FuelCellsWorks

IKEA and ENERTRAG to test the fourth generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicle for Opel Werner Diwald, CEO of ENERTRAG (second from left) and Stephan Walther, IKEA Marketing Berlin (second from right) receive the keys to their HydroGen4 from Uwe Berlinghoff, Director, Government Relations, and Gérard Planche, Manager, of the HydroGen4 Market Testing Program in Europe.

Berlin–Opel has added two new prominent partners, IKEA and ENERTRAG, to the real-world testing of its fuel-cell vehicles. Both companies picked up their HydroGen4 car at a press conference held by the fuel cell project Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) at the Opel Brand Center in the capital city.

This is the second time that IKEA – one of the world’s best-known furniture stores – has partnered with Opel on a sustainable and emission-free mobility project, having already tested the HydroGen3 from 2005 to 2007.

“We were impressed by IKEA’s ideas for a variety of uses for the HydroGen4 from the very beginning. This gives us a wide spectrum of new utility profiles for market testing, and valuable insights for the further development of our fuel cell vehicles,” says Dr. Lars Peter Thiesen, Manager of European Launch Strategy for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells at Opel.

IKEA Deutschland’s CEO Petra Hesser said she was also pleased to be part of the program again. “The frugal and efficient use of energy and resources is one of our core points in our sustainability program. We are very pleased to be able to support Opel in testing this vehicle and, in doing so, do our part in helping to achieve environmentally friendly mobility,” Hesser said.

One of the goals of collaborating with ENERTRAG is to publicize the advantages of hydrogen. In addition to its use as a clean fuel in fuel-cell vehicles, it is an ideal storage medium for the broader use of renewable energy sources. ENERTRAG is one of the leading producers of energy from renewable sources, focusing on the core business area of wind energy.

“The challenge up to 2020 is to connect the energy sector with mobility intelligently and sustainably. For this reason we have developed a hybrid power plant. With Opel, we have found a partner that makes it possible in the short-term to drive with our own sustainably produced fuel – and without any emissions,” said Werner Diwald, CEO of ENERTRAG.

Dr. Thiesen said ENERTRAG added an important element to the environmental equation. “The main goal of sustainable mobility based on fuel-cell vehicles is to obtain hydrogen from renewable energy sources in the long-term. We couldn’t have found a better partner than ENERTRAG to demonstrate the social relevance of this approach,” said Dr. Thiesen.

The HydroGen4 vehicles were handed to Opel’s new partners a day before journalists are to take part in a fuel-cell rally, which will take place May 12 between Berlin and Hamburg, the two model cities in the European CEP light house project.

Opel has had ten HydroGen4 vehicles in its test fleet for the CEP project in Berlin since December 2008. Opel partners ADAC, Allianz, Axel Springer AG/Bild, Coca-Cola, Hilton, Linde, Schindler, Total and Veolia are testing the hydrogen-powered cars in everyday conditions. CEP is an extensive project supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen as a fuel for road traffic. The regular use of cars with a wide spectrum of utility profiles enables Opel engineers to collect comprehensive performance and fueling data and gain better understanding of infrastructural correlations.

Opel’s involvement in the CEP project is also the European part of the world’s largest market test of fuel-cell vehicles being conducted by General Motors (GM). This global project provides individual customers and corporate partners with a total of more than 100 hydrogen-powered vehicles. During this market testing, GM and Opel gather data that is important to advance this technology and thus come a step closer to a production fuel-cell vehicle. To date, customers have driven the fourth generation of this car more than 2.2 million kilometers with over 17,000 re-fuelings without any problems.

The first of five zero-emission hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses arrived at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire today where it will undergo thorough safety and performance checks before it hits the streets of London later this year.

The five hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses will enter service at the end of the year on route RV1, travelling between Covent Garden and Tower Hill.

While at Millbrook the vehicle will undergo a rigorous testing and certification process to ensure it meets Transport for London’s (TfL) and Department for Transport’s requirements.

One of the cleanest bus fleets

TfL is committed to introducing less polluting transport choices to improve air quality and help tackle London’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Once in service the hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses will produce no harmful emissions, only water vapour, and will join one of the cleanest bus fleets in the UK.

The buses will be delivered in partnership with Air Products, ISE Corp and Wright Bus.

The buses will be operated on behalf of London Buses by First Group.

Genuine long-term benefits

The new hydrogen buses will also be hybrid and will join the 56 diesel hybrid buses currently in service along with an additional 56 due to enter service later this year.

The Mayor has also committed to ensuring the New Bus for London will use the greenest hybrid technology available, when it enters service in 2012.

Mike Weston, Operations Director for London Buses, said: ‘London faces many environmental challenges but we believe alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, will bring genuine long-term benefits in tackling CO2 emissions.

‘The arrival of the first hydrogen hybrid fuel cell bus marks an exciting new chapter for London Buses as we embrace new technologies to further build on the excellent work we are doing to improve air quality for Londoners.’

The London Hydrogen Partnership recently published a hydrogen action plan which pledged to support the introduction of more hydrogen fuelled vehicles in the Capital.

For more information visit the Greater London Authority website.

• When the buses enter service they will be refuelled and maintained at First Group’s Lea Interchange bus garage. Work is currently underway to build the hydrogen refuelling site
• Air Products will supply the hydrogen and refuelling equipment. ISE will supply specialist maintenance support for the buses
• TfL is a member of the Hydrogen Bus Alliance, an international partnership whose members are committed to supporting the continued and rapid development and commercialisation of hydrogen technology in the transport sector
• Between December 2003 to January 2007 TfL took part in the Cleaner Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) project and its extension HyFLEET:CUTE trialling three first generation hydrogen fuel cell buses on route RV1 over a period of three years

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have synthesized manganese-platinum (Mn-Pt) nanocubes that how better electrocatalytic properties than their spherical counterparts. The materials are promising new candidates as cathode and anode catalysts in fuel cells, the team writes in a communication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

TEM images of (A) as-synthesized Mn-Pt nanocubes, (B) a large area of self-assembly, and (C, D) self-assembled Mn-Pt nanocubes. Credit: ACS, Kang and Murray. Click to enlarge.

Although manganese oxides are widely used as oxygen reduction reaction
(ORR) catalysts in alkaline environments, the acidic environment
in PEM fuel cells limits the application of these materials. Alloys with Mn and platinum can provide a less expensive, more active catalyst in the PEM environment, the authors note.

The Mn-Pt nanocubes show higher ORR activity than the commercial catalyst. The Mn-Pt nanocubes are also active for small-organic-molecule oxidation and are particularly promising for methanol oxidation. Mn-Pt nanocubes are a potential candidate for both cathode and
anode catalysts in fuel cells. In addition, the Mn-Pt NCs show
shape-dependent catalytic properties.