FuelCellsWorks

Car maker is testing everyday practicality of the energy of hydrogen

The Volkswagen Group supports the initiative of Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) with six fuel cell vehicles, the latest generation. From the end of October, two Volkswagen Tiguan HyMotion, two Caddy Maxi HyMotion and two Audi Q5 HFC under real conditions in Berlin’s city traffic will be tested. The aim is to demonstrate the suitability of hydrogen as a fuel in vehicles and to gain valuable insights into the evolution of this technology.

Prof. Juergen Leohold, head of research at Volkswagen: “The fuel cell is an important component of the fuel and powertrain strategy, Volkswagen. We are pleased to put our fuel cell vehicles available to the CEP project. The first Volkswagen models with a sufficiently durable and affordable fuel-cell drive could there be, in our view, at 2020th parallel, but also the development of a complete hydrogen infrastructure. ”

The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) is an international association of companies BMW, Berlin Transportation Company (BVG), DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM / Opel, Hydro AG, Linde and Shell Hydrogen, StatoillHydro, TOTAL, Vattenfall Europe and Volkswagen AG. The aim of a three-phased project is the technological development of the energy source of hydrogen for transport. The second phase, lasting until the end of 2010 provides a technical update of the vehicles and the infrastructure and testing the technology before under everyday conditions. In the third phase by the end of 2016, the market in preparation for the hydrogen technologies for the transport sector at the center. The CEP program is part of the National Innovation Program Hydrogen and fuel cells instead of technology (NIP).

New formula helps increase the efficiency and decrease the cost

Fuel cells are often touted as one method to help decrease society’s addiction to fossil fuels. But there is still a lot of work to be done before fuel cells will be ready for mass market to be used in transportation, home heating and portable power for emergencies.

U of C chemists Jeff Hurd and George Shimizu have taken the science behind a specific type of fuel cell towards a higher level of design. They have discovered a new material that allows a PEM fuel cell, known as a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, to work at a higher temperature. This discovery is extremely important in terms of increasing the efficiency and decreasing the cost of PEM fuel cells.

“This research will alter the way researchers have to this point perceived candidate materials for fuel cell applications,” says Shimizu a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Calgary.

A research paper by Shimizu, Hurd, Ramanathan Vaidhyanathan and Venkataraman Thangadurai of the University of Calgary, and Christopher Ratcliffe and Igor Moudrakovski of the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council, has just been published in Nature Chemistry online. Shimizu filed a patent with the US patent office last year.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device which converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water and electrical energy. Water usually carries the ions (protons) in a hydrogen fuel cell but this research uses higher boiling molecules trapped in a molecular scaffolding.

Currently, PEM fuel cells can produce energy from hydrogen below 90 °C, just under the boiling point of water. With Shimizu’s material, energy can be produced at a higher temperature, up to 150 °C. This could ultimately make the fuel cell cheaper to produce because at a higher temperature less expensive metals can be used to convert hydrogen into energy. Currently, platinum is used which is extremely expensive. Also, reactions at a higher temperature would be faster thus increasing efficiency.

“Ours is an entirely new approach that strikes a balance between having a regular molecular structure and mobile components all while showing genuine promise of application,” says co-author Hurd, a PhD candidate studying chemistry at the U of C.

Kevin Colbow, director of research and development at Ballard Power Systems, a company that designs and manufactures clean energy hydrogen fuel cells, calls the work significant. “We believe that further improvement on conductivity and robustness of these materials could provide next generation membranes for PEM fuel cells.”

Photo: Emile Nijssen

TURIN/ROTTERDAM – The first Italian zero emission Grand Prix has been won by Greenchoice Forze from the Technical University Delft, the Netherlands. The ‘Formula Zero Gran Prix Torino’ was held in the framework of the Eco-Efficiency Biennial organized by Environment Park and supported by Piedmont Region in the Valentino Park (Turin, Italy). The demonstration event was successful: the battle for 0ther position between the student teams with vehicles powered by hydrogen and fuel cell technology was close and many interested spectators and dignitaries attended the Italian premiere.

One of the Formula Zero offices is located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This city was host of the world premiere racing with hydrogen powered by the Linde Group and fuel cell technology. Turin is a partner city of Rotterdam and the EEB event created a chance to once again underline the connection between these two international and energetic cities. Supported by the Dutch government through the participation of the Consulate-General of the Netherlands in Milan (www.hollandtrade.com), the event aimed at enhancing the pioneering role of the Netherlands (and Formula Zero) in the fields of sustainability and innovation. The water produced by the Formula Zero vehicles during the event was used to make orange tulips flourish in a Dutch Design vase by the Rotterdam based designer Richard Hutten: a symbol of sustainable development and the Dutch way to achieve it.

Track record
The first real trial of strength between the four top university teams was on Saturday when the sprint race began. Each team did one ‘flying lap’ around the street circuit. 2009 Champion Solvay Umicore Zero Emission Racing Team from Leuven, Belgium, succeeded in putting a lap in a record time of 24,24 seconds on the scoreboard. UnizartecH2 from Zaragoza, Spain, and Greenchoice Forze completed the top three.

Surprising Sunday
Surprises characterized Sunday’s main race of ten laps. The Belgian team found a technical failure in one of their electric motors and was not able to take part. UnizartecH2 and Greenchoice Forze were up to that point right behind their Belgian rivals. The overall win seemed to go to the Spanish after the Dutch crashed in qualifying. But the students from Delft managed to repair their vehicle in only twenty minutes and faced the Spanish team in the final round. Greenchoice Forze went on track first consistent laps, before UnizartecH2 completed their final run. The Spanish team seemed to go quicker, but overheating problems in the final lap prevented them to take the overall win.

Perfect match
“The Gran Prix Torino was a perfect match of many aspects”, said Formula Zero Racing Director Eelco Rietveld. “Thanks to the EEB organization, this event shows what Formula Zero is about: inform and educate the public, speed and excitement, team spirit and sportsmanship without an emissions except exhaust water. And that was a welcome refreshment in the sunny setting!”

Great attention
Besides the enthusiastic crowd, also various dignitaries got introduced to the Formula Zero racing series and took part in the award ceremony: mr. Oreste Accornero, Dutch consul of Turin, mr. Paolo Peveraro, vice-president of the Region Piemonte, mr. Andrea Bairati, alderman of Energy, Innovation, Research and Industry of the Region Piemonte and mr. Giuseppe Sbriglio, alderman of sports of the city of Turin attended Italy’s zero emission race premiere. Also the President of the Region Piemonte, ms. Mercedes Bresso paid a visit to the Dutch pit-box showing great interest for the initiative. Formula Zero registered multiple publications in newspapers like La Stampa and Il Sole24Ore.

Formula Zero Gran Prix Torino result:
0th place, Greenchoice Forze (Delft, Netherlands), 3 points
1st place, UnizartecH2 (Zaragoza, Spain), 5 points
2nd place, Solvay Umicore Zero Emission Racing Team (Leuven, Belgium), 7 points
3rd place, Imperial Racing Green (London, Great Britain), 9 points

Eco-Efficiency Biennial 2009
The 2009 Eco-Efficiency Biennial (EEB’09) framed activities with the aim of spreading scientific knowledge, information, environmental education and entertainment for the citizens and youth. It was held at the Torino Esposizioni facilities, an historical complex in the Valentino Park, the green heart of the city.

It was a zero-emission event. In other words, the environmental impact of the Eco- Efficiency Biennial 2009 was “measured” to identify and plan actions aimed at greenhouse gas effect compensation.

At left, a high-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy image of platinum nanoparticles on a fuel cell's electrode reveals surface steps that researchers say are responsible for dramatically improving efficiency. These steps are shown in greater detail in the diagram at the right. Image: Journal of American Chemical Society

Fuel cells, devices that can produce electricity from hydrogen or other fuels without burning them, are considered a promising new way of powering everything from homes and cars to portable devices like cellphones and laptop computers. Their big advantage — the prospect of eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants — has been outweighed by their very high cost, and researchers have been trying to find ways to make the devices less expensive.

Now, an MIT team led by Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Yang Shao-Horn has found a method that promises to dramatically increase the efficiency of the electrodes in one type of fuel cell, which uses methanol instead of hydrogen as its fuel and is considered promising as a replacement for batteries in portable electronic devices. Since these electrodes are made of platinum, increasing their efficiency means that much less of the expensive metal is needed to produce a given amount of power.

The key to the boost in efficiency, the team found, was to change the surface texture of the material. Instead of leaving it smooth, the researchers gave it tiny stairsteps. This approximately doubled the electrode’s ability to catalyze oxidation of the fuel and thus produce electric current. The researchers believe that further development of these surface structures could end up producing far greater increases, yielding more electric current for a given amount of platinum.

Their results are reported Oct. 13 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The paper’s eight authors include chemical engineering graduate student Seung Woo Lee and mechanical engineering postdoctoral researcher Shuo Chen, along with Shao-Horn and other researchers at MIT, the Japan Institute of Science and Technology, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

“One of our research focuses is to develop active and stable catalysts,” Shao-Horn says, and this new work is a significant step toward “figuring out how the surface atomic structure can enhance the activity of the catalyst” in direct methanol fuel cells.

Resolving a controversy

In their experiments, the team used platinum nanoparticles deposited on the surface of multi-wall carbon nanotubes. Lee says that many people have been experimenting with the use of platinum nanoparticles for fuel cells, but the results of the particle size effect on the activity so far have been contradictory and controversial. “Some people see the activity increase, some people see a decrease” in activity as the particle size decreases. “There has been a controversy about how size affects activity.”

The new work shows that the key factor is not the size of the particles, but the details of their surface structure. “We show the details of surface steps presented on nanoparticles and relate the amount of surface steps to the activity,” Chen says. By producing a surface with multiple steps on it, the team doubled the activity of the electrode, and the team members are now working on creating surfaces with even more steps to try to increase the activity further. Theoretically, they say, it should be possible to enhance the activity by orders of magnitude.

Shao-Horn suggests that the key factor is the addition of the edges of the steps, which seem to provide a site where it’s easier for atoms to form new bonds. The addition of steps creates more of those active sites. In addition, the team has shown that the step structures are stable enough to be maintained over hundreds of cycles. That stability is key to being able to develop practical and effective direct methanol fuel cells.

Team members also hope to understand whether the steps enhance the other part of the process that takes place in a fuel cell. This study looked at the enhancement of oxidation, but the other side of a fuel cell undergoes oxygen reduction. Does the addition of steps to the surface also enhance the oxygen reduction? “We need to find why it does, or why it doesn’t,” Shao-Horn says. The researchers expect to have answers to that question in the next few months.

By JEFF WILKINSON

Show a Denko KK of Japan has developed a catalyst for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) to replace expensive platinum (Pt)-based catalysts. The new catalyst adds carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and other elements to niobium (Nb) and titanium (Ti) oxides (Fig 1). The development was advanced as part of the “non-precious metal oxide-based cathode for PEFCs” project of the New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan, by a group headed by Professor Ken-Ichiro Ota of Yokohama National University of Japan.

In PEFCs, catalysts promote the chemical reaction between hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). Pt, currently used as the catalyst, is a rare metal that costs over Yen4,000 per gram, and the high cost of catalysts has been a major obstacle to widespread adoption of PEFCs.

Another problem is that Pt dissolves in the air electrode, which is in an oxidizing environment. The development of a substitute has been a major priority from the viewpoint of durability as well. Nb- and Ti-based oxides face few restrictions in terms of resources, and because they are oxides they are less susceptible to being dissolved than Pt. Material cost, says a source at Showa Denko, is “… no more than 5% of the platinum catalyst.”

Catalytic Strength Index

The newly developed Nb- and Ti-based oxide catalysts have oxidation/reduction potential (ORP, an index of catalytic strength) of 1V or better, about the same as Pt, suggesting high performance as catalysts (Fig 2). When it comes to performance in fuel cells, however, “Platinum performance is still four or five times higher,” says a source at Showa Denko. The firm joined the NEDO project in July 2008, and says there is still considerable room for improvement. For example, the catalyst particles are large at about 40nm, but they expect performance to rise with smaller particle sizes.

According to Showa Denko, cell evaluation for fuel cell applications indicated an open voltage of 1V or higher, and a durability of at least 500 hours. Performance verification testing is still under way, with new records being set that make it the most effective Pt-substitute catalyst in the world at present. The remaining issue is establishing a volume production method. “We still can’t assure stable performance in 4-gram batches,” reveals an engineer at the firm.

Photo:AIST (Advanced Industrial Science And Technology)

SOFC module prototypes using micro-tube SOFC cells were successfully developed. Those SOFC modules operate at 650 degrees of centigrade or lower. A number of miro-tube SOFC cells were integrated into an SOFC unit (Fig. 2). Two SOFC units were combined to form an SOFC module. A total number of micro-tube SOFC cells used for the SOFC module was 90. The output power of the SOFC module was 50 watts or higher. The power generation efficiency was 40% or higher. The power generation density was 2 W/cm3.
Another SOFC module of 200 W output power was also manufactured using eight SOFC units (Fig. 3). The SOFC module, which consists of eight SOFC units, is considerably complex in structure. In this study, the gas manifolds and the current collecting electrodes were further assembled into such a complex integration structure.
Thus, the micro-tube SOFC cell high-density packaging technique for SOFC modules and its evaluation technique were successfully established.
The co-developer has a plan to apply the SOFC module of 200 W output power to APUs (auxiliary power units), small cogeneration systems, etc., and to evaluate the resultants. The results of this study will be presented in The Eleventh International Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC-XI)、in Vienna, Austria from October 4-9, 2009

Co-developed by:
AIST (Advanced Industrial Science And Technology)
FCRA (fine ceramics research association)
NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd
TOHO Gas Co., Ltd.

SOFC is usually used for the large-scale power plant since its operation temperature is high (800-1000 degrees of centigrade). The SOFC has many advantages, for example, of high power generation efficiency, simple structure, and easy maintenance. With those advantages, there is a strong demand for development of small SOFC power generators. The SOFC modules using micro-tube SOFC cells developed this time will for sure satisfy the demand.
The technical development for realizing small SOFC power generation systems is under progress. The SOFC modules, developed this time, are one of the development results and　may indicate the present level of the SOFC development. This technology is one of the watchful technologies

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass.–Protonex Technology Corporation (LSE: AIM: PTX and PTXU), a leading provider of advanced fuel cell power systems, today announced that the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), through a program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), has documented a flight endurance record on their small, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Ion Tiger, utilizing a highly advanced fuel cell system from Protonex. The Ion Tiger UAV flew for over 23 hours, setting an unofficial endurance record for fuel cell powered flight, driven by the latest generation of Protonex’ UAV power system.

The 23+ hour duration of the Ion Tiger flight far surpasses the longest previous small UAV flight achieved using any technology. By incorporating the Protonex power system, the Ion Tiger was able to demonstrate seven times the endurance capability of advanced batteries. The Protonex UAV system that was used in the Ion Tiger demonstration is a high performance, ultralight proton exchange membrane [PEM] fuel cell system, coupling stack technology that can achieve 1,000 watts per kilogram with advanced balance of plant components.

With the successful completion of this major milestone, Protonex is planning to continue transitioning this advanced power source into small UAV products with specific payloads and mission requirements for both military and commercial applications. The endurance capabilities proven in this program were previously achievable only with larger scale, more costly UAVs. Protonex is now confident that new critical missions can be achieved by smaller, more cost-effective UAV platforms that incorporate its advanced power systems.

“This impressive 23-hour record flight milestone represents yet another successful collaboration with the NRL and is a culmination of all of our combined efforts to date,” stated Dr. Paul Osenar, Chief Technology Officer, Protonex. “We share the ONR’s vision towards bringing quiet electric propulsion and long endurance to today’s small UAVs and to extend the capability to the warfighter.”

About Protonex Technology Corporation
www.protonex.com
Protonex Technology Corporation develops and manufactures compact, lightweight and high- performance fuel cell systems for portable power applications in the 100 to 1000-watt range. The Company’s fuel cell systems are designed to meet the needs of military, commercial and consumer customers for off-grid applications underserved by existing technologies by providing customizable, stand-alone portable power solutions and systems that may be hybridized with existing power technologies. The Company is headquartered in Southborough, Massachusetts.

• Government encouragement needed
• Civic-sized fuel cell car in ten years
• 2015 milestone for fuel cell cars

Governments need to play a bigger role in the development of a hydrogen fuel infrastructure, according to Honda.

Sachito Fujimoto, project leader for Honda’s hydrogen-powered fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity, told What Car?: ‘There must be support from the Government to encourage the building of a hydrogen fuel infrastructure.’

However, as Fujimoto explained, Honda has not been actively lobbying the EU: ‘It’s difficult for Honda to push the EU, because we’re not a European manufacturer, but Honda has signed a letter of understanding with other car makers to encourage the development of a hydrogen infrastructure.

‘It’s our job to produce the vehicles to prove the business model and to encourage energy suppliers to put the infrastructure in place.’

First fuel cell car in production
Honda’s FCX Clarity is the world’s first production fuel cell car. It’s currently on sale in Japan and in California where it can be leased for $600 a month.

At present, there are around 20 hydrogen filling stations in California, with the state’s lawmakers pushing for more to be built soon.

Fuel cell cars – how they work
Hydrogen gas is stored at high pressure in a fuel tank in the boot of the FCX and fed to a fuel cell stack housed between the front seats. The hydrogen is mixed with oxygen, which creates a reaction that produces electricity to power the car’s motor.

A battery provides additional power and is charged using energy recovered during braking. The only by-product of this process is water, making the FCX a true zero emissions vehicle.

Fujimoto believes that 2015 will be a milestone year for fuel cell cars with many manufacturers set to launch hydrogen powered vehicles. However, he thinks that British buyers will have to wait until around 2020 before they can buy a Civic-sized fuel cell car.

The recent buzz over hybrids and electric cars has overshadowed the massive investments global auto giants are making in fuel-cell vehicles — another near-reality dream car that some believe promises an ultimate zero-emissions society.

Japan plans to stay on the cutting edge of the accelerated race for green technology — including fuel cells — that has kept its automakers competitive even as rival gas-guzzling carmakers crumbled under the weight of the global recession.

But despite a lead in technology, some carmakers, especially from abroad, say costly and back-breaking legal barriers are making Japanese roads uninviting for testing their latest pollution-free cars.

General Motors Co. of the United States and Mercedes-Benz, an arm of Germany’s Daimler AG, have long been engaged in talks with Japanese authorities to bring in their latest fuel-cell vehicles with 700-bar high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks for a test run on public roads.

“Japan is waving a flag for eco-cars but why don’t they let these cars in,” said George Hansen, director in charge of fuel-cell commercialization at General Motors Asia Pacific (Japan) Ltd.

Fuel-cell vehicles, which are powered by electricity generated by a reaction between oxygen and hydrogen, have long been researched as an alternative to petroleum-powered cars since they only emit water vapor,  have ample driving range and can be quickly refueled.

With global auto giants pushing to mass-produce the electric vehicles with fuel cells from 2015, Japan is also scrambling to lay the groundwork that will help to allay concerns on safety, production costs and lack of infrastructure like hydrogen fueling stations.

But while the country already has regulations on a 350-bar hydrogen tank system, the government is still in the process of setting up a legal framework for a 700-bar system, which promises a longer cruising distance.

As a result, automakers say they currently need to collect and submit massive volumes of data for a series of safety tests to obtain certification, a straining and foggy process that could cost over ¥100 million in total.

In GM’s case, the automaker needs to provide convincing data to verify the safety of a tank material that is not common in Japan — the key cause for stalled talks for certification.

“There is nowhere else in the world that requires this amount of money for a test vehicle,” said Masanobu Wada, managing director of the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

Combined with huge resources already spent in developing the fuel-cell vehicle, there is also no guarantee that the extra costs for data collection will bear fruit.

At home, Toyota Motor Corp. is among the few domestic automakers given approval for driving its FCHV-adv fuel-cell vehicle with a 700-bar system on public roads.

Both Toyota and Honda  Motor Co., whose FCX Clarity with a lower pressure 350-bar system is available for lease in Japan, refused to provide any details on the certification process.

But several officials familiar with the negotiations said Toyota likely also waded through the same hurdles to obtain approval for its FCHV since both Japanese and foreign automakers are obliged to meet the taxing requirements for a test run on public roads.

“There are no legal shortcuts,” an official at a Japanese carmaker said on condition of anonymity. “The government does not have any guideline to evaluate the new technology.”

GM brought one of its fuel-cell Chevrolet Equinox vehicles to Japan around two years ago for a test run, but it still remains stationed for display at a government exhibition park in Yokohama.

The U.S. automaker currently has over 100 of these cars on roads worldwide, including the United States, Europe and South Korea.

“To be honest, we can’t just let our vehicle — our valuable asset — sit tight since it will decay if we don’t move it,” Hansen said.

But GM is no stranger in the process. It made similar investments when it was granted approval for its liquid hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the HydroGen3, in 2003.

And this time the situation is vastly different. The company, which made a rare speedy exit from bankruptcy proceeding in July, is eager to put on a greener face and keep its foothold in an environmentally conscious market.

“We’re not giving up,” Hansen said. “GM believes it’s important to have our cars driven in Japan.”

Japan, for its part, has been trying to relax some of its regulations while launching various demonstrations and projects to ensure safety. It is also one of the key players in efforts led by the United Nations to compile global standards for fuel-cell and other auto-related technologies.

“We are aiming for international harmonization so Japan does not isolate itself with unique regulations,” said Yasushi Takahashi, chief officer at the government-affiliated New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.

“But these promotional activities (on fuel-cell vehicles) will come to an immediate halt if an accident occurs, so we need to be cautious in that sense,” he added.

Takafumi Imada, subsection chief in charge of hydrogen and fuel-cell promotion at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, also said each automaker for its part needs to specify concrete numerical targets that demonstrate the company’s long-term position on fuel-cell vehicles.

“We feel that they should clarify the role of their (fuel-cell) business and their firm commitment and resolve,” Imada said. “Only then can we begin talk on division between the public and private sectors on what each of us needs to do.”

But whether foreign automakers are willing to wait for those legal barriers to come down is another matter, especially at a time when many are turning their attention away from a shrinking Japanese market to vibrant auto demand in neighboring China.

“If Japan wants to lead in environmental technology, it needs to think more about what that really means,” GM’s Hansen said.

“Instead of simply making good technology and exporting it,” Hansen said Japan should exercise “soft leadership in translating various ideas (on paper) into action.”

U.S. DOE Awards $1.7 Million to Explore New ‘Green’ Energy Creation

A team of four chemists at the University of Rochester have begun work on a new kind of system to derive usable hydrogen fuel from water using only sunlight.

The project has caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Energy, which has just given the team nearly $1.7 million to pursue the design.

“Everybody talks about using hydrogen as a super-green fuel, but actually generating that fuel without using some other non-green energy in the process is not easy,” says Kara Bren, professor in the Department of Chemistry. “People have used sunlight to derive hydrogen from water before, but the trick is making the whole process efficient enough to be useful.”

Bren and the rest of the Rochester team—Professor of Chemistry Richard Eisenberg, and Associate Professors of Chemistry Todd Krauss, and Patrick Holland—will be investigating artificial photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to carry out chemical processes much as plants do. What makes the Rochester approach different from past attempts to use sunlight to produce hydrogen from water, however, is that the device they are preparing is divided into three “modules” that allow each stage of the process to be manipulated and optimized far more easily than other methods.

The first module uses visible light to create free electrons. A complex natural molecule called a chromophore that plants use to absorb sunlight will be re-engineered to efficiently generate reducing electrons.

The second module will be a membrane suffused with carbon nanotubes to act as molecular wires so small that they are only one-millionth the thickness of a human hair. To prevent the chromophores from re-absorbing the electrons, the nanotube membrane channels the electrons away from the chromophores and toward the third module.

In the third module, catalysts put the electrons to work forming hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can then be used in fuel cells in cars, homes, or power plants of the future.

By separating the first and third modules with the nanotube membrane, the chemists hope to isolate the process of gathering sunlight from the process of generating hydrogen. This isolation will allow the team to maximize the system’s light-harvesting abilities without altering its hydrogen-generation abilities, and vice versa. Bren says this is a distinct advantage over other systems that have integrated designs because in those designs a change that enhances one trait may degrade another unpredictably and unacceptably.

Bren says it may be years before the team has a system that clearly works better than other designs, and even then the system would have to work efficiently enough to be commercially viable. “But if we succeed, we may be able to not only help create a fuel that burns cleanly, but the creation of the fuel itself may be clean.”

MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (MTI Micro), developer of the Mobion^® off-the-grid mobile power source and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated (MTI) (OTC: MKTY), announced a significant power achievement for its Mobion^® technology. The Mobion^® fuel cell engine has reached another milestone by demonstrating a power density of 84mW/cm² while maintaining its fuel efficiency of 1800Wh/kg or 1.4Wh/cc.

This achievement shows a 30% power density improvement over the initial 62mW/cm² announced last year. Placing Mobion in what is believed to be the highest power density ranking within the micro fuel cell industry; this improvement furthers MTI Micro’s leadership position in the development of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) solutions for the portable electronic device industry.

“Having a greater amount of energy in smaller amount of space is always a major concern of customers with power-hungry devices,” said Peng Lim, President and CEO of MTI Micro. “This significant improvement addresses manufacturers’ needs for a compact, power-dense energy supply, while incorporating a simplified design. The new design is engineered to greatly reduce assembly time and cost to pave the way for high-volume manufacturing.”

MTI Micro’s Mobion micro fuel cell provides full power in any orientation, at any humidity level and within the operational temperature range of consumer electronic devices. This power density improvement marks another milestone in MTI Micro’s developments.

Hungerford, Berkshire, United Kingdom– UPS Systems plc has today announced with the University of Glamorgan that they have reached the finals for ‘Environmental Technology’ at the awards because of their innovative fuel cell system at the Hydrogen Centre.

The Hydrogen Centre was the brainchild of the University of Glamorgan and part of its vision to create a hydrogen economy in Wales. It was built to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen production from a range of indigenous renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, and evaluate the benefits of using hydrogen as an energy storage medium for these intermittent renewables.

Whilst the University planned and secured funding for the Centre, UPS Systems supplied and installed a 10kW hydrogen fuel cell along with inverters and a bespoke controller unit, to power parts of the Centre and its associated facilities.

The fuel cell installation at the Hydrogen Centre was the first of its kind in the UK, showcasing a process that uses stored green energy. It demonstrates the use of carbon-neutral energy for both stationary and transportation applications.

“The Hydrogen Centre deserves its place in the finals because it sets a precedent for future projects by demonstrating how fuel cell technology can reduce our dependence on oil and allow us to be independent of the National Grid. We have created a truly green energy source that will change the way we look at power generation,” said Tom Sperrey, Managing Director at UPS Systems.

Professor Alan Guwy of the University of Glamorgan commented, “It is fantastic to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award and to gain recognition for the Hydrogen Centre. The work undertaken at the Centre is truly innovative, bringing us one step closer to the reality of a hydrogen economy.”

Andrew Lee, Editor of The Engineer said: “The 2009 shortlist for The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards is the strongest yet and we were delighted to receive high-quality entries such as the Hydrogen Centre. Along with the other finalists it demonstrates the fantastic collaborative work underway between the UK’s most innovative companies and its world-class universities. We wish UPS Systems and Glamorgan, and indeed all the shortlisted entrants, the best of luck in December.”

The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards will announce the winners at The Royal Society in London on the 4th December 2009.

UPS Systems plc (upssystems.co.uk) is the UK’s largest independent supplier of standby power solutions. Through its independent position, allied to close working relationships with the world’s leading manufacturers, the company is uniquely able to offer impartial technical advice on the widest range of standby power solutions. An authority on fuel cell technology, UPS Systems implemented the UK’s first two hydrogen fuel cells providing AC standby power, and is currently working on projects where the technology will be used for the supply of backup or prime power to utilities, telecommunications, remote telemetry, portable signage and renewable energy applications.

The University of Glamorgan has built the Renewable Hydrogen Research and Development Centre to raise awareness about the various means of generating hydrogen from renewable resources and to demonstrate that the energy from hydrogen can be used in everyday situations. The Centre will provide a facility for research into various renewable hydrogen topics and aims:
• To produce high quality scientific research in sustainable environmental technologies;
• To advance knowledge and provide trained scientists and engineers to meet the needs of the industry;
• To enhance the standing of the University of Glamorgan both nationally and internationally.

Located at Baglan Energy Park, South Wales, the Renewable Hydrogen Research and Development Centre is part of a range of hydrogen energy research activities conducted by the University of Glamorgan’s Hydrogen Research Unit.

The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards 2009 will recognise and reward outstanding examples of that co-operation. An expert panel of judges will assess the entries against the key criteria that will be used to draw up the short-list in each category. These will include: the degree of technical innovation involved in the entry; the value added to the entry through the collaboration between academic and commercial partners; the actual or potential impact of the entry on its market or end-users. Now in its third year, this prestigious awards scheme is run by The Engineer, the leading magazine and website for technology and innovation, in conjunction with main sponsor BAE Systems.

LATHAM, N.Y. and BANGALORE, India – Plug Power Energy India Pvt. Ltd, an affiliate of the leading US-based fuel cell manufacturer, Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), and SFO Technologies, (A NeST Group Company) announced today that they have signed into a strategic manufacture and supply agreement for the build of Plug Power’s GenSys(R) fuel cell systems in India.

AFC Energy PLC, the developer of low cost alkaline fuel cells, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed an important field test of its first generation, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes at AkzoNobel’s chlor–alkali plant in Bitterfeld, Germany. During the test AFC Energy’s fuel cell system fed electricity into AkzoNobel’s grid, on a par with previous field tests using platinum based electrodes.

General Update

• Completed field-test of proprietary, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes at AkzoNobel’s Bitterfeld plant – an important step towards full scale operation.
• Application for 4 patents relating to core technology.
• Upgrade to development facility close to completion with faster electrode development and the capability to manufacture up to 1000 electrodes per day on site.
• Strengthening of technical team through the appointment of Dr Richard Dawson (formerly senior engineer at Ceres Power).

Following the installation of the Company’s fuel cell system at AkzoNobel’s Bitterfeld plant in Germany, the Company is pleased to announce that it has completed an important field test of its first generation, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes in its fuel cell system. In addition to generating electricity this field test included exporting electricity to the customer’s on-site grid and automated operation of the fuel cell and remote monitoring of the fuel cell performance was demonstrated.

The Company’s technical team continues to develop innovative solutions that will enable the Company’s fuel cell systems to be manufactured at lower cost and with higher efficiency. The Company has recently filed applications for a further 4 patents as part of the measures to protect its core intellectual property. The Company’s intellectual property strategy centres on protecting developments made to its low cost electrodes.

An upgrade to AFC Energy’s development facility is now close to completion. This upgrade is aimed at reducing the time taken to develop and optimise electrode materials and to enable the Company to rapidly manufacture sufficient electrodes for its initial requirements. The iteration time to prepare new electrode materials, manufacture electrodes, test them, analyse them and review their performance is now a matter of hours rather than days as it was prior to the upgrade. The Company now has the capability to manufacture, depending upon the precise process details, up to 1000 electrodes per day in house.

The next significant phase of development is the continuing improvement to electrode and system performance towards its full design specification. In particular, AFC Energy’s work will be concentrating on further development of its proprietary, low cost, electrodes. In parallel with this work, the upgraded development facility and the recruitment of additional staff has enabled the Company to accelerate development of its large fuel cell system which is designed to work at up to 50 kilowatts (‘50kW System’). The Company now expects the 50kW System to be ready for field trials as early as the first calendar quarter of 2011. This 50 kW System will be the Company’s building block for large scale, multi-megawatt installations.

The Company has made several new appointments to its operational staff principally in support of accelerating development of the 50 kW System. These include a production manager and fuel cell scientist, Dr Richard Dawson who joins the team from Ceres Power where he held the position of Senior Engineer.

With careful cost management AFC Energy has been able to strengthen its team and implement the upgrades to its development facilities without increasing overall running costs. Other than initial quantities, the Company does not intend to assemble fuel cell systems in-house. AFC Energy’s fuel cell systems operate at low temperatures and at close to atmospheric pressure. They can be fabricated from low cost materials and components made using low cost processes. There are considerable economies of scale which can be achieved through contracting out the assembly to third parties and so the Company’s projected capital spend is modest.

In terms of target markets, AFC Energy’s core focus remains on delivering commercially viable fuel cell systems to the chlor-alkali industry for stationary power generation from its surplus hydrogen, which is generated as a by-product. The Company is continuing to target additional markets for the efficient generation of electricity from hydrogen, including the waste to energy market where hydrogen can be liberated from organic waste.

Ian Balchin, AFC Energy’s Managing Director, said:

“This successful testing of our fuel cell system using proprietary, lower cost, electrodes demonstrates that the AFC Energy has taken the next step in the development of a truly low cost, commercially viable, alkali fuel cell system. I wish to extend my thanks to the innovative team from AFC Energy and AkzoNobel that have contributed towards this success.

Our sights are very much set on our 50 kilowatt system which will become the building block for multi-megawatt installations. I particularly welcome the new appointment of fuel cell scientist, Dr Richard Dawson to work on the 50 kilowatt system. With our strengthened team and upgraded development capability, we believe we shall be able to develop our proprietary electrodes faster and at a lower cost than any other company. We now expect to have our 50 kilowatt system available for field trials as early as the first calendar quarter of 2011 and our smaller system to be available during 2010.”

Jadoo Power’s fuel cell system recently powered a Mako Class 2 unmanned aerial vehicle in a successful flight-test by the Office of Navy Research. The Mako flew for more than an hour and consumed 8 grams of compressed hydrogen gas while delivering 63 Watts of power to the avionics, nose camera and video transmitter payload during the flight.  We hope you will take a minute to read the full announcement

Folsom, California– Jadoo Power’s fuel cell system successfully powered the payload and avionics for a Mako unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recently flight-tested by The Office of Navy Research at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

The UAV-100 fuel cell system was designed and built by Jadoo Power using commercially available hardware,  a fuel cell stack and packaging components. Kuchera Engineering developed the plan and integrated the system into the Mako. The Mako flew for more than an hour and consumed 8 grams of compressed hydrogen gas.  The UAV-100 fuel cell system provided 63 Watts of power to the avionics and to the nose camera and video transmitter payload during the entire flight.

Sponsored by The Office of Navy Research (ONR) for NAVAIR, the flight test took place on August 13, 2009. The project, under the guidance of Program Manager Dr. Michael Duncan for customer Dr. Chyau Shen, Deputy Director of the Special Surveillance Program NAVAIR 4.5X, brought together Jadoo Power, Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Laboratory and Kuchera Engineering, in a collaborative effort to prove airworthiness of a fuel cell based power system.

The Mako UAV was manufactured by L3 Communications/BAI (Battlefield Air Interdiction) Aerosystems for NAVMAR Applied Science Corporation. The Mako weighs 110 pounds and has a wing span of 12’ 11” and has a proven history of reconnaissance and surveillance flight missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Mako UAV is low cost and is highly respected by U.S. Special Operations Command field personnel.

According to the announcement from the ONR, the flight test successfully demonstrated the airworthiness of the UAV-100 to withstand launch, trajectory accelerations, landing, and the effects of the operational environment.  The fuel cell is forward compatible with advanced hydrogen storage technologies that have the potential to increase payload endurance time by up to 300%. The potential of this payload duration improvement has profound implications for increasing the payload capability of Class 2 UAVs.  In addition, this fuel cell technology is scalable to any UAV platform.

About Jadoo Power
Jadoo Power is an industry leader in fuel cell technology and hybrid alternative power systems. Founded in 2001, Jadoo Power is grounded in technical expertise, product development and strategic partnerships. They deliver best-in-class hybrid fuel cell power solutions to commercial, business and military applications. Jadoo Power’s industry strengths go far beyond fuel cell design. They continue to lead the market in balance of plant technology, hold patents in water regulation, and stack design and continue their advancements in better fuels, storage and fuel delivery, a critical component of the hydrogen economy.

For more information about Jadoo Power, please visit our website at http://www.jadoopower.com/

This photo shows the Ion Tiger in flight. The 550-watt fuel cell is show in the box in the lower left corner. Photo Credit: Naval Research Laboratory

The Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL’s) Ion Tiger, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle (UAV), has flown 23 hours and 17 minutes, setting an unofficial flight endurance record for a fuel-cell powered flight. The test flight took place on October 9th through 10th at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Ion Tiger fuel cell development system team is led by NRL and includes Protonex Technology Corporation, the University of Hawaii, and HyperComp Engineering. The program is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The electric fuel cell propulsion system onboard the Ion Tiger has the low noise and signature of a battery-powered UAV, while taking advantage of hydrogen, a high-energy fuel. Fuel cells create an electrical current when they convert hydrogen and oxygen into water, with only water and heat as byproducts. The 550-Watt (0.75 horsepower) fuel cell onboard the Ion Tiger has about 4 times the efficiency of a comparable internal combustion engine and the system provides 7 times the energy in the equivalent weight of batteries. The Ion Tiger weighs approximately 37 pounds and carries a 4 to 5 pound payload.

Small UAVs are growing in importance for naval missions, as they provide capabilities ranging from surveillance collection to communication links. Electric UAVs have the additional feature of being nearly undetectable from the ground. Due to the high energy in the fuel cell system onboard the Ion Tiger, it is now possible to do long endurance missions with an electric UAV, thus allowing a larger cruise range and reducing the number of daily launches and landings. This provides more capability while saving time and effort for the crew.

In 2005, NRL backed initial research in fuel cell technologies for UAVs. Today, says NRL’s Karen Swider-Lyons, “the long endurance flight was made possible by the team’s research on high power, efficient fuel cell systems, lightweight hydrogen-gas storage tanks, improved thermal management, and the effective integration of these systems.”

Fuel cell technology is being developed to impact the operational spectrum of technologies including ground, air and undersea vehicles and man-portable power for Marine expeditionary missions. “The Ion Tiger successfully demonstrates ONR’s vision to show how efficient, clean technology can be used to improve the warfighter’s capabilities,” comments ONR’s Michele Anderson.

Triple first for Air Products in Europe: Convenient, cost effective and sustainably-sourced hydrogen infrastructure becomes a reality

Wilhelm Sassenberg, Air Products, explains the hydrogen fuelling station model series 100.

Air Products will install and operate the first ever 24-hour self service hydrogen fuelling station in Hürth, Germany. The station, based at the Infraserv-Knapsack Chemical Park, will be in regular operation by March 2010, when it will initially supply hydrogen to two buses run by the local council.

The station will allow bus drivers to refuel their vehicles around the clock and for future use, Air Products will design and incorporate the safety systems to allow it to be used more broadly for hydrogen vehicles, 24 hours a day.

“Our ultimate objective is to make filling up with hydrogen as normal for users as filling up with diesel, petrol or natural gas anywhere else” explains Ian Williamson, Hydrogen Energy Systems Director Air Products Europe.

The project also represents a first step towards using hydrogen from the chemical industry as a fuel for vehicles. The region offers ideal conditions for developing hydrogen infrastructure as seven local industrial plants produce hydrogen as a by-product Just 8% of the hydrogen by-product generated by the industrial plants could operate more than 500 buses or 40,000 cars full time. The Hürth station has been designed as an innovative modular fuelling system which marks a significant step change that Air Products has taken towards rolling out a hydrogen infrastructure.

Ian Williamson explains: “Until now hydrogen fuelling stations have been unique, custom-made installations which have a high price. We aim, where appropriate, to commence cost-effective series production across all our markets on the basis of the Hürth fuelling system and thereby eliminate one of the main obstacles to a universal roll out of hydrogen infrastructure.” Crucially, the modular fuelling system means that it is now possible to supply fuelling stations with hydrogen not only from a tanker, but also, at a later date, by pipeline.

Air Products is now looking to introduce this technology to the UK. Diana Raine, Hydrogen Energy Systems Sales Manager, Air Products added: “This is an extremely exciting development for Air Products. We are now looking to work with several local authorities in the UK who would like to take advantage of this modular technology. The Hürth project is a glimpse of what we can help councils to achieve here if they are willing to make the investment.”

Air Products is the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen and a leader in applications in the fields of hydrogen production, supply and safety. Air Products has played a leading role in the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel of the future. This is documented, among other things, by more than 50 patents in the field of hydrogen fuelling technology. The company provides the necessary technology and infrastructure for the hydrogen fuelling of cars, buses, trucks, forklift trucks, aircraft, trains, cell towers and even submarines. Its references include the hydrogen fuelling stations for the bus shuttle service at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the fuelling technology for five fuel cell buses used by Transport for London, supplying the entire hydrogen needs of the German navy’s fuel cell submarines and the largest number of hydrogen fuelling stations in the UK.

Air Products has experience of more than 100 hydrogen fuelling stations in 14 countries. More than 120,000 safe fuellings a year are currently completed at the company’s fuelling stations – and this figure is increasing rapidly.

BOTHELL, Wash. – Neah Power Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:NPWZ) www.neahpower.com, the Company developing fuel cell-based renewable energy solutions, stated today that it has completed the development of a silicon-based direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Neah has provided ONR deliverables of a system that could serve as a building block for low power (1-200W) military, industrial, and consumer applications. The fuel cell operates using a liquid methanol fuel source and a liquid oxidant, which uniquely allows the fuel cell to operate in an environment with low quality or no air.

“The two awards from the ONR have helped Neah develop, scale-up and implement a manufacturing chain for this differentiated product, and has helped us transition from concept to product readiness. We are thankful to the ONR for its support to Neah Power Systems, enabling us to provide our solution to potential military, industrial and consumer markets,” said Dr. Chris D’Couto, President and CEO.

Potential applications that require portable power in low-quality or non air-breathing environments include surface water and underwater vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, remote sensing applications such as cell phone towers and deep sea or surface monitoring stations, etc. Other mainstream applications that can be served by air breathing or non-air breathing fuel cells include industrial applications and a wide variety of consumer markets.

About Neah Power

Neah Power Systems, Inc. (NPWZ) is developing long-lasting, efficient and safe power solutions for the military, industrial and consumer electronic devices. Neah uses a unique, patented, silicon-based design for its micro fuel cells that enable higher power densities, lower cost and compact form-factors. The company’s micro fuel cell system can run in aerobic and anaerobic modes, and is developing energy storage solutions based on its proprietary porous silicon technology.

Further company information can be found at www.neahpower.com.

LATHAM, N.Y. — Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), a leader in providing clean, reliable energy solutions, announced its strategy for achieving profitability during its analyst and investor meeting held on Thursday, October 8, 2009. By executing its strategy, Plug Power plans to be profitable by 2012, generating a positive cash flow for the first time in the Company’s history. Presentations made by Plug Power management, including Andy Marsh, CEO, and Gerry Anderson, CFO, can be accessed by going directly to the Plug Power Web site at www.plugpower.com and selecting the Web cast link on the home page.

Plug Power will focus resources on its two commercial products, GenDrive(TM), a superior alternative to lead-acid batteries in the material handling market, and GenSys(R), a continuous-run prime power system that replaces diesel generators at remote telecommunication sites where the grid is non-existent or unreliable.

Highlights from the Company’s presentation include plans to double shipments of their products each year from 2010 to 2012, equating to approximately 7,200 to 9,400 shipments at the end of 3 years. In turn, revenue is expected to double annually over the same period. Plug Power intends to generate approximately equal revenue between its GenDrive and GenSys product families.

In order to reach profitability, Plug Power will continue to drive down product costs by leveraging the supply chain, lowering manufacturing costs and improving system reliability for both product lines. Key success factors include product expansion, starting with the release of the class-2 stand-up reach truck product for electric lift trucks in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“Plug Power has established a strategy to bring the Company to profitability,” said Plug Power’s CEO, Andy Marsh. “We have surveyed what it will take to sustain Plug Power into the future and have developed a thoughtful plan to engender success.”

Plug Power’s analyst and investor day attracted key speakers to help illustrate their support for Plug Power and confidence in the Company’s products. Presenters represented partners, customers, suppliers and government agencies, including:

 * The Raymond Corporation
 * Sysco
 * Linde, Inc.
 * Bridgestone/Firestone
 * Strata-gems Consulting
 * US Department of Energy
 * and, 3M Research and Development

Strong support was shown for Plug Power’s GenDrive product for the material handing market: “We are very excited about our partnership with Plug Power and we take this relationship very seriously,” said Chuck Pascarelli, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Raymond Corporation. “I think we are pioneering the right stuff and I think it’s important. And, by the way, the industry is ready for this revolutionary technology. It’s absolutely ready for it.”

“Sysco nationally utilizes 10,000 pallet trucks, forklifts and dock equipment,” said Scott Kliever, Chief Financial Officer of Sysco Houston. “We anticipate great opportunity after seeing fuel cells in operation. The expected cost savings and return on investment multiplied across the national fleet could have a positive impact on our operational expenses.”

“The work that we’re doing with Plug Power leverages a lot of our core competencies,” said Earl Lawson, Vice President of Commercial Development for Linde, Inc. “We think the solutions that Plug Power has developed and the solutions that Linde has been developing really provide a viable technology and overall system solution for the customer.”

“We get a constant voltage and the costs of forklift damage have gone way down,” said Mitch Mussetter, Engineering Team Leader for Bridgestone/Firestone in Aiken County, South Carolina. “The intangible benefits of fuel cells include environmental factors such as no lead and no acid. There are also productivity gains because operators only need to fuel once per shift. Our operators are doing what they are supposed to do instead of charging batteries.”

Plug Power’s GenSys product for the prime power market was also touted: Dr. Eric Funkenbusch, Program Director at 3M spoke about the durability of the proprietary 3M MEA (membrane electrode assembly) used by Plug Power in their fuel cell stacks. This MEA is a core component to Plug Power’s stack used in the GenSys product. An automated manufacturing process will provide the consistency and reliability needed to deliver a cost-effective quality product.

Sunita Satyapal, Acting Program Manager of the Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies program, noted that the 3M MEA performance is exceeding the DOE targets. The DOE’s market transformation activities for the fuel cell industry are intended to accelerate cost reductions and promote consumer acceptance for these alternative energy solutions.

“Our relationships with industry-leading companies, such as those who joined us for our analyst and investor meeting, are vital to the growth of our business,” said Andy Marsh. “Plug Power values the partnerships in place and is grateful for the innumerable hours they provide to support our market expansion. We look forward to the widespread commercialization of our fuel cell solutions in the future.”

About Plug Power Inc.

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), an established leader in the development and deployment of clean, reliable energy solutions, integrates fuel cell technology into motive and continuous power products. The Company is actively engaged with private and public customers in targeted markets throughout the world. For more information about how to join Plug Power’s energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic partner, please visit www.plugpower.com.

Espen Stoknes is chairman of the Norwegian-British business Gasplas. The company has managed to present hydrogen from methane and natural gas without CO2 emissions. This can be a revolutionary breakthrough for hydrogen as a fuel for cars. Foto: Berit Roald / SCANPIX

The Norwegian-British company Gasplas claims to have made a decisive breakthrough in environmentally friendly production of hydrogen.

By using plasma technology that was developed for the management of waste,  Gasplas will use a column of natural gas or methane to allow the hydrogen, heat and carbon powder without CO2 emissions.

This could be the start of an environmentally friendly and energy efficient way to present fuel on to tomorrow’s hydrogen cars. Waste gas from the hydrogen cars is pure water vapor and completely CO2-free.

But the traditional production of hydrogen is either too expensive and not very energy efficient, or not environmentally friendly because it leads to huge CO2 emissions. The method Gasplas uses is confirmed by experiments that ended in June.

Reactor

This is no hocus pocus or something completely new. There has been research on the use of plasma to the cleavage of many different molecules for many years. But we are the first to create a reactor that can be as large or as small as we wish by combining existing technology in new ways, says chairman Per Espen Stoknes NTB.

It is essential that the reactor will be produced in a size ranging from small desktop to large industrial plants.

We can build small devices that fit in a basement, or at a gas station and connect us to existing natural gas network or biogas plants that extract methane from waste or manure, “said Stoknes.
Small units

He describes the process as “blowing natural gas through a microwave oven.”It is pure hydrogen gas, hot and dry carbon without CO2. The company is also working to find constructive ways to use carbon powder formed in the plasma process.

We want to use it for industrial uses as substitutes for CO  production. Whether as an industrial “black carbon” or fertilizer, “said Stoknes.

Transport and storage

So Gasplas thinks they have the solution to three of the biggest challenges of hydrogen – environmentally friendly production, storage and transport.

Gasplas will not produce plants, but license the technology. Stoknes suggests that the first commercial prototype of carbon can be ready in 2010, and for pure hydrogen in early 2011.

The company also hopes to unveil mobile devices for hydrogen production well before 2015. This is the year the world’s seven leading automobile manufacturers are aiming to start mass production of hydrogen cars.

For the optimistic

Jon Samseth, Professor of Energy Physics at Akershus University College, believes the company is probably optimistic in their belief to provide hydrogen for fuel cells for cars.

It is quite obvious that they have to things in the laboratory. But they have a long long way to go in to have developed a prototype on an industrial scale. It is a classic mistake many scholars make, that optimism is too large, “says Samseth.

He does not rule out that the method may have something special in the production of hydrogen on a larger scale and for industrial use, but said there is too much left to accomplish in order the get to the point of using it to make fuel cells running on hydrogen.

I think personally that hydrogen is never an energy carrier in the private sector. Gasplas is too late. Hydrogen train has gone, even though Bush maintained that U.S. hydrogen program for a long time. I’m not sure about what a CO2-free production of hydrogen will mean that much for the automotive industry, which is now gearing up towards hybrids and electric vehicles. I expect that U.S. automakers will not live up to their hydrogen promises.

David Kidney MP gets hands-on during ministerial visit

Loughborough, United Kingdom
On the 9th October 2009, Intelligent Energy, the clean power systems company, played host to Energy minister, David Kidney MP, the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The minister met with Intelligent Energy Chief Executive, Dr Henri Winand, to discuss the importance of greater investment in UK-based clean technology innovation.

During the visit to Intelligent Energy’s facilities in Loughborough, the minister was given a hands-on demonstration of the hydrogen fuel cell which will be installed into a fleet of zero emission London taxis by 2012; a programme part funded by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board. The minister operated the fuel cell with a simple press of a button, instantly generating around 30 kilowatts of energy – enough to provide propulsion to the iconic London taxi.

“I was very pleased to visit Intelligent Energy, where I had the chance to see firsthand the exciting developments they’ve made in their drive towards the commercialisation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and in particular the work they’re doing to introduce low carbon taxis in London by 2012,” explained the Energy minister. “It’s essential that we bring forward these innovative low carbon technologies to tackle the challenge of climate change. DECC’s new competition launched in September for up to £7.2 million of funding for hydrogen and fuel cell technology demonstration will fill a current gap in the innovation chain relating to scale-up and deployment of this low carbon technology. The competition is a clear measure of Government support for this innovation.”

The minister spoke at length with Dr Winand about Intelligent Energy’s joint venture with Scottish & Southern Energy to develop and commercialise combined heat and power systems, and the recently announced work with leading aircraft manufacturer, Airbus.

“We welcome visits such as these, as it affords us the opportunity to showcase the terrific progress we have made in recent years, allowing us to demonstrate how our fuel cells present near term commercial opportunities across multiple market sectors,” said Dr Winand. “Clean and highly efficient fuel cell systems have a major role to play in a changing and ultimately much more diverse energy landscape.”

The visit coincided with news that energy regulator, Ofgem, had identified the need for investment of up to £200 billion in power plant and other infrastructure over the next ten years to secure energy supplies and hit climate change targets.

About Intelligent Energy
Intelligent Energy is a clean power systems company, with a range of leading fuel cell and hydrogen generation technologies. The company is focused on the provision of cleaner power and low carbon technologies. Intelligent Energy partners with leading companies globally, in the transportation, oil and gas, aerospace, defence, distributed generation and portable power markets. Current partners and customers include Scottish & Southern Energy plc with whom the company has formed a joint venture to commercialise fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and The Suzuki Motor Corporation. Intelligent Energy’s successes in recent years include the development of the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell motorbike and supplying the fuel cell system to Boeing which powered the world’s first manned fuel cell aircraft.