FuelCellsWorks

cutaway of liquid hydrogen storage tank

The first hydrogen filling station in the Czech Republic will open this fall in Prague. The liquid hydrogen station will be installed by Linde Gas. Linde is a partner with BMW on its hydrogen programs with the Hydrogen7, which can run on liquid rather than compressed gas hydrogen. The Prague station will evidently be used to fuel a hydrogen bus that is being built by Skoda for a test program to evaluate alternative fuel transport. The Institute of Nuclear Research in Prague is also part of the program, so presumably nuclear power will be used to produce the hydrogen.

The station will be able to fill the four roof-mounted tanks on the bus in 10 minutes, giving it a range of about 186 miles. The €1 million station will apparently be the first of its kind in any of the newest EU member states

[Source: technet.idnes.cz]

The Arnhem company NedStack will deliver a hydrogen fuel cell system for an Australian prawn trawler. A contract has been signed on the 11th of May. In addition to the delivery of the fuel cells, the contract also includes knowledge transfer to the Australian system integrator, ElectryGen PTY. Australian engineers will follow a fuel cell systems training at NedStack’s facilities in September 2009. The boat will be operational in 2010. The propulsion of the prawn trawler will consist of a hybrid drive, consisting of a (30kW) hydrogen fuel cell system combined with batteries. These types of fuel cell-electric drive lines are the most efficient that exist and produce zero emissions such as greenhouse and other harmful gasses. Only water is generated as waste product.

The trawler is owned by Nalok Enterprises P/L. Owner Colin James wants to develop a fleet of hydrogen powered ships to contribute to a cleaner environment. More than 400 ships navigate the 4,000 km long coastline where the ship is deployed (in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Great Barrier Reef coast of Queensland). Home port is Cairns, Queensland, Australia. This project is privately funded .

This vessel is the second commercial maritime application of NedStack. This year, the company also delivers two fuel cell systems for the first commercial hydrogen-operated canal boat in Amsterdam. The company NedStack was founded in 1998. It produces hydrogen fuel cells for automotive purposes, and stationary power units including telecom back-up applications. NedStack is the largest fuel cell manufacturer in Europe. The market for fuel cell based hydrogen engines is expanding rapidly. In two years, the hydrogen power NedStack delivered, has increased by 500%. In 2012 this will have grown by a factor twenty.

ClearEdge Power Inc. is on the verge of being the first to market with a hydrogen fuel cell aimed at powering large homes and small businesses.

The Hillsboro company will reach that goal with the help of an $11 million venture capital round completed in January — no small feat during a first-quarter in which worldwide venture capital and private equity investments fell to its lowest point in two years.

By the end of the summer the company hopes to close another $20 million to $30 million round of financing.

“There’s a long list of people looking at the (next investment) offering,” said James A. Kohlberg, the company’s chairman and principal investor, responsible for the majority of the $11 million investment. “I’m pretty confident.”

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/05/18/story2.html

The Chiron Transportation concept transforms between both a big rig and a locomotive. Powered by an algae-based fuel cell engine, the Autobot-wannabe also comes with a satellite tracking system for navigating railways efficiently.

The design addresses the gianormous ecological and economic costs of commercial transport. Something even the un-green have had to contend with due to the increased costs of petro-based fuels.

Photo courtesy of: CarDesign.ru

Photo courtesy of: CarDesign.ru

Conceived by Benjamin Cselley, Jupin Ghanbari, Jessica Covi and Erol Kursani, the Chiron’s algae-powered engine will minimize fuel costs but won’t be as tasty as this option. And the big rig/train combo allows the Chiron to map out the most efficient path to its destination.

I wouldn’t mind seeing these on the road some time soon. Unless of course it turns out to be a Decepticon. That could suck.

Photo courtesy of: CarDesign.ru

Photo courtesy of: CarDesign.ru

Photo courtesy of: CarDesign.ru

Source [TreeHugger]