ITM Power the energy storage and clean fuel company, has been awarded a grant under the Technology Strategy’ Smart Power Distribution and Demand competition.
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Updated 16 Apr, 2012
ITM Power the energy storage and clean fuel company, has been awarded a grant under the Technology Strategy’ Smart Power Distribution and Demand competition.
On 11 April 2012, the Region of Poitou-Charentes kicked-off a collaboration with HyER, (www.hyer.eu), the European Association for Hydrogen and fuel cells and Electro-mobility in European
A future powered by hydrogen fuel, whose only byproduct is water, has long been an eco-friendly dream too difficult to realize. Storing and transporting hydrogen can be difficult and dangerous, and hydrogen production methods can also produce unwanted carbon dioxide. A new catalyst promises to solve these problems, using CO2 and hydrogen to store energy in liquid form. The only thing you need to worry about is pH. It’s the first catalyst to combine hydrogen and CO2 at room temperature and pressure, using water as the liquefying solution. As such, it could use existing fuel infrastructure built for the liquid hydrocarbons we have been using since the dawn of the combustion engine. In basic (as in alkaline) conditions, the catalyst converts hydrogen and CO2 into formic acid, a promising hydrogen-storage fluid that is safer to handle and transport than cryogenically stored dihydrogen. If you flip the pH switch to acidic, the resulting redox reaction frees the hydrogen from its carbon bonds, allowing you to grab and use the hydrogen for use in a fuel cell. Scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratoryand the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan worked with iridium-based catalysts with specific types of ligands, which are clusters of atoms [...]
ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — Hydrogen fuel cells, like those found in some “green” vehicles, have a lot of promise as an alternative fuel source, but making them practical on a large scale requires them to be more efficient and cost effective. A research team from the University of Central Florida may have found a way around both hurdles. The majority of hydrogen fuel cells use catalysts made of a rare and expensive metal — platinum. There are few alternatives because most elements can’t endure the fuel cell’s highly acidic solvents present in the reaction that converts hydrogen’s chemical energy into electrical power. Only four elements can resist the corrosive process — platinum, iridium, gold and palladium. The first two are rare and expensive, which makes them impractical for large-scale use. The other two don’t do well with the chemical reaction. UCF Professor Sergey Stolbov and postdoctoral research associate Marisol Alcántara Ortigoza focused on making gold and palladium better suited for the reaction. They created a sandwich-like structure that layers cheaper and more abundant elements with gold and palladium and other elements to make it more effective. The outer monoatomic layer (the top of the sandwich) is either palladium or gold. [...]
The German government wants one million electric cars to be on Germany’s roads by 2020. But for that to happen, more research into electromobility will have to be done. The Helmholtz Association has been successfully pursuing electromobility research for many years, and it is now expanding that research with two new portfolio themes: Electromobility Research for Transportation Systems, and In-system Electrochemical Storage – Reliability and Integration. Electromobility Research for Transportation Systems Nine interdisciplinary institutes from the German Aerospace Center are working together on this portfolio theme. For many years they have been using their extensive expertise to close gaps identified in the areas of vehicles, assistance, and markets and users. Their goal now is to broaden our systemic understanding of electromobility and to help Germany become the leading supplier and market for electromobility. The National Development Plan for Electric Mobility outlines measures on how to achieve those ambitious goals. The National Platform on Electric Mobility describes those measures in greater detail and promotes direct dialogue between research, businesses, the government and the public. “As Germany’s largest scientific organisation, the Helmholtz Association is actively involved in these debates. Its transport and energy programmes are making major contributions to research and development,” [...]
HyER is co-organizing the International Conference High V.LO-City – Public Transport: the future is today which will be held in Imperia, Italy on March 23rd, 2012, the day after the High V.LO-City Kick-off meeting (same location). This International Conference will allow you to network and learn about the vision on Public Transport represented by Italian and international speakers. Please feel free to invite organisations/associations of interest for your business. The programme and the registration form are provided below.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest seller of hybrid vehicles, wants to be able to supply thousands of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles annually in the next decade in anticipation of demand for petroleum-free autos. The carmaker displayed its hydrogen-powered FCV-R concept car today at the Geneva motor show, reiterating its intention to sell vehicles based on the non-polluting sedan by 2015. “We are preparing to be able to produce tens of thousands per year in the 2020s,” Didier Leroy, head of Toyota’s European operations, said in prepared remarks in Geneva. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker hasn’t yet detailed the price or marketing plans for fuel-cell cars or set a global sales target, said John Hanson, a spokesman for the company’s U.S. unit. Toyota, which is selling a plug-in version of its Prius hybrid and this year adds battery-powered RAV4 and Scion iQ models, has said it’s reducing cost and technical hurdles that have kept hydrogen fuel-cell cars from being sold to retail customers. Hydrogen’s appeal as a fuel is its abundance and ability to propel vehicles distances comparable to gasoline. Drawbacks include the high cost of producing the fuel cells themselves, layers of plastic film coated with platinum sandwiched between metal plates [...]
On 7 March, the US President Barack Obama unveiled a new $1 billion (around €755 million) initiative ‘National Community Deployment Challenge’ to support the deployment of alternative-fuel vehicles. Communities will be able to use the funds in support of plug-in electric, natural gas, hydrogen fuel cell or any other advanced vehicle technology. The communities would then become “real-world laboratories,” the White House said, providing models for full-scale deployment of these advanced technologies. It is proposed that an additional $3.7 billion (around €2,8 billion) be made available in the FY2013 Budget for advanced vehicles tax credits. The proposed plan include tax credits for advanced vehicles from the current $7,500 (around €5,667) to $10,000 (around €7,556) while also broadening the range of alternative-fuel vehicles eligible for the credit at the point-of-sale, thereby allowing customers to benefit from a lower vehicle cost at purchase rather than when they file their taxes. The cap on manufacturers eligible for the credit will also be eliminated. The level of the consumer incentive will be gradually decreased and ceased by the end of the decade. The ‘National Community Deployment Challenge’ initiative will provide assistance to 10-15 communities to invest in necessary infrastructure, remove regulatory barriers, and create local incentives necessary to [...]
Motorists will be able to test-drive and hire electric vehicles at a new dedicated facility which is set to open in the heart of Glasgow. The facility will open alongside a permanent renewable energy exhibition at power firm SSE’s Scottish Hydro Centre for Renewable Excellence. Cars, electric scooters and bikes will be available to rent from the centre, close to Glasgow Central train station. The facility will also allow motorists to charge their vehicles for free. SSE said it would be the UK’s first dedicated centre offering free electric vehicle charging, as well as hiring and parking. Kevin O’Neill, from SSE, said the centre would help address common “myths” about electric cars. He said: “What we are trying to do with these cars is prove to people that if you are living in the city centre or outwith and use one of these vehicles for 20 or 30 miles a day, they are really easy and actually fun to drive. “That is why we are inviting people down to try them out. We also have a hire facility so anyone coming off the train from London, say, can come along and get a hire car for the day and go [...]
On February 27, 2012 HyER launched a pilot project to collect key data of relevant electro-mobility projects in six key regions in Europe. Coordinated by a team of experts of the TNO, ECN of the Netherlands and the Free University of Brussels, HyER aims with the pilot to establish the framework for a European Electromobility Observatory to collect relevant data of battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicle projects and programs to facilitate fact based policy making at EU, national and local level. The pilot, funded by HyER and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs Agriculture and Innovation, will cover electric vehicle projects in London, Milan, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Hamburg, North Rhine Westphalia, Oslo, Stockholm, Poitou Charentes. The participating regions indicated a strong interest in regular and extensive exchange of impact of incentives and user behavior as well as recharging best practice. As the Commission is preparing further legislative proposals on alternative fuel infrastructure deployment, information on required recharging and hydrogen refuelling at local and national level is needed to develop the right policy measures. HyER is determined to engage more regions and local authorities in this initiative to offer an up-close and broad insight on how battery and fuel cell [...]