FuelCellsWorks

Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have, together with Bucher Schoerling, Proton Motor, BRUSA Elektronik AG und Messer Schweiz, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street cleaning vehicle which was presented to the public on Thursday 14th May 2009 in Basel. The vehicle is named the «Bucher CityCat H2» and is the first municipal utility vehicle in the world powered by fuel cell technology. For the next 18 months it will be tested in everyday usage.

Fuel cells are considered to be clean energy sources well-suited for our future mobility needs. They convert hydrogen directly into electrical current, which is then used to drive a vehicle’s electric motor. The great advantage is that no pollutants are emitted in the vehicle’s exhaust, just water vapor produced by the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell. When such vehicles are used in sensitive areas such as pedestrian precincts, railway station halls or even in enclosed structures such as exhibition halls, air pollution is reduced significantly compared to conventional vehicles, which are generally powered by diesel engines.

Project creates a window of opportunity for hydrogen technology

“Our aim is to take fuel cell technology from the laboratory onto the street”, explains Project Leader Christian Bach, Head of Empa’s Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory. In addition, the project scientists want to test the operational characteristics and ageing behavior of the new technology under typical, everyday conditions of use. But it doesn’t stop there. Beyond these obvious aims, the project, called «hy.muve» («hydrogen-driven municipal vehicle») also serves as a research platform for socio-economic studies in which questions regarding the acceptance of hydrogen technology, its market introduction and its cost effectiveness will be investigated.

Because of their low power operational cycles, municipal vehicles are particularly well-suited for these kinds of drives and can be used to good effect in areas where the refueling infrastructure is limited. “They therefore offer an important window of opportunity for introducing other hydrogen powered vehicles onto the market,” according to Bach.

Significantly less pollution emitted

Computer simulations made at Empa show that the amount of energy consumed can be halved by using fuel cell drives instead of conventional diesel engines. This means that CO₂ emissions can be reduced by some 40%, even when using conventional hydrogen production techniques based on natural gas. The project is financed by the ETH Domain’s Competence Centre for Energy and Mobility (CCEM), the Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE), the various project partners and pilot regions where the vehicle will be tested.

Chemistry professor Thomas B. Rauchfuss, center, and graduate students Bryan Barton, left, and Matthew Whaley have co-written a paper that describes their work in creating a synthetic catalyst that acts like nature’s ‘hydrogen processor.’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — By creating a model of the active site found in a naturally occurring enzyme, chemists at the University of Illinois have described a catalyst that acts like nature’s most pervasive hydrogen processor.

The researchers describe their work in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and posted on the journal’s Web site.

Scientists have long been puzzled by nature’s ability to use cheap and plentiful building blocks – iron, nickel and sulfur – to achieve the catalytic performance seen in rare and expensive metals. In particular, two enzymes – iron-iron hydrogenase and nickel-iron hydrogenase – function as hydrogen processors, much like platinum.

“Nature relies on a very elaborate architecture to support its own ‘hydrogen economy,’ ” said Thomas B. Rauchfuss, a professor of chemistry and corresponding author of the paper. “We cracked that design by generating mock-ups of the catalytic site to include the substrate hydrogen atom.”

The researchers’ model of the nickel-iron complex is the first to include a bridging hydride ligand, an essential component of the catalyst.

“By better understanding the mechanism in the nickel-iron hydrogenase active site, we are learning how to develop new kinds of synthetic catalysts that may be useful in other applications,” said graduate student Bryan E. Barton, lead author of the paper.

“The study of hydrogenases offers plenty of potential glamour – such as the hydrogen economy, green energy and bio-fuel cells – but the lasting breakthroughs result from manipulable mechanistic models like ours,” said graduate student and co-author Matthew Whaley. “By building a model that contains a hydride ligand, we have proven that the behavior of these natural catalysts can be understood and optimized.”

University of Illinois crystallographer Danielle L. Gray also is a co-author of the paper.

The work was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

A research project that aims to produce hydrogen on an environmentally friendly and cost-effective basis by using energy from the sun has won a prestigious E.ON research award.

The new process of producing ‘green’ hydrogen uses three abundant and renewable sources — sunlight, biomass and water. It combines solar driven cleavage of water and the degradation of organic compounds avoiding the use of energy derived from fossil fuels and CO2 emissions.

This year’s E.ON Research Awards topic was on the application of nanotechnology in the energy sector. The awards were given to nine outstanding projects by 11 universities and institutes from six countries — the UK, Sweden, Greece, USA, Australia and Germany.
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Hydrogen has huge potential as an environmentally clean energy fuel. Associate Professor Gianluca Li Puma, an expert in photocatalysis and photoreaction engineering, in the Energy Technologies Research Institute (ETRI) and in the Faculty of Engineering, is co-coordinating the 920,000 euro project which is being carried out in collaboration with Patras University in Greece. Energy from the sun will be collected through a nano-structured photocatalyst and used in an efficient photoreactor to release hydrogen from the mixtures of biomass and water.

Dr Li Puma leads photocatalysis and photoreaction engineering research at The University of Nottingham in the fields of environmental nanocatalysis, advanced oxidation processes, indoor air purification, water treatment and purification, solar energy conversion and solar engineering.

Dr Li Puma said: “Hydrogen production by conventional water splitting over a nano-structured photocatalyst has been the topic of numerous investigations since the pioneering work of Fujishima and Honda in 1972 (Nature, 238, 37). However, after an initial enthusiasm it was quickly realised that hydrogen production rates were too modest to warrant scale-up. In contrast, the Solar-Hydrogen process, which has been demonstrated at a laboratory scale, yields hydrogen at rates up to 100 times greater than with conventional water splitting making the process commercially feasible.”

Dr Li Puma has a leading international reputation in the design and modelling of photocatalytic reactors, solar engineering and novel photoreactors for sustainable energy applications. His research group in photocatalysis and photoreaction engineering will lead the work on scale-up of the Solar-Hydrogen process.

The project builds up strength at ETRI — in 2008 The University of Nottingham secured two other E.ON Research Awards on energy storage led by Professor George Chen and Professor Seamus Garvey, respectively.

Launched in November 2006, the Energy Technologies Research Institute brings together academics and industrial partners nationally and internationally to develop cutting–edge energy technologies that are both sustainable and affordable.

A multidisciplinary team of more than 100 engineers and physical and social scientists are working on research projects totalling more than £8 million in collaboration with a range of industrial partners in the energy sector, including E.ON and Rolls Royce on projects funded by the UK research councils, the Department of Trade and Industry and the European Union.

AIKEN, SC–Santee Cooper and the Center for Hydrogen Research dedicated a 20-kilowatt solar panel array today that advances hydrogen generation from renewable energy sources. Specifically, the array will enable the CHR to research applications of hydrogen as a storage solution for solar energy.

The photovoltaic array has been installed in two locations, on the roof of the CHR connected to the Education, Training and Development Laboratory and in a ground-level solar park that will give access to school groups and other interested parties. The roof hosts a 14-kW set of panels, and the solar park holds the remaining 6 kW.

“As a public power company, Santee Cooper’s responsibility is to provide affordable, reliable electricity that is protective of our environment,” said Lonnie Carter, Santee Cooper president and chief executive officer. “The Center for Hydrogen Research will be an excellent catalyst for developing initiatives that can benefit electric utilities and their customers. This project has the potential to maximize an already-growing hydrogen economy in South Carolina, and that’s a goal we can all get behind. I look forward to seeing the fruits of this endeavor.”

Santee Cooper donated $230,000 to the Center for Hydrogen Research to purchase the array and help establish an onsite and Internet-based education and research system. Funding was provided through Santee Cooper’s Green Power program, which the state’s 20 electric cooperatives — including Aiken Electric Cooperative — support and promote. Santee Cooper is the wholesale power generator for South Carolina’s electric cooperatives, including Aiken Electric.

One obstacle to the use of solar energy is difficulty storing the energy so that it can be utilized when the sun isn’t shining. Hydrogen can be stored and transported, and so is a recognized energy storage solution that has applications for powering vehicles or electrical generation. Most hydrogen today comes from natural gas. Renewable energy-sourced hydrogen is a fast-growing research and development field across the country.

The photovoltaic array converts sunlight into electricity, which then produces hydrogen through electrolyzing water. Hydrogen can be converted back to electricity using fuel cells or used to power hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

“We are very appreciative of the grant from Santee Cooper which enabled the CHR to begin this work on solar power,” said Fred Humes, director of the Aiken Economic Development Partnership and the CHR. “Hydrogen is an excellent storage mechanism for solar and other renewable energy sources. As we look at the technologies of the future, hydrogen will play a major role. We already have fuel cell forklifts operating on a daily basis in Aiken County. This solar-to-hydrogen technology may well give our industries an independent source of hydrogen to fuel their forklifts, give NetZero homes a way to store excess energy generated by their solar panels, and one day could lead to independent hydrogen fueling stations for vehicles.”

The Education, Training and Development (ET&D) Laboratory at the Center for Hydrogen Research is a fully functional 1,100-square-foot hydrogen research, development and demonstration laboratory module. The primary purpose of the ET&D laboratory is to house a regenerative fuel cell backup power system with features to support education and outreach, worker training and equipment and systems development.

Among many other research and outreach functions, the ET&D laboratory is being used by Aiken Technical College in their classroom curriculum. Students will receive “hands-on” training at the ET&D laboratory.

Aiken County Council Chairman Ronnie Young said, “We are fortunate to have a technology base in Aiken County that we can leverage into new jobs and industries for the future. Aiken County has the opportunity to lead the way in this new technology and will not stand by the roadside as others capitalize on hydrogen and fuel cell technology. This is evidenced by Aiken County Council’s foresight to develop the Savannah River Research Campus and the Center for Hydrogen Research.”

As mentioned, funding for the solar array came from Santee Cooper’s Green Power program. Santee Cooper was the first utility in South Carolina to generate and sell renewable Green Power, beginning in 2001 at the Horry County Landfill Generating Station. Today it operates four landfill generating stations, which use naturally occurring methane gas as their fuel source, and one additional solar installation on the campus of Coastal Carolina University. Customers of Santee Cooper and the state’s 20 electric cooperatives, including Aiken Electric, can purchase Green Power in blocks of 100-kW hours for $3 through their monthly bills. Aiken Electric Cooperative customers are a significant contributor to the Green Power program.

Additionally, customers of other utilities can participate through the Santee Cooper Green Power Tag program. Information is available on www.santeecooper.com. A full 100 percent of the money raised through the Green Power program is reinvested in new or expanded renewable energy projects located in South Carolina, such as the PV array dedicated today.

The 20-kW solar array is Santee Cooper’s largest solar installation to date.

Gary Stooksbury, chief executive officer of Aiken Electric Cooperative, noted that the project is supported by people who are paying a premium for renewable energy. “Sales of Santee Cooper-generated Green Power, supported by the electric cooperatives, are used to enhance and expand renewable programs in South Carolina. Aiken Electric Cooperative is pleased that our member-owners recognize not only the value of sustainable energy, but also the unique position of the Aiken area to develop potential new industries.”

Aiken Electric, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, is a customer-owned, nonprofit electric utility currently serving more than 44,000 customers in a nine county area in South Carolina.