hydrogen

World’s largest hydrogen fuelling station launched in Shanghai

SAIC Motor and Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park have jointly launched a hydrogen fuel cell car refuelling station, which is currently the largest and highest-level of its kind in the world.

The Chinese auto maker has developed three types of new energy vehicles – electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs)– and mastered several FCV core technologies.

The company has participated in the formulation of 15 national standards on FCV and is the first Chinese auto maker to have achieved the commercial application of hydrogen fuel cell in passenger cars and commercial cars.

Hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power acquires EnergyOr

Plug Power, a provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, has acquired EnergyOr.

The transaction involves technology, assets, and personnel, but the financial terms have not been disclosed.

EnergyOr is based in Montreal, Canada, and is the leader in advanced lightweight and compact PEM (proton-exchange membrane) hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) systems for robotics, small scale material handling and aerospace applications. [Read more…] about Hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power acquires EnergyOr

IOC takes delivery of zero emission hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from Toyota

A fleet of Toyota Mirai zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell cars has been delivered to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland as a key part of the organisation’s mobility plan.

The eight fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) were unveiled on the eve of World Environment Day at Olympic House, the IOC’s new sustainability-driven headquarters to be inaugurated on 23 June 2019.

To allow refuelling of the vehicles, a temporary hydrogen fuelling station – one of the first in Switzerland – will be installed at the new headquarters, before a public station is commissioned nearby.

Bosch to cooperate in large-scale production of fuel cells for trucks and cars

Bosch is entering the market for mobile fuel cells and paving the way for the breakthrough of this technology in trucks and cars.

A crucial component is the stack. As the core of the fuel cell, is converts hydrogen into electrical energy.

To further improve and manufacture these stacks, Bosch has now formed an alliance with Powercell Sweden AB, the Swedish manufacturer of fuel-cell stacks.

[Read more…]

Hyundai and H2 Energy sign joint venture deal on hydrogen mobility in Europe

Hyundai Motor Company and H2 Energy AG have signed a contract for a joint venture, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, aimed at taking a lead across Europe’s burgeoning hydrogen mobility ecosystem.

To begin the joint venture’s operations, Hyundai Motor will deliver 1,600 fuel cell electric heavy-duty trucks to Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility from 2019 through 2025.

The venture will then lease a large portion of these fuel-cell powered trucks to the H2 Mobility Switzerland Association, which comprises major refuelling station operators, transport and logistics companies, as well as to various other industry players that promote hydrogen mobility in Switzerland.

The joint entity will further expand its market presence to other European countries beyond Switzerland.

Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility also plans to penetrate the hydrogen sales market through a subsidiary firm that produces and supplies hydrogen in Switzerland, with prospects for entering other European countries.

With the establishment of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, Hyundai expects to gain a foothold in Switzerland, where the demand for fuel cell trucks is expected to grow from a stiff nationwide road tax on diesel trucks, which incentivises fleet operators of diesel trucks to switch to zero emission vehicles.

In the longer term, Hyundai plans to establish an advanced, sustainable position in Europe’s fuel cell electric commercial vehicle market, as it increasingly embraces green mobility amid stringent regulations targeting carbon emissions.

H2 Energy has industrywide capabilities throughout Switzerland’s hydrogen ecosystem, encompassing hydrogen production and supply, refuelling stations, fuel cell vehicle procurement and other fields.

The company also offers technical and consulting solutions, drawing on its engineering expertise, extensive infrastructure, solid market presence and close industrywide connections.

After scaling up to meet the demand in Europe, Hyundai will launch its fuel-cell commercial vehicle businesses in other regions around the world, including the U.S. and domestic market in Korea.

Hyundai Motor is a world leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, becoming the world’s first automaker to commercialize fuel-cell electric vehicles with the introduction of ix35 Fuel Cell (also known as Tucson Fuel Cell in some markets) in 2013.

NEXO – Hyundai’s second-generation FCEV with a 609-kilometer range on a single charge (under Korean certification standards) – emits only clean water vapor and purifies the air while driving.

The fuel-cell electric powertrain technology has advantages over the battery electric powertrain technology in large commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses.

Toyota introduces station for the production and supply of hydrogen from renewable energy

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) has newly introduced ‘SimpleFuel’ to its Motomachi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

SimpleFuel is a small water electrolysis-based machine for hydrogen generation and filling that can produce, store, and supply hydrogen by making use of electricity generated from solar power.

It uses electricity from solar panels at the plant site to produce low-carbon hydrogen from the electrolysis of water, which is then supplied to fuel-cell (FC) forklifts after it is compressed and pressurised.

[Read more…]

Toyota develops world’s first general-purpose hydrogen burner for industrial use

Toyota Motor Corporation has developed the world’s first general-purpose hydrogen burner for industrial use in collaboration with Chugai Ro Co., Ltd. The burner is in use today at the forging line in Toyota’s Honsha Plant.

In conventional hydrogen burners, hydrogen reacts rapidly with oxygen, leading to a high flame temperature and environmentally hazardous NOx emissions.

On account of this, the practical use of hydrogen burners has proved challenging. The newly developed burners incorporate two new structures that enable hydrogen to combust more slowly.

Construction starts at the world’s largest hydrogen pilot plant

An EU-funded flagship project, the H2FUTURE project consortium, has officially given the go-ahead for construction of the world’s largest pilot plant for the production of “green” hydrogen at the Voestalpine site in Linz, Austria.

With a capacity of 6 megawatts, this is the most effective and advanced plant of its type. It is scheduled to be fully operational by spring 2019.

The partners, consisting of Voestalpine, Siemens, Verbund, and Austrian Power Grid, together with the research partners K1-MET and ECN, will use this facility to research into future breakthrough technologies which are needed for a CO2-reduced energy future and the decarbonization of steel production to meet global climate goals over the long-term.

Designworks collaborates with Shell to improve hydrogen refuelling

BMW Group subsidiary Designworks and Shell have collaborated in the development of an innovative hydrogen dispenser that will improve the refuelling experience.

Designworks and Shell say that hydrogen vehicles have proved to be “increasingly suitable” for everyday use and offer the potential to become an important low carbon transport option for the future.

The new dispenser design will create a seamless experience for hydrogen drivers on the forecourt and help to encourage the adoption of hydrogen as a transport fuel of the future. [Read more…] about Designworks collaborates with Shell to improve hydrogen refuelling

Big changes from a small package for hydrogen storage

Sometimes, you have to go small to win big. That is the approach a multilab, interdisciplinary team took in using nanoparticles and a novel nanoconfinement system to develop a method to change hydrogen storage properties.

This discovery could enable the creation of high-capacity hydrogen storage materials capable of quick refueling, improving the performance of emerging hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, collaborated on the research, which was published Feb. 8 in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

The work was funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office and the Boeing Co. [Read more…] about Big changes from a small package for hydrogen storage