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MAJOR AGREEMENTS ON HYDROGEN AND FUEL CELL VEHICLES
 Hy-Ramp (the European {Partnership of Regions and Municipalities for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells) has announced that two major agreements have been made that will mark a significant step forward in the market roll out of hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles in Europe. Toyota, Hyundai, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Co. and Honda have signed a Letter of Understanding regarding the development of fuel cell light duty vehicles and the necessary hydrogen infrastructure. The signatories confidently anticipate that from 2015 onwards - over the initial products’ lifecycle - a few hundred thousand units of fuel cell electric vehicles could be on the market. These companies have built up extensive expertise in fuel cell technology and the agreement marks a major step towards the serial production of emission-free vehicles. The carmakers said in their joint statement: “In order to ensure a successful market introduction of fuelcell vehicles, it should be aligned with the build-up of the necessary hydrogen infrastructure. Therefore, a hydrogen infrastructure network with sufficient density is required by 2015.” www.hy-ramp.eu
The world’s leading industrial companies have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Berlin, with the participation of the German Minister of Transport, Wolfgang Tiefensee, on the set-up of a hydrogen infrastructure in Germany. The partners of the initiative entitled “H2 Mobility” are Linde, Daimler, EnBW, OMV, Shell, Total, Vattenfall and the NOW GmbH National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology. Wolfgang Tiefensee said :"After more than 100 years of combustion engines and the dominance of oil, we are facing a new technological era in the transport sector. Our aim is to continue consistent and systematic promotion of electro-mobility based on batteries and fuel cells. Germany is setting the pace when it comes to hydrogen and fuel cell technology. We are aiming to establish a nationwide hydrogen supply in Germany by 2015 in order to support the serialproduction of fuel cell vehicles." www.linde.com
NATIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS
The Fuel Cell marketing campaign of UPS Systems plc has been selected for the finals of the prestigious National Business Awards 2009 Marketing Strategy of the Year Award. UPS Systems believes in fuel cell technology and has a vision for its future. After following the development of fuel cells for several years, UPS Systems was keen to address the growing market opportunity and appointed Resonates SLM Ltd to create a marketing strategy to raise awareness of fuel cells for portable and stationary applications. The UPS Systems campaign has reached the finals on the strength of its workable, cost-effective plan to help it to introduce fuel cells to new market sectors in the UK. www.upssystems.com
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO MOON LANDING
This summer was the 40th Anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. The Apollo Project was the first major application for fuel cells, which provided light and power on board the spacecraft, as well as drinking water for the astronauts. To mark the anniversary, a television programme was partly filmed in the Space Gallery of the Science Museum, where there is an example of the type of alkaline fuel cells which were used. These fuel cells were developed by the British scientist, Dr Francis Tom Bacon, who was the first recipient of the Grove Medal at the Second Grove Symposium in 1991.
BRITISH GAS IMPRESSED BY SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL PERFORMANCE
British Gas has confirmed that Ceres Power’s solid oxide fuel cell met all of the required standards under the Alpha phase of their CHP programme. The grid- connected 1kW CHP products were tested on mains natural gas and met most of a typical home’s electricity requirements, as well as exporting and importing power to and from the grid as required. The Ceres CHP product integrates the company’s 1kW fuel cell module with all of the ancillary boiler components into a single unit, meeting all of the home’s hot water and central heating requirements, thereby avoiding the need for a separate boiler. British Gas has issued an acceptance certificate that triggers a £2m Alpha payment to be paid to Ceres. The Company has already commenced the design and procurement activities of the next phase of the CHP programme to produce Beta CHP units for field trials, incorporating refinements arising from the Alpha phase testing. The Company is on track to achieve market launch of the residential CHP product with British Gas in 2011.
Gearoid Lane, Managing Director of British Gas New Energy, said: “We are delighted that the Alpha phase CHP product testing has been completed on schedule. This significant achievement underpins the potential mass market opportunity of the Ceres CHP product for the UK residential market.” Peter Bance, CEO of Ceres Power, added “We are now investing in the Company’s operational capabilities to deliver the residential CHP product in volume. Ceres Power’s fuel cell CHP product has the potential to make a material contribution to the development of a low carbon economy and help the UK meet its climate change targets.” www.cerespower.com
AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT BACKS FUEL CELLS
FuelCell Energy, Inc. has been awarded $1.9 million by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the development of a micro-channel high temperature heat exchanger for fuel cell systems. The award will be funded from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program's goal is to improve the performance and cost of fuel cell power plants that are integrated with unfired gas turbines in combined cycle applications. The heat exchanger will be developed using FuelCell Energy’s DFC/Turbine and solid oxide fuel cell systems. The DFC/Turbine delivers approximately 60% electrical efficiency - twice that of the electrical grid – and is ideally suited for utilities that have an increasing need for clean distributed generation to bolster the weaker parts of the grid.
FuelCell Energy is also involved in the new world of renewable energy. Californian onion bulbs will now power light bulbs. By extracting the juice from onion waste and letting it ferment in a special processing system, Gills Onions can create enough "juice" to power 300 homes through two 300-kilowatt fuel cells supplied by FuelCell Energy. The innovative and cost-saving technology converts 100% of 300,000 pounds of onion waste daily into ultraclean electrical energy, heat and high-value cattle feed, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 30,000 tons per year. “The project provides a model for how an agricultural and processing operation can work towards a goal of zero waste, in terms of both materials and energy," said Prab Sethi, project manager for the California Energy Commission.
South Korea is also using FuelCell Energy’s power plants because they have near-zero pollution and are a low-carbon solution - perfect for South Korea where they have a mandate to reduce their carbon footprint. South Korea is a leading proponent of clean energy generation, and has declared stationary fuel cell deployment a top priority. Its $38 billion “Green New Deal” plan encourages green technology deployment to improve the country’s economy. www.fce.com
SUPERMARKETS ‘A GOOD FIT’ FOR FUEL CELLS
UTC Power presented a fuel cell case study during the 2009 Food Marketing Institute’s Energy & Technical Services Conference in California. UTC Power provides fuel cells for several supermarkets, including Whole Food Markets which has chosen to power two of its New England stores with UTC Power fuel cells: a 200-kilowatt fuel cell has powered a store in Glastonbury, Connecticut since March 2008 and a 400-kilowatt fuel cell will supply 90% of the power and all of the hot water needed for a new larger store in Dedham, Massachusetts. More than half of the energy potential in traditional power plants is lost to the atmosphere as waste heat or in transmission line losses, but a fuel cell turns potential waste heat into usable energy, capturing it to cool supermarket refrigeration cases yearround and to heat the store in the winter months.
“We are seeing increased interest from both supermarkets and the big box retail industry for our fuel cells,” said Neal Montany, director of the UTC Power stationary fuel cell business. “Energy-intensive businesses that need power around-the-clock and that can use the heat by-product are a very good fit for fuel cells. The UTC Power PureCell® system can also be configured to provide enhanced energy security and protect supermarkets against costly food spoilage in the event of a power failure,” Montany added. www.utcpower.com
FUEL CELLS FOR LAND, UNDERWATER AND AIRBORNE APPLICATIONS
Morphic Technologies is taking part in the Sweden Green Tech Building project, which was opened in September by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. The meeting place and exhibition centre have been created in the centre of Stockholm to promote Swedish energy and environmental technology. The European Commission has named Stockholm as Europe’s first environmental capital city in 2010 and Sweden is taking the initiative with clean technologies while it holds the Presidency of the EU during the second half of 2009.
Morphic’s subsidiary, Exergy Fuel Cells, has signed a distribution agreement with Narbonne Accessoires of France for its Polaris 140 portable fuel cells to power mobile homes. Polaris 140 is a compact portable fuel cell which in this particular application runs on a chemical compound (NbH4) that is distributed in liquid form and forms hydrogen continuously at the same rate as it is consumed in the fuel cell. Morphic Exergy has also received an order from the Polish Navy for a new type of fuel cell that will be used in underwater craft. It requires an air independent fuel cell system, which has primarily been used by the military and for space applications. Martin Valfridsson, President and CEO of Morphic Technologies said “The result of the development work is exciting. We are broadening our existing product portfolio consisting of fuel cells mainly intended for civilian use with niche syst ems for military applications and are strengthening our position as a supplier of fuel cells. Today’s initial order from the Polish Navy means that we now have customer orders for environmentally-friendly electricity generation for land, underwater and airborne applications.” www.morphic.se
RELIABLE POWER FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Dantherm Power A/S is using over a hundred of Ballard Power’s fuel cells for Motorola’s Terrestrial Trunked Radio TETRA) base stations throughout Denmark's SINE network. The TETRA standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, is being specified for use in numerous professional mobile radio systems around the globe. TETRA standards ensure a higher level of reliability than public cellular services and enable various public safety authorities, such as police, fire and ambulance services, transportation organizations, utilities and military groups, to maintain continuous, secure communication with one another during any emergency situation.
Michael Goldstein, Chief Commercial Officer of Ballard stated, "Motorola's deployment of Ballard's FCgen™ product in a TETRA-standard public safety system highlights the significant market potential for fuel cells in wireless network deployments worldwide." Ballard Power is also providing backup power for wireless telecommunications network equipment to ACME Tele Power Ltd customers in the Indian market.
John Sheridan, Ballard's President and Chief Executive Officer said, “Under the terms of the contract first announced in October 2008, an order for natural gas units representing 10,000 units, or over 70MW of total power, is to follow later in 2009, subject to product acceptance tests on our new natural gas product." www.ballardpower.com
HUGE MARKETS FOR ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE
Escovale Consultancy Services has issued an application analysis and market forecast for electrical energy storage. There is a multi-$bn business in established storage systems serving grid-connected, remote power and vehicular applications and much larger opportunities await the development of novel storage technologies to meet requirements associated with:
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support of renewable and distributed energy resources
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effective production, delivery and management of power
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the provision of secure, highquality power at end-user sites
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enabling technologies within the transportation sector.
www.escovale.com
CITY OF COPENHAGEN AIMS TO BE FIRST CARBON-NEUTRAL CAPITAL CITY
The City of Copenhagen is on track to achieve its ambitious goal of being carbon-neutral by 2025. Copenhagen’s first hydrogen filling station has been opened and the city’s eight new hydrogen-powered vehicles were filled up.
 In front of a fuel cell car and the new hydrogen station are (from left to right) Peter Lundy the Canadian Ambassador to Denmark, Klaus Bondam the Technical & Environmental Mayor of Copenhagen, Jacob Krogsgaard Director H2 Logic A/S, Lars Barfoed Danish Transport Minister and Andreas Ziolek Board Chairman of HyRAMP
Peter Lundy said that the collaboration between Denmark and Canada is bringing new technologies to market that are having an immediate positive effect on the environment and our daily lives.
The Danish Transport Minister, Lars Barfoed, seen here with a fuel cell car at the opening ceremony, said: “The Danish government is keenly focused on the development of sustainable transport solutions that can help us achieve our goal of reducing carbon without losing mobility. We will therefore be closely monitoring developments in this project and listening to the lessons learned by the City of Copenhagen and H2 Logic.
 The Centre for Green Transport under the Road Safety and Transport Agency is currently in partnership with the City of Copenhagen to establish a network between the municipalities and the Centre to gather experience and share knowledge on electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles.”
Andreas Ziolek stressed the important role that Copenhagen will be playing for the future of the climate at the upcoming summit meeting and expressed delight that the City now has a hydrogen filling station so that it can be an ambassador for hydrogen technology throughout the event. www.hydrogenlink.net |
