- The plant will generate sufficient clean electricity to meet the annual needs of 20,000 households, avoiding more than 17,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year

Venice--Enel CEO and General Manager Fulvio Conti, the President of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia, the Mayor of Venice Giorgio Orsoni and the President of the Province of Venice Francesca Zaccariotto, today inaugurated the innovative hydrogen-fuelled combined cycle power plant at Fusina (Venice).

The plant, which is the first industrial-scale facility of its kind in the world, has an overall capacity of 16 MW. It comprises a hydrogen-fuelled combined cycle plant, which generates both electricity and heat, and has an output of 12 megawatts (MW). The efficiency of the process is increased by taking the heat from the emissions in order to generate high-temperature steam, which is sent to the nearby coal-fired plant to generate an additional 4 MW of power capacity.

The plant, which uses 1.3 metric tons of hydrogen per hour, has an overall efficiency of about 42%, is essentially free of emissions of any kind. The electricity generated, equal to about 60 million kWh a year, will be sufficient to meet the needs of 20,000 households, avoiding more than 17,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year.

The plant, which required an overall investment for construction of some 50 million euros, is located on the site of Enel’s “Andrea Palladio” plant at Fusina, next to the petrochemical facility of Porto Marghera (Venice), from which it will receive the hydrogen produced as a by-product in the manufacturing process. The very high efficiency experimental plant is one of the projects of Hydrogen Park, the consortium formed in 2003 at the initiative of the Venice Industrial Union with about 4 million euros in support from the Region of Veneto and the Ministry for the Environment. The consortium seeks to promote the development and application of hydrogen technologies in transportation and power generation in the Porto Marghera area.

The Fusina plant is the best suited to host this world-beating initiative. It has a long tradition of environmentally sensitive research and innovation, thanks to Enel’s technology skills and the support of local and regional institutions. The new facility  places Enel and Italy at the forefront of the development of advanced systems for the use of hydrogen.

In 1997 Fusina was the first generation plant in Italy to be equipped with desulphurisation and denitrification systems, while in 1999 it was fitted with sleeve filters to reduce particulate emissions. Since 2008, it has been upgraded with new environmental systems. In addition, Fusina is a leader in one of the most serious problems facing Italy: waste disposal.

After extensive testing, agreed with the Region of Veneto and the Province and City of Venice, the plant is now able to make safe use of 70,000 metric tons of RDF (refuse-derived fuel), a fuel derived from separated solid waste. That is the equivalent of the waste produced by 300,000 people. Using RDF in place of coal to fuel the plant’s boilers, the energy contained in the waste is recovered and it does not occupy space in waste disposal facilities, avoiding about 60,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year.

Hydrogen-electric hybrid bus to be used to ferry participants around the NTU campus

ATHLETES in town for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) next month will ride around the Olympic Village in Singapore’s latest green vehicle: a hydrogen- electric hybrid bus.

The bus, developed by engineers from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and China’s Tsinghua University, will be used to ferry participants along the steep slopes of the NTU campus, where the Youth Olympic Village is situated.

The 72-passenger, single-deck vehicle is likely to be Singapore’s first fuel-cell vehicle in practical use, though a Singapore team in last year’s Shell Eco-marathon car race in Germany drove a hydrogen fuel-cell car 484km on a single litre of fuel.

The bus has eight hydrogen tanks on its roof, which hold about 128kg of pressurised hydrogen; the fuel is channelled into fuel cells, which split the hydrogen into charged particles. Those charged particles then flow through a circuit to generate a current, which supplies power for the vehicle.

That current also charges a lithium-ion battery, like those used in electric or ordinary hybrid cars.

By using hydrogen, the bus emits no carbon dioxide, or sulphur dioxide, which contributes to acid rain. In comparison, a normal diesel bus produces 1.39kg of carbon dioxide per kilometre.

By using a battery as well as a fuel-cell stack, the bus needs fewer fuel cells, slashing running costs.

The project’s funding of about $225,000 comes from the Land Transport Authority’s Innovation Fund, a $50million kitty for transport development.

NTU electrical engineer Soh Yeng Chai said the project was first mooted about two years ago, when the university was designated the Olympic Village. It is part of NTU’s clean-energy research programmes, which include fuel-cell research, Professor Soh said.

During the YOG, the bus will run modest trips – a total of 80km a day, four days a week. After the Games, it will be used to shuttle between NTU and a transit interchange. Details have not been finalised.

But the main challenges to fuel-cell vehicles becoming mainstream here include the high cost of fuel cells, their short two-year lifespan, and their performance, Prof Soh said.

He did not give a cost estimate, but producing power from fuel cells costs $4,000 per kilowatt-hour, by some estimates. In comparison, electricity from natural gas typically costs a fraction of that, at a few cents per kWh.

Among other fuel-cell applications being planned here: developer JTC will install hydrogen power for a building at its upcoming CleanTech Park near NTU.

Internationally, other fuel-cell vehicles being developed include Toyota’s fuel-cell hybrid car and bus, and Honda’s FCX Clarity, a fuel-cell car already available for lease in the United States.

AN innovative project to build small hydrogen power units that aim to be more than 90 per cent energy efficient has been launched in Shetland.

The three year scheme to generate, store and supply renewable energy efficiently inside a home has just attracted funding under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme.

The project is a collaboration between three islands – Pure Energy on Unst, Lews Castle College in Stornoway and young Sicilian electronic engineer Vincenzo Ortisi who has been employed to develop the fuel cell.

Pure Energy manager Daniel Aklil said: “What we are looking to do is to develop a new type of generator that is 93 per cent efficient.

“The project has three components: developing an engine generating electricity with hydrogen that will be 45 per cent efficient. We will then recover the heat produced in the process to make it 92 or 93 per cent efficient.

“The third tier of the project is that this heat can also be transformed into cooling, if need be.

“Therefore if it is summer in North Africa we can produce cooling, if it is cold in winter in Shetland we can produce heating while at the same time producing electricity.

“The fuel powering the system would be hydrogen produced from renewables.”

Lews Castle College senior lecturer in renewable energy, Alisdair MacLeod, said that the project was ground breaking both in terms of what it was trying to achieve and by involving organisations based on two remote Scottish islands.

Producing electricity with hydrogen is generally not very efficient, he said, but by producing it in a house where the waste heat could be used the inefficiency virtually disappeared.

KTP has a 30 year record of placing young graduates in companies that are seeking fresh academic input to overcome technical problems.

North of Scotland KTP advisor Neil Duncan explained that KTP matches knowledge providers, such as universities, with companies facing a challenge they need help to overcome.

“The company gets its strategic problem solved and therefore becomes more profitable. As a result of taking part in the project the university’s teaching and research is informed,” he said

“The associate has a development opportunity at the beginning of their career, working strategically in a company at high level and also has management training. We look at them as becoming the business leaders of tomorrow.”

On the Ecovenue/Theatres Trust’s stand at the ABTT Theatre Show, White Light and Arcola Energy, innovator in sustainable theatre production, launched HyLight, a unique new portable lighting and power supply that offers the ability to run lighting in locations away from the electrical grid silently and without the emissions of traditional noisy, polluting diesel generators.

Externally the first model, HyLight150, is a compact, wheeled flight-case, rugged for transportation and easy to deploy where required. Internally, it contains the brand new Hymera hydrogen fuel cell generator and two brand new lightweight hydrogen gas cylinders, both from global industrial gas supplier BOC. It provides a choice of low energy LED lighting systems suitable for architectural, live event or safety applications.

White Light’s HyLight150 packages will include either four Pulsar ChromaFlood fixtures, with wireless DMX remote control if required – perfect for creating stunning outdoor lighting – or alternatively single colour worklight floods, ideal for providing lighting to car parks or other work areas. HyLight will provide many hours of safe, low-voltage power in such setups, the package rated at 30 hours at 100W with a 150W maximum load, and with the run-time directly proportional to load, in marked contrast to diesel generators. Also unlike those generators, HyLight is silent in operation, and its only waste output is a tiny amount of water – making the system perfect for areas where noise or exhaust fumes are issues, particularly lighting projects in gardens, environmentally sensitive areas, or even indoors. As well as low-voltage power to the lighting fixtures, HyLight150 offers a 240V outlet to power ancillary equipment, if required.

“This is one of the most exciting projects we have ever been involved with,” comments White Light’s technical director, Dave Isherwood. “It’s a fantastic collaboration with Arcola Energy, BOC and fuel-cell manufacturer Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies to bring some very advanced fuel cell technology into ‘our’ world of entertainment lighting. We hope the result of our work is that users shouldn’t care about the technology – they should just turn on HyLight, plug in some lights and enjoy silent, clean, reliable power.”
“HyLight is a continuation of the fantastic collaboration the Arcola Theatre and Arcola Energy have enjoyed with White Light over the last few years,” comments Dr Ben Todd of Arcola Energy, “and of a recent research and development project we undertook with the support of the Technology Strategy Board and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Their support allowed us to innovate rapidly together, taking lessons we have learnt with running low-energy lighting from the 5kW fuel cell we have at the Arcola Theatre and combining that experience with the latest hydrogen and fuel cell technology from BOC and Horizon Fuel Cell to create a small, portable package that offers lower total cost of ownership than diesel generators – and many other practical benefits as well.”

“We don’t expect our customers to necessarily care about the history or technology of the hydrogen fuel cell,” comments Bryan Raven, White Light’s managing director. “What we do expect is that they will care greatly that they can have a lighting system that is clean, silent and portable, perfect for lighting events in gardens, parks or the remote, hostile but unspoilt locations featured in projects such as Northumberland Lights. HyLight perfectly complements the range of low-energy LED lighting equipment that we have introduced over the last few years, and the work we have been doing to encourage sustainability in lighting and event production. We think and hope that those who create lighting outdoors are going to be as excited about it as we are.”

Each year, the Peer Review Panel at the Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting reviews the hydrogen and fuel cell projects funded by DOE’s Hydrogen Program. After evaluating the merit of the 2010 hydrogen and fuel cell projects, the Peer Review Panel presented the following awards.

DOE Hydrogen Program Team Awards (with special recognition for outstanding technical contributions):

Production and Delivery

Jamie Holladay, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

This award recognizes Jamie Holladay for his outstanding contributions to hydrogen production and delivery. He completed a two-year assignment in July, 2009, with the Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies (FCT) Hydrogen Production and Delivery Team at the headquarters office in Washington, D.C. Mr. Holladay provided invaluable technical support in many areas, and led the development of the Hydrogen Production Roadmap — Technology Pathways to the Future. He worked closely with the Hydrogen Production Technical Team to identify and document the key barriers and critical technology needs for each of the seven major hydrogen production pathways. Mr. Holladay also updated inputs and assumptions to develop the 2009 cost status of hydrogen production pathways and proposed scenarios to achieve the hydrogen cost goals for each. Additional accomplishments include leadership of the Electrolysis Working Group and participation in the Hydrogen Utility Group; technical oversight in identifying and developing a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR topic), “Hydrogen Home Refueler”; preparation and presentation of a “Fuel Cells for Grid Management” paper at the Energy Storage Association conference, and identification of potential use of hydrogen and fuel cells as energy storage for intermittent renewable energy. Mr. Holladay continues to enthusiastically and effectively support the FCT Production and Delivery team from his current position at PNNL.

Storage

David Dixon, University of Alabama

This award recognizes Dr. David Dixon and his team at the University of Alabama for their outstanding contribution to the overall efforts of the DOE Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence (the Center). Dr. Dixon and his team used validated first-principles computational chemistry approaches that included molecular orbital theory and density functional theory on advanced computer architectures to calculate and predict thermodynamics, kinetics, and properties of promising hydrogen storage materials under development by the Center. They predicted reliable thermodynamics for thousands of compounds for hydrogen release, spent fuel regeneration schemes, and dramatically reduced the time and effort required to design and develop new materials. This computational chemistry support allowed the rapid screening of more than thousands of chemical reactants and reaction pathways to identify the desired hydrogen storage parameters with potential to meet or exceed hydrogen storage targets. This rigorous and systematic methodology has resulted in an efficient and cost-effective approach to develop hydrogen storage materials by guiding and focusing experimental efforts on reaction chemistries with a greater chance of meeting targets.

Ragaiy Zidan, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)

This award recognizes Dr. Ragaiy Zidan and his team at Savannah River National Laboratory for their outstanding contribution to the development of electrochemical methods to regenerate alane (AlH3). Alane is a promising hydrogen storage material that is thermodynamically unstable, but is kinetically stabilized at ambient temperature and pressure. Unfortunately, the low enthalpy of desorption for alane means that extremely high, unpractical levels of pressure would be needed to directly recharge Al with hydrogen to form alane. Dr. Zidan and his team have, for the first time, successfully demonstrated an electrochemical process that allows for the direct hydrogenation of Al metal with hydrogen to generate AlH3 under low-to-moderate hydrogen pressures and temperatures within an electrochemical cell. This past year’s efforts led to the discovery of an electro-catalytic additive that also significantly accelerates the reaction.

Fuel Cells

Piotr Zelenay, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

This award recognizes Dr. Piotr Zelenay and his team at Los Alamos National Laboratory for their outstanding contribution to the advancement of fuel cell catalyst development. Dr. Zelenay is the Principal Investigator on an advanced cathode catalyst project that recently produced several significant results. He and his team have dramatically improved the performance of non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) catalysts through optimization of synthesis conditions and addition of new precursors. The use of fuel cell catalysts containing non-PGMs could help reduce cost and accelerate commercialization of fuel cells. LANL has achieved a 100-fold improvement in non-PEM catalyst performance since 2008, exceeding the DOE 2010 target of 130 A/cm³ at 0.8 V. Dr. Zelenay and his team have also increased the durability of non-PGM catalysts under fuel cell operating conditions.

Douglas Wheeler, DJW TECHNOLOGY

This award recognizes Douglas Wheeler for his outstanding contribution to the Fuel Cell Team. Mr. Wheeler is an internationally recognized leader in the fuel cell community, providing consultation to the DOE, National Laboratories and the Office of Naval Research, while offering his expertise to multiple universities and industry partners on fuel cells and hydrogen technologies. Mr. Wheeler was a member of the Independent Review Panel commissioned by NREL for the DOE that evaluated the 2008 Fuel Cell System Cost Estimate for Transportation and verified the $60/kWnet – $80/kWnet cost estimate for an 80 kWnet fuel cell system. Mr. Wheeler is also on the independent panel for assessing micro-CHP status and targets. An expert on phosphoric acid fuel cells, he was a major contributor to the Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells (PAFC) workshop that was held in November of 2004. Currently, Mr. Wheeler provides analyses of industrial Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) manufacturing capabilities to NREL and DOE. Mr. Wheeler’s consulting company, DJW TECHNOLOGY, is working with NREL to develop a manufacturing readiness assessment process for evaluating PEM system and stack manufacturing status for North American companies.

System Analysis

Michael Penev and Darlene Steward, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

This award recognizes Michael Penev and Darlene Steward of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for their outstanding contribution to the System Analysis Team. Mr. Penev is a Sr. Analyst at the Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center at NREL, where he provides techno-economic analysis for hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell technology deployment scenarios and advises on fuel cell market transformation activities. Ms. Steward is a Senior Engineer in the Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center at NREL, primarily focusing on life cycle cost, energy, and systems analysis. Both have provided significant support to the DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Systems Analysis program element. One of their main accomplishments is the development of the Fuel Cell Power Model, now widely used by the national laboratories and industry to independently assess the cost and energy savings, as well as the benefits, of fuel cells. They have also provided training for various organizations including other DOE EERE programs on model operation, attributes, and application. Mr. Penev and Ms. Steward utilized the Fuel Cell Power Model to provide input for fuel cell evaluations of commercial and government applications and provided invaluable insight and assistance with critical financing mechanisms for fuel cells, including the analysis of tax credits for project financing. They’ve also developed numerous business cases to perform financial and economic evaluations of fuel cell applications including the integration of stationary fuel cells for combined heat, hydrogen, and power fuel cells to provide hydrogen fuel during the early phases of fuel cell vehicle penetration.

Safety, Codes & Standards

Glenn Scheffler

This award recognizes Glenn Scheffler for his outstanding contribution to hydrogen and fuel cell safety, codes and standards. Mr. Scheffler has been an indispensable technical resource and champion in the safety, codes, and standards community for many years. With exceptional technical experience in fuel cell technology engineering and development—including serving as Chief Engineer responsible for product reliability and safety and as Manager of ONSI Engineering for United Technologies—Mr. Scheffler has applied his expertise and devotion to product safety through service on numerous technical committees and working groups developing codes and standards for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Mr. Scheffler serves as Chair of the Safety Working Group and Vice-Chair of the Fuel Cell Vehicle Committee for the SAE. Under his guidance, SAE developed and recently published J2579, performance-based requirements for verification of design prototype and production of hydrogen storage and handling systems for hydrogen vehicles, which is helping to change and improve storage tank testing protocols in other countries and is now being incorporated under Global Technical Regulations for hydrogen vehicle systems. Mr. Scheffler also chairs the U.S. Technical Advisory Groups for both ISO TC197 (Hydrogen Technologies) and IEC TC22/SC21 (Electrically Propelled Road Vehicles) and serves as a technical resource for numerous other important standards and codes development and coordination activities. The outstanding progress that the hydrogen and fuel cell codes and standards community has made over the past decade owes much to the service and dedication of experts and champions like Glenn Scheffler.

Chris Sloane

This award recognizes Dr. Chris Sloane for her outstanding contribution to hydrogen and fuel cell safety, codes and standards. Dr. Sloane is widely recognized in the hydrogen and fuel cell technical community and a highly effective advocate for the incorporation of science and performance-based requirements in regulations, codes, and standards. Dr. Sloane has championed this approach in all critical domestic and international forums, and the codes and standards community owes much to her tireless efforts. Dr. Sloane served as Director of Environmental Policy and Programs for General Motors Corporation. While there, she was responsible for global climate issues and mobile emission issues involving advanced technology vehicles, including hybrid-electric, fuel cell, and advanced compression-ignition vehicles. Dr. Sloane also served as Chief Technologist for the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), where she was responsible for guiding and implementing the development of energy conversion and materials technologies for use in the Precept, GM’s 80 mile-per-gallon five-passenger concept car. More recently, she served as an invaluable technical resource for the DOE in the ongoing development of Global Technical Regulations (GTR) for hydrogen vehicle systems. Dr. Sloane exemplifies the rare combination of technical expertise and a common-sense approach to problem solving that characterizes her devotion and service to the safety of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

Education

Mary Spruill, National Energy Education Development Project (NEED)

This award recognizes Mary Spruill of the National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) for her outstanding contributions to hydrogen and fuel cell education for middle school students. NEED’s exceptional teacher and student curriculum materials are the result of a collaborative effort among teachers, students, advisors, technical specialists, federal employees, and professional educators. NEED’s H2 Educate! provides teachers the tools they need to educate students about the science, greater environmental, and societal impacts of hydrogen and fuel cells in a fun, interactive, and engaging way. Since 2004, NEED has trained over 8,000 teachers through workshops and conference sessions in 35 states, resourcefully leveraging DOE education funding through the years. NEED’s has made great strides educating future researchers, scientists, engineers, technicians, and technology users.

Market Transformation

Greg Moreland, Sentech

This award recognizes Greg Moreland for his outstanding contribution to the Market Transformation Team. For the past two years, Mr. Moreland has provided essential support to the Fuel Cell Technologies Program, continually demonstrating the expertise he gained in advanced technology deployment as an industry leader in portable fuel cell power at MTI and as a manager at Ford Motor Company. Mr. Moreland led the coordination of fuel cell emergency backup power at Fort Sumter and enabled the installation of four fuel cells at this National Historic Park in South Carolina. He was an integral member of the team that developed plans for the deployment of 10 hydrogen-fueled shuttle buses at DOE and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) installations while applying his experience in negotiating lease agreements with automotive companies. Mr. Moreland provided insight and assistance with critical financing mechanisms for fuel cells, including the creation of a fact sheet on how federal agencies can take advantage of tax credits, and assisted both the DOE and the U.S. Treasury Department in developing requirements for fuel cell installations to qualify for investment tax credit monetization. Mr. Moreland coordinated DOE Program market transformation work with state-led energy programs including the California Fuel Cell Partnership, NYSERDA, Ohio’s Third Frontier Program, the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technologies (CCAT), and the Hawaii Energy Program. He is currently working with industry leaders to further fuel cell auxiliary power in commercial aircrafts.

DOE Hydrogen Program Awards (with special recognition for outstanding contributions):

John Christensen

This award recognizes John Christensen for his outstanding contribution and dedication to the DOE Hydrogen Program and the Office of Fuel Cell Technologies. Mr. Christensen has supported the Department of Energy’s FCT Market Transformation Team at the headquarters office in Washington, D.C. for over two years. He has provided invaluable assistance in many areas and consistently demonstrates the expertise in advanced technology deployment he gained as the former chief of the logistics R&D division at DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency before he retired three years ago. Mr. Christensen was instrumental in the deployment of 60 forklifts at Defense Distribution Depot in Susquehanna, PA and Warner Robins Air Force Base; in addition to the installation of emergency backup power at over 15 DOD sites and 25 Federal Aviation Administration Sites. He has organized numerous panels and presentations for conferences, including the “Fuel Cell 101 Workshop” at the National Hydrogen Association Annual Conference in May, 2010; the Defense Energy Systems Conference, also in May, 2010, and the panels at last year’s Fuel Cell Seminar. Mr. Christensen has worked tirelessly to keep the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Federal Interagency Working Group a vibrant and active organization by arranging countless industry presentations and interagency discussions on fuel cell deployments. In addition, he has been a tremendous help in assisting the Program with weekly highlight reports, technical and cost analysis, and review of industry topical papers and unsolicited proposals.

The Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence (CHSCoE)
The Metal Hydride Center of Excellence (MTCoE)
The Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence (HSCoE)

These awards recognize the three Hydrogen Storage Material Centers of Excellence for their outstanding contribution to advancing the state-of-the-art in hydrogen storage materials. The three Materials Centers of Excellence made significant progress in advancing the understanding and development of hydrogen storage materials over the past five years. These centers significantly expanded the field of hydrogen storage materials by investigating more than 400 distinct new hydrogen storage material systems experimentally and millions computationally. These advances could not have been achieved without the collective creativity and synergy of the partners and management that enabled and encouraged coordination and teamwork among the center partners. All three Centers developed into efficient, high-performing partnerships. Accepting the awards on behalf of the three centers are: Kevin Ott of LANL, director of the CHSCoE; Lennie Klebanoff of Sandia, director of the MHCoE, and Lin Simpson of NREL, director of the HSCoE.

Finding a way to take clean technology from the research lab to a job-generating business is the goal of the San Diego partnership Clean Tech Innovation and Commercialization Program.

The partnership is made up of the city of San Diego, UC San Diego’s William J. von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology, San Diego State University, Clean Tech San Diego and UCSD’s Sustainable Solutions Institute. The partnership recently awarded grants of $50,000 apiece to three projects selected from among 13 proposals.

Among the winners was a project led by SDSU chemistry professor Douglas Grotjahn and his team of four graduate students. Their research seeks to use chemical catalysts to create hydrogen from water to power fuel cells. Such a breakthrough would be a revolutionary, green path to generating electricity, the process of which has traditionally generated pollutants from the burning of fossil fuels.

Grotjahn’s research will be funded in the amount of $50,000 from the partnership program during the next year if it meets all project progress milestones. And if all goes well, a year from now, Grotjahn’s hydrogen production goals will be a step closer to commercialization.

“There are several parts to making hydrogen from water and sunlight,” said Grotjahn. “One of those parts is removing oxygen from water. That is hard, but we have some catalysts that do that.”

He’s been working on commercializing catalyst functions for the past 10 years, with this particular application focused on the problem of producing hydrogen as a clean energy fuel.

Hydrogen-Powered Homes

Producing hydrogen on a large-scale basis would require a manufacturing plant and a pipeline system to distribute it to users. That is an expensive infrastructure problem, says Grotjahn, because such a pipeline network does not now exist and would have to be built.

Grotjahn therefore thinks hydrogen fuel production might initially work better in a commercial application on a small scale, tailored for in-home use enabling homeowners to produce their own energy.

“A rooftop unit taking up 300 to 400 square feet could conceivably make enough hydrogen to make electricity in a home,” said Grotjahn. “I think that would be a great start.”

If he can reliably produce a hydrogen-from-water catalyst, Grotjahn says it could be licensed to generate revenue. But he’s quick to point out that there’s a long road ahead.

“I’m a realist,” said Grotjahn. “We’d like to be further along. But you have to start somewhere.”

He says metals are used to make chemical catalysts. But the challenge is to find a readily available and relatively inexpensive metal that will work. “Even if a super-duper catalyst is made out of platinum, there’s not a lot of platinum to do the job,” said Grotjahn.

Jacques Chirazi, the clean-tech manager for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, says this program is an attempt to fund an area — innovative scientific research with no clearly defined path to the marketplace — that typically lacks funding.

“Venture capitalists refer to that space as the Valley of Death,” said Chirazi. “There’s no money going into it. We’re hoping to nurture ideas early on so investors feel (the projects) can stay in San Diego and commercialize.” Best-case scenario, he adds, would be the research converting into brisk enough revenue production to fuel a strong startup company that brings well-paid new jobs into the local economy.

Benefits of Technology Transfer

If Grotjahn’s project becomes a commercial success, says Chirazi, it can be a transformative boost to the clean energy industry. Grotjahn’s research, notes Chirazi, uses biology and nanotechnology. Those are two leading-edge areas of research that are seen with the potential to blast through current limits on microprocessing power in supercomputing and other areas.

Now, says Chirazi, there are around 360 companies in San Diego in the clean-tech space, supported by another 300 supplier companies. “Hopefully, if we fast forward 10 years it will be big, if not bigger than biotech.”

Rosibel Ochoa, director of the von Liebig Center at UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering, also notes the lack of funding for early stage technology development, and the efforts of the local program to plug the gap, while providing guidance for shaping strong research into a profitable company.

Over the years, the center has found such funding to be a risky proposition, says Ochoa.

“We’ve funded 70 projects,” she says, for a total of $4 million over the past eight years. “For every 10 projects we fund, three get transferred to (the sales stage of) licensing.”

Still, any successes derived from early stage nurturing have a chance to boost economic development.

“It’s very difficult to translate academic discoveries to the market for job creation,” she said. But the fight to do so is for a very good reason.

“The more tech we can transfer, the greater the potential for one of those to become the next Google, or the next Cisco in green-tech as a job generator for the country.”

Mark Larson is a freelance writer for the San Diego Business Journal.

‘This Is Brand New’

The CEO of Bloom Energy on a new way of powering the planet.

By Rita Boland, SIGNAL Magazine

Three 5-kilowatt Plug Power Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells provide power at Brooks City-Base, San Antonio, Texas. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) is working to supply more fuel cells to military bases and federal facilities to reduce costs and fossil-fuel usage.

Facilities benefit from reduced cost, improved efficiency and enhanced security by trading fossil fuels for newer technologies.

Hydrogen-powered cars may be the rage in the commercial sector, but the U.S. military is employing the first element of the periodic table to provide energy beyond transportation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is powering stateside installations as well as bases in forward operating locations with fuel cells—electrochemical cells that convert fuel sources into electric currents. The efforts result in money savings, a reduction of the dependence on foreign oil, essentially unlimited power generation and a cleaner environment.

The Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) includes an energy branch that installs, deploys and identifies new power technologies for fixed installations. The branch began its fuel cell research in the mid 1990s, and it focuses primarily on stationary fuel cells, which have two main uses: prime power and backup power. For prime power use, installations employ the tools to provide electricity for buildings. Some fuel cells also can pull double duty. In addition to providing heating through electrochemical reactions, they can be combined with an absorption chiller that uses the excess heat from the fuel cell to cool the building. The result is a single fuel cell that can supply electricity, heat and cooling to a building.

For backup power, installations can connect fuel cells to a grid so the energy sources will kick in during an emergency without a disruption in electrical services. This ensures the continued operation of mission critical resources such as computer rooms, telephone switching equipment, command centers, hospitals and emergency centers.

Nick Josefik, a mechanical engineer at the ERDC-CERL, says that over the years the laboratory has installed more than 200 fuel cells in various sizes. These range from 500-watt models that back up a few computers to 250- to 500-megawatt systems that can power entire subdivisions, hospitals or industrial buildings. The fuel cell installations are split almost evenly between prime power and backup power use. Through this work, CERL is helping the military meet its goal to reduce energy usage 25 percent by 2015.

Josefik explains that two of CERL’s main goals are to meet the power needs of installations and to enhance the renewable technology industry. “If they have a need we want to fix it or solve it,” he states. The overall mission at CERL is to push toward sustainable installations.

In addition to putting the fuel cells in place on Army posts, CERL personnel have installed them on other military branch bases as well as federal buildings and in national parks. At Yosemite National Park in California, power generation has to be balanced against pollution limits. Thousands of people drive their cars in the area each year, so the park had to find ways to reduce its carbon footprint. Fuel cells generate few to no greenhouse gases and produce no carbon monoxide, making them cleaner than combustion technologies. They also lose less heat during the electricity-generating process, which helps to make them more efficient than combustion generators.

Josefik explains that when fuel cells use hydrogen as the power source, the only emission is water. However, not all fuel cells use hydrogen, though he states that it is the popular belief. “It’s a marketing problem with the fuel cell industry,” Josefik states. All proton exchange membrane fuel cells need hydrogen, but others can use different substances as the charge carrier.

All CERL-installed fuel cells are powered by hydrogen, but not necessarily in its pure form. Other power sources include natural gas and propane. “We’ve looked into ethanol, but haven’t been successful there yet,” he shares. Scientists also have conducted methanol research as well as some projects that use methane from wastewater treatment plants. The fuel cells running on natural gas or propane pull out the hydrogen component and feed that into the fuel cell stack—several fuel cells grouped together to produce more power—that requires hydrogen flow.

In terms of civilian use, propane and natural gas are more accessible for the general public than pure hydrogen. For example, many houses in the United States already have a natural gas pipeline, and propane is easy to acquire and transport.

Hydrogen also is relatively easy to obtain, but generally must be procured through compressed gas dealers. To provide a continuous source of fuel, it has to be delivered in bottles regularly. Josefik says researchers are working on ways to make hydrogen more available. Because CERL is a research organization, it tests different fuel types, but Josefik says most units installed on military bases use straight hydrogen. Natural gas is the second-most common fuel source, with fewer units employing propane.

Using fuel cells connected to a natural gas line as backup generators for installations offers the benefit of continuous power. As long as the line continues to provide the fuel, the generator will continue to run. Fuel cells trump battery banks as a power source because batteries decline over time even when not in use. “If you connect to a natural gas line, it could be unlimited time of operation,” Josefik explains. Even choosing bottled hydrogen as the fuel source offers benefits over batteries because users know exactly how long the fuel cells will operate based on the amount of hydrogen stored.

The inside workings of a 5-kilowatt Plug Power PEM fuel cell at a Champaign, Illinois, facility are shown here.

In addition to installing fuel cells on military facilities stateside, CERL also is conducting experiments to power bases overseas. SilentCamp is a system concept in which a diesel generator is coupled with an electrolyzer, hydrogen storage system and fuel cell to power forward base camps silently. By feeding excess power from generators to electrolyzers, the generators run at higher efficiency. Electrolyzers are devices that turn water into hydrogen and oxygen, and the resulting hydrogen can be stored and used by fuel cells. The project could improve traditional generators; reduce noise, heat and chemical pollution; lessen maintenance costs; and fuel hydrogen vehicles. “That’s really an exciting, ongoing project,” Josefik says.

The work involves examining the combination of generators with fuel cells, helping generators run at their most efficient point. Users also could turn the generators off at times and only use the fuel cell. For example, when soldiers need to sleep, they could turn off the generator so power flows silently. Fuel cells create no noise and generate little heat. However, before technologies deploy to forward operating locations, they have to be proven. Josefik says that deployed technologies must meet the highest standards to ensure the protection of warfighters. He explains that one reason some of these renewable technologies slowly make their way to forward operating bases is because they lack the robustness of technologies that have been in existence for long periods of time.

Another CERL project, currently in its final stages, is the Advanced Power and Energy Program conducted in conjunction with the University of California-Irvine. Military goals of the work include advancing the fuel flexibility of solid oxide fuel cell systems for Defense Department applications as well as investigating the performance and durability of hybrid fuel cell gas turbine systems for military applications. Another focus is on technology transfer from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to Defense Department deployment.

A project just starting involves a partnership between the laboratory and the DOE. A broad agency announcement has gone out for installing backup power fuel cells for emergency operation of critical applications at federal facilities. CERL has identified 15 host sites at military locations and DOE laboratories. The partners still are reviewing applications and will begin installing the fuel cells over the next year. So far, about 75 have been identified for installation.

CERL has worked with the host sites to have them determine the electrical loads they want to power during emergency situations. Josefik describes this as the “spear point” of rolling out more fuel cell technology. After those locations become familiar with the technology, he hopes to see a snowball effect in which CERL and its partners will install the power sources in many more locations.

Though CERL focuses on installations, Josefik says the military and civilian sectors have many applications that could benefit from fuel cell use. Because they can produce energy ranging from microwatts to megawatts, fuel cells can apply to a variety of technologies. “The possibilities are limitless,” he states. One area of research involves making fuel cells portable enough so they could replace electrical batteries in almost any device, including laptops. Scientists also are studying the use of fuel cells in forklifts. “Research is showing that dollar for dollar, they can compete against a battery-powered forklift,” Josefik says.

During an eight-hour shift, forklifts powered by battery lose speed and lifting capacity. Fuel-cell forklifts, on the other hand, maintain those capabilities. Locations that have multiple forklifts generally need twice as many batteries as machines so they can use one and charge another at the same time. Fuel cells could reduce that need. Another more common application for fuel cells is in motor vehicles. “The research [question] is how do we get more of those in the field,” Josefik explains. Researchers are debating a chicken-and-egg scenario, trying to determine whether to create the fueling stations or the vehicles first.

Looking toward the future, Josefik says fuel-cell costs are decreasing thanks in part to continuous improvement in material durability. The materials also are becoming less expensive. “There’s been a lot of incremental progress,” he explains. “There hasn’t been that whiz-bang iPod phenomenon with mass market presentation in the last year or couple of years.” Rather, he adds, that time has been a period of continuous growth. 

In addition to fuel cells, CERL’s energy branch is researching other renewable technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines and a technology called a flow battery, which is an energy storage device. “Fuel cells can be one part of an energy solution,” Josefik says. Some of the research focuses on combining technologies to create better power systems. For example, solar power is intermittent, but if people use the sun to create hydrogen and then they store it, they can run a fuel cell during the night to supply continuous energy.

One of the focuses of CERL is to publish as much data about its experiments as possible. The laboratory makes information about renewable energy products available to the public so civilians can use the technologies. Josefik explains that when laboratory personnel deploy and test technologies, they monitor how well they work, how much they cost and how durable they are so they can feed the answers back to industry.

Combining technologies also can serve as protection efforts. Josefik explains that laboratory personnel always examine security both of people on installations and of energy sources. By installing what is called distributed generation, experts can put electrical sources right at locations, eliminating power lines that are vulnerable to accident or attack. Generating power on site at stateside and forward operating locations also dispenses with the need to deliver fuel.

Web Resources:
ERDC-CERL Fuel Cell Team Guiding Documents: http://dodfuelcell.cecer.army.mil/references.php
ERDC-CERL Fuel Cell Programs Overview: http://dodfuelcell.cecer.army.mil/rd/index.php
Yosemite Air Quality Information: www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/airquality.htm
Department of Energy Fuel Cells: www.hydrogen.energy.gov/fuel_cells.html

Britain’s hydrogen fuel cell car fleet may hit top gear within five years, but only if there is enough investment in filling stations, the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Association (UK HFCA) told Reuters on Friday.

Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity, with heat and water being the only by-products, with a number of car makers including Toyota<7203.T>, Ford<F.N>, and Hyundai<005380.KS>, pushing to commercialise the low-carbon hybrid fuel cell vehicle by 2015.

“Somewhere around 2015 to 2017 we’ll be over threshold and I think we’ll see a larger and growing fleet,” HFC chairman Dennis Hayter said.

“It’s all aligned with the rollout of the infrastructure. In order to get to a semi-ubiquitous availability of hydrogen, then yes, you’re talking may billions of pounds, but it doesn’t have to come at once.”

Hayter said fuel cell cars only take minutes to refill with a range of around 250 miles range. Plug-in electric vehicles take hours to recharge with a range of around 100 miles.

Existing petrol filling stations could be converted, with hydrogen companies possibly leasing some of the pumps, while current hydrogen production capacity is seen as adequate for the next decade.

“You may find there’s a deal to be made between the hydrogen gas and petroleum companies. Things are happening in the background and gradually a network is starting to appear,” Hayter said.

“At present, the majority of hydrogen is derived from reforming of natural gas for industrial purposes such as refining and in chemicals.

“The quantities currently used and likely to be needed for transport in the next five to 10 years would still be minimal alongside hydrogen consumed for industrial use.”

FUEL COSTS

For the long term estimates of hydrogen costs, Hayter believes it will be competitive with petrol, or cheaper. Using U.S. hydrogen prices of $8 a kilogram, it would cost around $32 to fill up fuel cell car with a 250 mile range, he said.

“It’s not comparing apples with apples, but if they’re the long term costs, then it could be significantly cheaper but it depends on the fuel duty,” Hayter added.

The UK HFCA is calling for hydrogen not to be taxed as a transport fuel, as petrol is, to help incentivise uptake.

Britain has around 30 hydrogen fuel vehicles, mostly buses and taxi in London, with two filling stations in the city and another four expected by 2012, the UK HFCA said.

Seen as a way to decarbonise the transport sector, Britain’s former Labour government planned to subsidise low-carbon vehicle purchases from 2011, with a grant worth up to 5,000 pounds ($7,584).

(Editing by William Hardy)

Each year, engineers, scientists, analysts, and others funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) meet in Washington, D.C. to showcase their hydrogen, fuel cell, and advanced vehicle technology projects at the Annual Merit Review. This year, DOE presented National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) staffers and and two of our subcontractors with four prestigious awards.

NREL’s Michael Penev and Darlene Steward received team awards for developing the Fuel Cell Power Model, an analysis tool used by national laboratories and industry to assess the cost, energy savings, and benefits of fuel cells. Using the model, they provided input for fuel cell evaluations and insight into critical financing mechanisms for fuel cells, including the analysis of tax credits. They also developed numerous business cases for performing financial and economic evaluations of fuel cell applications, with a focus on integrating stationary fuel cells with combined heat, hydrogen, and power systems.

Lin Simpson accepted a team award for the DOE Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence (HSCoE) for advancing the state-of-the-art in hydrogen storage materials. Simpson is director of the HSCoE, which was among three centers of excellence recognized for significantly increasing the understanding and development of hydrogen storage materials over the past five years. Together, the centers have investigated more than 400 new material systems experimentally and millions computationally. These advances could not have been achieved without the collective creativity and synergy of the partners as well as the managers who encouraged their coordination and teamwork.

The HSCoE leverages the expertise of DOE national laboratories in partnership with academia and industry. Key NREL staffers include Jeff Blackburn, Justin Bult, Mark Davis, Anne Dillon, Tyler Elko-Hansen, Buzz Curtis, Chaiwat Engtrakul, Thomas Gennett, Amy Groves, Aditi Herwadkar, Kevin O’Neill, Philip Parilla, John-David Rocha, Erin Whitney, Qiang Xu, Yufeng Zhao, and former staffers Mike Heben, Yong-Hyun Kim, and Shengbai Zhang.

NREL consultant Douglas Wheeler received an award for his contributions to DOE’s fuel cell manufacturing efforts. Wheeler provided analyses of industrial manufacturing capabilities for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell systems and is currently working with NREL to develop a manufacturing readiness assessment process for U.S. companies. He also served on an NREL-commissioned independent review panel that evaluated the 2008 Fuel Cell System Cost Estimate for Transportation and participated in a panel that assessed the status of small combined heat and power systems.

John Christensen, also an NREL consultant, received an award for his contributions to the market transformation activity within the DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Program. Christensen was instrumental in the deployment of 60 forklifts at a defense distribution depot and air force base as well as the installation of emergency backup power at more than 15 Department of Defense sites and 25 Federal Aviation Administration sites. He also facilitated numerous industry presentations and interagency discussions about fuel cell deployments for the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Federal Interagency Working Group.

LOS ANGELES–OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, today announced a new invention that generates hydrogen from living algae, providing an additional energy source from bioreactors. In contrast to previously reported developments in the area, the new Hydrogen Harvester™ uses little or no external energy inputs, requires no sulfur deprivation or other “stressing” of the algae, and no genetic modification. The process employs viable, high growth rate, high oil content algae strains.

“One of the primary challenges for algae production is to achieve the best-possible energy balance,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “By harvesting hydrogen from algae we are able to increase the energy output of virtually any algae production system. The result is a photosynthetic technology platform that yields energy in the form of oil, biomass, and hydrogen.”

Algae already create oxygen through photosynthesis. Recovering hydrogen provides the necessary ingredients for electricity generation using fuel cells. The energy can be used to offset the electricity requirements of algae cultivation, harvesting and downstream processing.

Dr. Brian Goodall, OriginOil’s new CTO, commented: “The co-generation of hydrogen at the algae production site is a critical development for the realization of a completely integrated algal biorefinery. All routes from algae to ‘drop-in’ fuels such as renewable diesel and jet fuel require hydrogen and hydrotreating. The Hydrogen Harvester technology would eliminate the need for hydrogen pipelines and dependence on existing refineries which are typically far removed from ideal sites for algae growth.”

The Hydrogen Harvester will be integrated into OriginOil’s existing portfolio of algae growth technologies, including the recently announced MultiReactor™. It will also be available as an add-on to other industry growth systems.

The company recently filed for patent protection of the new hydrogen harvesting technology, its tenth patent application, entitled “Bio Energy Reactor.” While the invention is applicable to any photosynthetic organism, algae is thought to be most productive.

Hydrogen has often been called the perfect fuel. Its major reserve on earth (water) is inexhaustible, meaning that we will never run out of hydrogen. Hydrogen, if produced cleanly, efficiently and affordably from renewable resources, is the ultimate green energy solution: It produces no air pollutants or greenhouse gases when used in fuel cells and the only pollutants generated when burned in internal combustion engines are nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has stated that producing hydrogen by direct water-splitting technologies — using photosynthetic microorganisms — is the “Holy Grail” of the hydrogen economy, the ultimate clean and sustainable hydrogen production method, and is the focus of long-term R&D efforts at NREL. OriginOil believes that the new Hydrogen Harvester could represent the breakthrough needed to power the hydrogen economy.

About OriginOil, Inc.

OriginOil, Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology that will transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum. Much of the world’s oil and gas is made up of ancient algae deposits. Today, our technology will produce “new oil” from algae, through a cost-effective, high-speed manufacturing process. This endless supply of new oil can be used for many products, such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, plastics and solvents, without the global warming effects of petroleum. Other oil-producing feedstock, such as corn and sugarcane, often destroy vital farmlands and rainforests, disrupt global food supplies and create new environmental problems. Our unique technology, based on algae, is targeted at fundamentally changing our source of oil without disrupting the environment or food supplies. To learn more about OriginOil™, please visit our website at www.originoil.com.

Brunnthal/Munich and Kehl, Germany, – Buerstner, leading international motor home and caravan manufacturer, and EFOY support the French retailer ETS Jacqueline SAS and the race team of Dominique and Anne-Marie Ribaut in the Paris-Peking-Paris rallye. In this transcontinental motor home race, 50 teams will cover around 30,000 km (approx. 18,640 miles) in their motor homes from June 1 to September 3, 2010. The rallye will start and end in Paris, crossing 13 countries – among them Germany, Poland, the Baltic States, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. The French Federation of Camping & Caravaning (FFCC) organizes the event, following the idea of the Peking – Paris race, the world’s first and still longest transcontinental car race. The Ribaut couple competes the race with their Buerstner Solano T690-G, one of Europe’s most successful partially integrated motor home models combining dynamic driving characteristics with ultimate comfort and driving safety. An EFOY 2200 fuel cell ensures the vehicle’s off-grid power autonomy. It provides a reliable, silent, environmentally friendly power supply directly on board. During a stopover of the team on their way in early June, Buerstner and EFOY representatives welcomed Mr. and Mrs Ribaut at the Buerstner customer center in Kehl, Germany.

“We wish Dominique and Anne-Marie Ribaut much success for their trip. Our Solano proves just how comfortably and environmentally friendly this adventure can be tackled. The Solano’s dynamic driving characteristics, its on-board comfort, and its ultimate driving safety are the best prerequisites for a successful race”, says Maggie Sattler, Marketing Director France at Buerstner.

“We are proud that our EFOY 2200 is part of this race. Our fuel cell guarantees the Ribauts a reliable, silent and emission free 24/7 power supply, thus ensuring ultimate flexibility and comfort on this demanding trip. We wish the Ribauts success and luck for their exciting adventure!” says Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. 

Additional information at efoy.com and buerstner.com

About SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG
SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (www.sfc.com) is market leader in fuel cell technologies for mobile and off-grid power applications serving the leisure, industrial and defense markets. As one of Germany’s technology pioneers, SFC has won numerous innovation awards.  SFC has alli-ances with leading companies in a wide range of industries.  Unlike most other fuel cell manufacturers, who are in the research and development phase or run subsidized demon-stration projects, SFC has shipped more than 18,000
fully commercial products to industrial and private end users for more than five years, and has created a convenient fuel cartridge supply infrastructure. SFC is DIN ISO 9001:2000 certified. SFC is based in Brunnthal, Ger-many, and has a U.S. sales and technical service office in the U.S. SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG is listed at the Deutsche Boerse Prime Standard (WKN 756857).

About Buerstner GmbH
Buerstner GmbH (www.buerstner.com) is one of Europe’s leading caravan and motor home manufacturers with a corporate history of over fifty years. Buerstner’s roots go back to 1924 when everything started with carpentry and joinery workshops. Since then the company has dealt in woodwork and wood processing, acquiring extensive experience and competencies in this field. Today, Buerstner products are sold in more than 25 countries, mainly in Europe, by approx. 280 specialized retailers. The
Buerstner philosopy “Grenzenlos wohlfühlen – Feel great wherever you are” has long since become part of the caravaning experience of camping fans all across Europe, not least because for them tradition and innovation are combined in the Buerstner brand in a most attractive way.

CHINA is drafting a technical standard on fuel cell back-up power source which has advantages over conventional batteries and it is also more friendly to the environment, according to industry insiders.

The standard, with input from domestic firms, including China Mobile, China Telecom and telecom equipment producer Huawei Technologies Co, has been under scrutiny after it was submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, a source told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

It is expected to be released as early as the end of this year, the source said.

Fuel cell back-up power source is becoming more popular as it is light, can generate more power and has better durability compared to lead-acid batteries. It is also more environmental-friendly without risks of lead pollution.

Many countries have adopted the new technology in telecom companies’ base stations in hospitals and banks.

Shanghai Peal Hydrogen Power Source Technology Co Ltd, which is involved in the draft of the standard, is testing most of its power source to ensure that it meets standards, Shi Tao, an official of the firm, said.

“A national standard is needed to direct industrial development in China and also regulate international cooperation,” said Shi.

The Shanghai-based company, which has received a US$3 million investment from venture capital firms, plans to boost the capacity to 1,000 kilowatts per year by February 2011, up from the existing 500 kilowatts.

Some analysts said despite the national standard, the green technology also faces other challenges, such as high costs, before market demand can take off. The United States government offers a subsidy of US$3,000 for each kilowatt to US producers.

AIKEN, SC – - Research that is expected to accelerate the development of a whole class of hydrogen storage materials has earned the Savannah River National Laboratory’s Dr. Ragaiy Zidan a U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Program Team Award.

The award was presented at an audience of nearly 1,000, by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at its Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting for hydrogen, fuel cells and advanced vehicle technologies including batteries and related research. Each year, this meeting showcases projects funded by DOE. As part of the annual meeting, DOE presents awards for outstanding contributions, technical accomplishments and innovative research and development.

Dr. Zidan was honored for his contributions in developing electrochemical methods for alane regeneration. He was lead researcher on an SRNL project team that developed a novel closed cycle for producing the high capacity hydrogen storage material.

For years, one of the major obstacles to widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies has been hydrogen storage. Solid-state storage, using solid materials such as metals that absorb hydrogen and release it as needed, has many advantages over storing hydrogen as a liquid or gas, and many storage materials have been examined trying to meet DOE’s technical targets. A combination of aluminum and hydrogen called aluminum hydride, also known as alane, possesses desired qualities as a storage material, but has been considered impractical because of the high pressures required to combine hydrogen and aluminum to re-form the hydride material after the hydrogen has been released. Alternate methods of production using chemical synthesis have typically produced stable metal chloride byproducts that make it practically impossible to regenerate the alane. The electrochemical cycle demonstrated by Dr. Zidan and the SRNL team for production of alane avoids both of these issues and provides an innovative promising option for further research and development.

Dr. Zidan came to SRNL in 2000 from the University of Hawaii. Since that time, he has led both basic science and applied research projects to advance the practicality of hydrogen as an energy alternative.

SRNL is DOE’s applied research and development national laboratory at SRS. SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in the areas of environmental management, national and homeland security, and energy security. The management and operating contractor for SRS and SRNL is Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC.

Being aware of its responsibility towards the territory and future generations, the Brenner Motorway wants to actively contribute to a zero emissions future in the transport sector.

The particular location of the Brenner Motorway (A22) along the European Corridor 1 proves to be strategic in order to sensitize and favour the circulation of hydrogen vehicles.

In the Alpine area there is a concrete opportunity to obtain hydrogen from renewable sources through the use of hydroelectric power. Hydrogen represents a form of ‘clean’ energy and increases the efficiency of local energy production from the economic as well as environmental point of view. Furthermore, the use of hydrogen avoids harmful effects on health and environment due to fossil fuels and reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

A22 is member of the Institute for Technical Innovations (I.I.T. Scarl), which carries out research and innovation activities and which in the future aims at extending its structure to other institutional as well as private subjects in order to implement an overall project along the whole Brenner – Modena axis.

Within the framework of the industrial plan drawn up by the A22, which foresees the construction of hydrogen filling stations every 100 km along the section Munich.

– Modena, the Brenner Motorway individuated 5 areas considered to be particular adequate for the production and distribution of ‘green’ hydrogen, i.e. hydrogen produced through ‘electrolysis’ by using different types of renewable energy sources. These sites,
within the framework of the project under discussion, were located near the Brenner Pass (wind power), in Bolzano South (hydroelectric power), in Trentino (combination of photovoltaic and hydroelectric power), in the Province of Verona (interconnection with the A4 motorway) and near the interconnection with the A1 motorway (biomass).

It must be emphasized that the Brenner Motorway considers to be strategic in a first phase to invest in hydrogen-methane blends vehicles, with internal combustion engines, awaiting for the circulation of fuel cell vehicles.

The advanced technology of hydrogen-methane blends (hydromethane) can in fact offer an important contribution versus the reduction of CO2 and other noxious emissions, guaranteeing a strong synergy with additional gaseous fuels from renewable sources such as biomethane.

Hydromethane can therefore enable the development of hydrogen infrastructure, necessary for the future implementation of fuel cell electric vehicles.

The project was presented on June 23 at the European Parliament.

Highlights of the period

• Receipt of first commercial revenue; £50k instalment of £200k from Linc Energy
• Significant progress in development of the Beta (large scale) fuel cell system
• £2.18 million net raised through share placing and option/warrant conversions
• Positive outcome of third independent technology review by the Centre for Process Innovation
• Filed 2 patents that further strengthen our IP portfolio
• WSP Group plc, CEL International and Air Products confirmed as world class partners
• Agreement with Centrica plc for reservation of future capacity
• Post-tax losses: £1.25 million (30 April 2009: £1.04 million), reflecting the strengthening of the technical team, whilst maintaining cost control
• Net cash outflow from operating and investing activities of £1.37 million (30 April 2009: £1.06 million)
• Cash balance at 30 April 2010: £2.68 million (30 April 2009: £2.55 Million)

Since period end

• Successful testing of an Alpha fuel cell system at Linc Energy’s Chinchilla facility in Australia, operating on hydrogen from underground coal gasification
• Commenced testing of commercial electrodes for Beta fuel cell system
• Developing in-house capacity for  annual pilot production of up to 2MW of fuel cell systems

Ian Balchin, CEO commented, “The goal of producing the lowest unit cost electricity using fuel cells is a simple one. Our initial target market is the chlorine (chlor-alkali) industry which produces well documented surpluses of hydrogen suitable for use directly in AFC’s alkaline fuel cell systems. The Board believes that we have significantly reduced the risk in our business plan by choosing existing alkaline fuel cell technology and re-engineering it to reduce the capital and operating costs. 

“AFC Energy’s Alpha fuel cell systems are now installed as test-beds both at AkzoNobel in Germany and at Linc Energy in Australia. We have also commenced testing of our commercial electrodes which are based on thin metal plates and have more than twice the volumetric power density of our previous design. These are the electrodes that will be used in our modular Beta (large-scale) fuel cell system – the building block of our multi-megawatt power station concept.

“In preparation for initial demand we have already commenced the commissioning of a pilot production facility which will be capable of producing up to 2MW of fuel cell systems per year, whilst providing a valuable demonstration and training facility for our roll-out partners. This facility is due for completion over the summer and the Company remains on track for producing its first commercial Beta Fuel cell system in 2011.

“As a company we will endeavour to continue to be as open as we can whilst safeguarding commercial and intellectual property assets. We have received favourable feedback from the open days which we have hosted for private investors and shall be holding further open days later in the year.

I look forward to reporting more on the progress being made as we transition towards commercialisation.”

• Hydrogen is produced according to energy demand by controlled lithium-water electrochemical reactions.
• The system can supply both clean hydrogen and electricity.
• Generated lithium hydroxide (LiOH) can be recovered for reuse by recharge operations using sunlight etc.

Haoshen Zhou (Leader) and Yonggang Wang (Post-Doctoral Research Scientist) of Energy Interface Technology Group, the Energy Technology Research Institute (Director: Yasuo Hasegawa) of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; President: Tamotsu Nomakuchi), have developed the concept of a clean hydrogen production system based on controlled lithium-water electrochemical reactions and have successfully investigated the system.

In recent years, hydrogen has attracted attention as a clean energy source for reducing the increase in CO₂ emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. However, the use of hydrogen as an energy source involves many issues. It is particularly necessary to establish technologies for the safe and convenient storage of hydrogen. To achieve this safety and convenience it is desirable to produce the needed hydrogen on-site.

The concept of a device called a lithium-water battery, using metallic lithium as the active material at a negative electrode and water as the active material at a positive electrode, has been proposed before, but the use of hydrogen, a byproduct of the battery, had not been investigated. We have now developed a new concept of producing both hydrogen and electricity by stably controlled reactions using metallic lithium as the negative electrode and carbon as the positive electrode, with a hybrid electrolyte (a combination of an organic electrolyte, a solid electrolyte, and an aqueous electrolyte) (see Figure). We have succeeded in the substantiation of the concept with this system, which allows as much clean hydrogen to be produced as needed and when needed, while generating electricity from electrical discharge from the electrochemical reactions. The amount of hydrogen produced is currently about 230 μmol h^–1 per one square centimeter of positive electrode surface. This system can be regenerated by recharging, and it can therefore be used as an energy storage system that stores electrical energy from natural energy sources such as solar cells, and surplus power at night in the form of metallic lithium; it is thus able to produce hydrogen and electricity as needed. We intend to investigate suitable applications for this system.

Left: Schematic of the lithium-water battery and hydrogen productionRight: Amount of hydrogen produced at the positive electrode of the lithium-water battery