 Munich--The
technology company The Linde Group has today officially opened the world's
first hydrogen filling station for fuel cell passenger ships in Hamburg.
Wolfgang Tiefensee, Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs was
in attendance for this "Zemship-related" grand opening, an EU-sponsored
project for the development of fuel cell ships.
"As a pioneer in hydrogen technology,
we want to make environmentally-friendly, hydrogen-based locomotion a reality
in all areas. With this globally unique filling station, we are showing
that hydrogen is well-suited as an emissions-free fuel for passenger ships,"
said Dr. Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG.
The Zemship filling station
is located in the Hamburg city park. It provides regular fill-ups of hydrogen
gas for this "zero emissions ship". The first passenger ship for 100 people
to be operated via a hydrogen fuel cell will convey passengers on both
the Alster as well as the Elbe rivers. For fuelling, liquid hydrogen stored
at a temperature of minus 253 °C is transformed into hydrogen gas in
an evaporator and then compressed up to 450 bar via a two-stage compressor
system. The complete fuelling station was designed and built by Linde.
As one of the world's largest
manufacturer of hydrogen systems, Linde offers a complete range of technologies
that are required for a functioning hydrogen value-added chain - from production
to fuelling.
With 120,000 hydrogen fill-ups
by the end of last year, the company has set a new fuelling record. This
includes passenger cars with an average 300 fill-ups per week as well as
lorries, busses and forklifts. Linde is the leading international equipment
supplier for hydrogen fuelling stations. The gas company is represented
in 15 countries with fuelling technology. The use of hydrogen as a fuel
for motors does not cause any damaging emissions. Electrical energy is
created in the fuel cell with the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to water
with an efficiency of up to 70 per cent.
Zemships
To prove that hydrogen is well-suited
as a fuel for ships, the Hamburg Office of Urban Planning and Environmental
Affairs has brought together Germanische Lloyd AG, Proton Motor, Hamburger
Hochbahn AG, The Linde Group, Alster-Touristik GmbH, Hochschule für
Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg, hySolutions GmbH and The UJV Nuclear
Research Institute rez plc for this Zemship project. Zemship is a EU-sponsored
project. |
