge to sustainable energy" to discuss the report on "Hydrogen and fuel cells – a vision for our future" presented on this occasion by the High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells to the Commission.The 450 delegates included relevant policy and decision-makers, as well as industry and academia. The Greek Presidency was represented by Mr Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Minister of Development. Mrs Claudie Haigneré, French Minister for Research and New Technologies, Mr Adamowitsch, German State Secretary for the Federal Minister of Economics and Labour, Mr. Spencer Abraham, US Secretary of Energy, and Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom also participated.
Commission President Romano Prodi said: "Hydrogen and fuel cell technology represents a strategic choice for Europe. Within the next 20 to 30 years it will change considerably our society and economic growth patterns, by bringing about a decentralised and cleaner model of energy production and distribution." [...] "It is our declared goal of achieving a step-by-step shift towards a fully integrated hydrogen economy, based on renewable energy sources, by the middle of the century." [...] "Our current approach to energy relies overwhelmingly on fossil and nuclear fuels. And this cannot go on forever. But the real question is [...] whether we have enough air, land and sea to dispose of the gaseous, liquid and solid wastes from spent fossil and nuclear fuels used to produce energy. The answer is a clear 'No'."
Commissioner de Palacio, added: "Hydrogen and fuel cells can potentially reduce the European Union’s dependence on oil while at the same time contributing to sustainable development. They are key to achieving the EU objective of replacing 20% of vehicle fuels with alternative fuels by 2020, including hydrogen." [...] "For transport we use oil, a not expensive energy source and a really efficient energy carrier but oil has two disadvantages, firstly it is not an unlimited resource, and secondly it produces CO2. To use in a clean and efficient way the unlimited energy sources we need Hydrogen such as a carrier. There are only two unlimited energy sources: solar and nuclear."
Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin said: "[...] the High Level Group on Hydrogen report is an important document for the energy policy of the Union. Within six months of intensive work this group has established for the firrst time a common vision of the European industry on hydrogen. This vision clearly shows that the European industry believes in the potential of hydrogen and fuel cells, especially for strengthening the energy supply security in Europe, for increasing the efficiency of energy production, and for facilitating the transition to non-polluting energy sources, especially the renewable energies."
German State Secretary Georg Wilhelm Adamowitsch said: "We think that a broad application of hydrogen, especially of solar hydrogen, is not to be expected in the mid-term because of the poor economics and because of the large quantities required. Consequently, the German Government has reduced research and development in the area of hydrogen during recent years ans sees research requirements mainly in preserving the achieved technical standard and in reducing costs of key components." [...] "For the German Government, the fuel cell is a key technology. It is an innovative and highly efficient energy converter. From the German perspective, the advantages of fuel cells are mainly the following: In addition to natural gas, the fuel cell can also be operated on biogas and coal gas. The fuel cell can be perfectly integrated into our new concept for research and development of the emission-reduced coal power plant (COORE-TEC). Finally, the fuel cell is an important bridging element to a potential hydrogen economy in the far distant future." [...] "The danger of visions is that the expectations of the audience and especially of the general public are led into the wrong direction. I don't want to be misinterpreted: We need optimism for shaping our energy research policy, but we cannot afford to finance illusions."
US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said: "As you know, hydrogen can be produced using renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy. We are looking at all of these options. But we intend that all our hydrogen will eventually be produced using emissions-free technologies. In our most recent budget, we propose spending roughly 50 percent on hydrogen production from renewable resources."
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said: "However the most exciting prospect that the vision of a hydrogen economy holds, is the opportunity to move away from a fossil fuel based energy system towards one that is based predominantly on renewable energy. I am pleased to see that the report of the high level group acknowledges this as the final goal we should aim for." [...] "In my own view therefore we need to complement a roadmap for hydrogen and fuel cells with a roadmap for expanding the share of renewables to our energy supply so that hydrogen can be produced from renewables. The hydrogen economy will always only be as environmentally sustainable as the energy mix that produces the hydrogen."
More information can be found at www.cordis.lu/sustdev/energy/h2.htm
The summary of the HLG report and more information about the HLG can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/nn/nn_rt_hlg2_en.html
MA
HLG recommends "European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform"
HyWeb, 03-07-01: The High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells strongly recommended the launch of a European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform to be steered by an Advisory Council on the occasion of the HLG conference on June 16/ 17. The Platform should encourage a consistent policy framework across transport, energy, environment and enterprise policies to reward technologies that meet sustainable development policy objectives.The Platform should also devise a Strategic Research Agenda. This should be accompanied by a long-term hydrogen deployment strategy, including demonstration and pilot programmes. This should also lead to a long-term European strategy for hydrogen and fuel cells to guide the transition to a hydrogen future, with realistic deadlines: the transition to a hydrogen-oriented economy should take 20 to 30 years.
MA
EC and US sign Fuel Cell Annex
HyWeb, 03-07-01: During the HLG conference on June 16, US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and European Union Commissioner for Research Phillipe Busquin signed the Fuel Cell Annex, the first addition to the U.S.-EU Non-Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement that the two signed in May 2001. The Fuel Cell Annex lays out the framework within which the two entities will collaborate on hydrogen research, and will help both the U.S. and the EC leverage their approaches to achieving advances towards a hydrogen-based economy.In his address to the conference, Abraham stressed the value of international partnerships in achieving progress in the advance of scientific knowledge and technology applications in the energy area and called on the EC and its member countries to participate in a Ministerial-level conference this fall to formally establish the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy.
"The US and EU also worked together closely to place cooperation on the hydrogen economy at the center of the G-8 Action Plan on Science and Technology, which our Leaders adopted earlier this month in Evian."
MA
HyWeb-Gazette 6 years old
HyWeb, 03-07-01: A little more than 6 years ago on March 24, 1997 the HyWeb-Gazette went online with the first lot of news articles on hydrogen and fuel cells. These first news highleghted the first hydrogen bus in public operation, an MAN hydrogen internal combustion engine bus running in Erlangen and Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and announced the first three Ballard fuel cell buses for Chicago. The establishment of the German Hydrogen Association was reported, the operation of the first hydrogen powered PAFC in Hamburg was announced for end 1997, and work on hydrogen storage in graphite nanofibers was reported.All articles ever published in the HyWeb-Gazette are still available online free of charge (just as the HyWeb-Gazette itself) in the Archives section.
Starting in those early days of the world-wide web makes the HyWeb-Gazette the by far longest-serving Internet newsletter on hydrogen and fuel cells. It is still the only hydrogen and fuel cell newletter available in both English and German language.
At present some 1200 German speaking and some 1500 English speaking subscribers receive the e-mail service of the HyWeb-Gazette for each new edition.
Not only the Gazette but HyWeb as a whole has started in March 1997. Since then, it has grown continuously in content establishing such major new components as the presentation of all hydrogen and fuel cell cars at www.h2cars.de, or HyWeb-Pro - the European Centers of Excellence Projects Database at www.HyWeb.de/pro.
The HyWeb team thanks all of the more than 40,000 users every month from around the globe for visiting HyWeb, for their encouraging comments and for their constructive criticism and contributions. HyWeb strives to continuously improve and extend the service provided to our readers.
HyWeb is a free-of-charge service provided by L-B-Systemtechnik - strategy and technology consultants for sustainable energy and transport systems.
MA
EC publishes "European FC and H2 Projects 1999-2002"
HyWeb, 03-06-23: The European Commission has published a brochure containing all hydrogen and fuel cell projects funded under the Fifth Framework Programme (1999-2002), ranging from basic research to large scale demonstration. It also describes the activities directly undertaken by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in these areas.The Brochure is available for download as pdf on the following page (see link provided at bottom of page) http://www.cordis.lu/sustdev/energy/h2.htm.
Another brochure containing poster presentations has also been published recently. It assembles representative examples of important national, international and, in particular, EU initiatives and projects related to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The individual posters or the entire brochure can be downloaded at http://www.cordis.lu/fp6/sustdev_h2_poster.htm .
For information on more hydrogen and fuel cell projects consult HyWeb-Pro -- the European Centers of Excellcence Projects Database at www.HyWeb.de/pro.
MA
