| Fuel cells
are to be tested on an Icelandic vessel as part of the country's drive
to become a hydrogen-based society in the future, writes David Tinsley.
Danish company H2 Logic has received
an order for a fuel cell system to be used in a demonstration as an auxiliary
power unit. Managed by the research company Icelandic New Energy, the project
forms part of the Smart-H2 programme, the latest initiative in the country's
endeavours to foster the use of hydrogen fuel in transport.
The hybrid auxiliary system to be
installed on a whale-watching vessel operating from Reykjavik will be based
on a fuel cell module developed byH2 Logic and will contain a Ballard fuel
cell stack.
Designed in Iceland and offering
a power output in the 10 kW-15 kW range, the plant will be tested for 18
months with the goal of understanding the implications for a hydrogen system
operating aboard ship under the rigorous sea conditions of the north Atlantic.
VistOrka, a co-operation platform
for hydrogen, is expected to provide at least $3.5m towards the overall
Smart-H2 budget, which could amount to $8m.
Iceland has set out a strategy of
becoming a hydrogen-based society in future years. The rationale is founded
on economic, energy resource and environmental considerations. Exhaust
emissions from transport as a whole represent a very high proportion of
all atmospheric pollutants generated in and around Iceland.
The national policy of investigating
opportunities for hydrogen fuel and use of fuel cell power has led to broad
Icelandic involvement in technological research and in the trialling of
prototypes and systems to help advance the relevant technologies.
Besides the introduction of fuel
cell-powered buses and the construction of hydrogen filling stations, the
strategy includes the uptake of fuel cells throughout Iceland's considerable
fishing fleet, which is estimated to account for about one third of all
emissions from Iceland.
|
