Author: marieke

The Europe 2020 Strategy, launched by the Commision on March 3 should steer Europe out of the crisis and prepare EU economy for the next decade. The Commission identifies three key drivers for growth, to be implemented through concrete actions at EU and national levels: smart growth (fostering knowledge, innovation, education and digital society), sustainable growth (making our production more resource efficient while boosting our competitiveness) and inclusive growth (raising participation in the labour market, the acquisition of skills and the fight against poverty).

Progress towards these objectives will be measured against five representative headline EU-level targets, which Member States will be asked to translate into national targets reflecting starting points:

–       75 % of the population aged 20-64 should be employed.

–       3% of the EU’s GDP should be invested in R&D.

–       The “20/20/20″ climate/energy targets should be met.

–       Early school leavers should be under 10% and at least 40% of the younger generation have a diploma

–       20 million less people should be at risk of poverty.

More info at the EU 2020 website.

The EU Competitiveness Council on March 1 invited the Commission to develop an Action Plan for Clean and Energy-efficient vehicles (including the growing role of fully electric cars and plug in hybrids) that will:

a) encourage the development of the necessary infrastructure in Europe for new mobility technologies, in particular for battery recharging;
b) stress the importance of RTD and innovation for further improving the technological performance and attractiveness of clean and energy-efficient vehicles to the consumer, such as battery improvement;
c) pay particular attention to ensuring a comprehensive single market and develop normalisation and standardisation in the field of clean and energy-efficient vehicles, in particular in the area of vehicles safety, and to promote relevant actions in response to interfaces between vehicles and network’s infrastructures;
d) promote measures to encourage the global competitiveness of the European clean and energy-efficient vehicle industry.
The EHA has stressed the importance of more coordination in the development of the infrastructure for electric vehicles including battery and as well as fuel cell electric vehicles. This topic will be discussed at the EUSEW seminar on March 23 in Brussels that the EHA is co-organising (see under EHA in Action)

The announcement of the EU Spanish presidency of an EU Electric Car Plan dominated the news in the first few days of the newly appointed EU Commission. The EHA teamed up with the Industry Grouping and Fuel Cell Europe and sent a joint letter to the Member State representatives, in time for the Electric Car Plan announcement on February 9 in Seville, to highlight the role of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen as important components of electric transport and the decarbonisation of transport in the EU by 2050. The reaction of Members States to the Spanish proposal was encouraging in that most countries indicated that more green car technologies than just batteries needed to be included, pointing to also hydrogen, hybrides and biofuels. Industry Commissioner Tajani ten days later at an informal meeting of automotive specialists of the Member States on February 19 announced the development of an EU Strategy for Clean and Energy Efficient Cars before the Competitiveness Council of May 25-26.  The EHA in its contribution to the EU 2020 strategy, that the Commission recently published, emphasised the need to consider the efficient use of primary energy in developing the right innovative industrial strategies including for transport to facilitate a rapid uptake of sustainable growth and employment. The EHA is currently preparing its contribution to the consultation on the Clean and Energy Efficient Car Strategy.

EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani met with ministers in charge of industry on 19 February identifying green technologies as a strategic medium-term perspective for the industry to  improve its competitiveness. “A European strategy on Clean and Energy-Efficient Cars should be developed and implemented that sets out the necessary actions to encourage market introduction of green vehicles, including electric cars,” the Commission said in a statement, issued after the informal meeting. The communication should be published in time for a meeting of EU Competitveness Council on May 25-26, 2010.  According to EU officials the strategy will be technology neutral but will include hydrogen and biofuels. The Cars 21 initiative will be re established and focus on green car developments.

The Portugese Hydrogen Association APH2 published the “Lisbon Statement on Hydrogen” to draw governments  attentioin to the need to speed up the support for sustainable hydrogen infrastrucutre developments. The statement urges  overnments  to boost directly
or indirectly the implementation of a Hydrogen based Economy.
• Governments should make efforts to balance their trend in decreasing carbon dioxide emissions with the implementation of effective technological and scientific programmes to promote the creation of a real Hydrogen based energy network.
• Governments should foster university graduation and post-graduation courses in
the field of Energy and promote experimental research in the field. Taking into account the multidisciplinary characteristics of the subject, and the traditional organization of universities in distinct departments, it is strongly recommended the creation of autonomous
Departments of Energy, which should lead the above mentioned graduation and post-graduation curricula in interaction with the other traditional departments. This process is well inspired in what universities did in the recent past with the creation of some successful new departments, as for instance the Environment ones.
• The Governments policies regarding the implementation of the Hydrogen Economy should assure that in case it comes from hydrocarbon transformations giving rise to carbon dioxide emissions, these must be sequestrated for further uses, or injected into the subsoil.

• Governments should prepare legislation in order to assure that fuel production raw materials and energy production devices must be taxed accordingly to the amount of produced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; for example, computing the tax from the electric energy equivalent price, taking into account the usual production in a thermoelectric power plant.
• These policies will significantly contribute to assure a trend to carbon-free energy technologies based on a vision of
a truly competitive economy, enabling global development.

• Energy based industries and related technological research centres should be encouraged to work in collaboration with the new university Energy Departments already proposed.

Those who agree with the Lisbon Statement for Hydrogen and Clean Energies are invited to do everything possible to contribute for dissemination of the ideas outlined in the present document.
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Air Products has been awarded the prestigious Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Industry Award for its innovative Series 100 Hydrogen Fueling Station technology. The technology, which is helping break down barriers to the development of the hydrogen economy, clearly fit the Award’s aims of promoting and celebrating leading environmental technologies in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland.

The Air Products Series 100 Hydrogen Fueling Station has been an important enabler in changing industry and consumer perception in the UK as to the validity and safety of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. The Rushlight Award acknowledges the success of this fully integrated fueling station in meeting the needs of hydrogen fueling test and demonstration programs. The Series 100’s features include simple operation for hydrogen compression, storage and dispensing, a small footprint, quick installation and ease of relocation. Details on Air Products’ hydrogen fueling station technologies are provided at the Air Products website.

“Receiving the Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Award is a great honor. It demonstrates the importance in developing hydrogen infrastructure in line with hydrogen vehicle development and the ultimate potential benefits of drastically reducing carbon emissions. As the market leading hydrogen producer and the global leader in the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure, the supply flexibility of our Series 100 fueling station is complemented by the different routes of economical green hydrogen that we’re developing. Our goal to introduce infrastructure alongside hydrogen vehicles with well-to-wheel emissions that are virtually zero, making a green hydrogen world not far away,” said Ian Williamson, director, Hydrogen Energy Systems–Air Products Europe.Air Products recieved ruslight

On February 8 the President of the Region of Lombardy Formigoni inaugurated the first hydrogen- natural gas mixture  station in L in Milan.

The use of hydrogen natural gas mixtures in some countries with a good gas network could be an intermediate step towards the use of pure hydrogen in fuel cells applications. In normal combustion engines the hydrogen content in the mixture contributes to faster ignition and complete combustion, maintaining the performance of the car almost unchanged compared with the use of pure natural gas. The end result is a significant  improvement in CO2 emissions and pollutants typical of combustion of hydrocarbons.

With the project – which involves the of Region Lombardy, ENI, Sapio, Centro Ricerche  Fiat, Nuova Carrozzeria Torinese and Fast (Federation of Scientific and Technological Associations) – it will be possible to verify the exact levels of environmental contribution that technology can give, especially in an urban context. Tests conducted in the laboratory are promising and if the results are confirmed by road tests they will open a path toward the hydrogen mobility by leveraging technology of the internal combustion engine.

On the same day, the president of the Region  signed an agreement with Eni  to deliver  thirty new stations by 2012, for the supply of natural gas on motorways and Lombardy’s streets. The agreement also sets up a minimum number of stations in relation to population: one station every 45 thousand inhabitants on the normal streets and one station every 30 km on highways.

The Industry Grouping of the Joint Undertaking for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen, NEW IG, Fuel Cell Europe, the European Regions and Municpalities Partnership for  fuel cells and hydrogen, HyRaMP, and the EHA have sent a joint letter to EU Member States representatives in the Competiveness Council to explain the role of hydrogen and fuel cells in the decarbonizing transport by 2050. On the occasion of the presentation of the EU Spanish presidency of an EU Electric Car Plan in Seville,  the organisations draw  Member States’ attention to fuel cell cars next to battery cars as part of electric transport.  Fuel cell transport applications such as cars, buses, taxis, forklifts, motorbikes and trucks are currently being developed, tested and demonstrated at EU, national and local level. What is needed additionally is in particular a coordinated approach towards increased project funding, regulatory support and development of technical standards both at EU and at Member State level. Such measures are crucial to provide a stable and predictable environment to attract the necessary private investment and make the shift to zero emission transport a reality. The organisations therefore call upon the Competitiveness Council and the European Commissionto acknowledge the need for increased and coordinated EU financial support to commercialize electrical mobility in the EU, including battery and fuel cell electric vehicles. The joint letter can be downloaded below.

EU Member State experts on February 2 approved a proposal on how to use 300 million emission allowances from the EU Emission Ttrading Systems ‘new entrants reserve’ to finance projects in renewables and CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). The final adoption of the decision, expected in May, will see billions in EU funding allocated to the development of clean technologies. The European Commission will dedicate  300 million allowances at European level, which will be sold by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and then distributed to support projects in Member States.  however Member States rejected a proposal to match every euro taken from EU funds, expressing concerns of  member states of Central and Eastern Europe.  Member States also  introduced more flexibility to the allocation process by allowing each country to host a maximum of three projects instead of the Commission’s proposed two. In any case, each country is entitled to at least one project.

MEP Chris Davies (ALDE, UK), rapporteur  of  the CCS proposal in the European Parliament, described the approval as ” the largest single financial support mechanism for carbon capture and storage anywhere in the world”. “Obviously it’s combined with renewables, but one assumes that significantly more than half will go to CCS, and I think that is a hugely important development,” he said.The CCS funding is aimed at accelerating investment so that the EU can reach its goal of having up to 12 CCS demonstration plants up and running by 2015.

Bulgarian Hydrogen Society (BG H2 Society) has been founded by the Ministry of Defense of Republic of Bulgaria, members of Bulgarian Parliament, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (UCTM) and Bulgarian Academy of Science as well as experts from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Technical University of Sofia and University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski”. BG H2 Society throughout the Hydrogen Technology Centre (UCTM) introduced the master course “Hydrogen Technology” and has been working in all of the major sections of the National programme for scientific research “Hydrogen Technologies – Hydrogen Economy”: fuel cells, materials for hydrogen power industry, modern methods for hydrogen production, storage and transport. A National Fund “Hydrogen and the Global Warming” was established within BG H2 Society in 2009, intended to accumulate funds from different sources, including the Bulgarian State Budget, in order to support projects within the National programme for scientific research “Hydrogen Technologies – Hydrogen Economy”.
BG H2 Society has also proposed an  initiative to build the first hydrogen gas station in Sofia and is looking for the proper EU funding. The project includes independent solar power production and electrochemical hydrogen generation as well as the possibility for external tank-car refilling. For more information please consult the BG H2 website.

The first month of the second decade of EHA’s operations in promoting hydrogen as an energy carrier in Europe, was dedicated to the hearings of relevant  new Commisoners designate and trying the find out what their responsibilites could mean for hydrogen and fuel cell development. In addition the EHA office chased Spanish colleagues to find out more about the scopet of the proposed EU Electric Car Plan. Together with the JTI Industry Grouping NEW IG, HyRaMP and Fuel Cell Europe we have sent a joint letter to the Member State representative offices in Brussels to ask attention for the role hydrogen and fuel cell cars as part of and electric transport system. We now have information that a majority of the Member States indicated that would like to see a focus on more technolgies that just batteries in the Action Plan mentioning also fuel cells. The new Industry Commissioner Tajani also indicated his interest to focus more on green automotive technologies mentioning specifcally the need of active and coordinated involvement of Member States and Regions. As the Bulgarian Hydrogen Association requested membership last week (see under National News),  the EHA,  now with 16 national member associations and hosting the office of HyRaMP’s, 30 regions is well placed to facilitate more visibility of hydrogen and fuel cells in EU and national policies.

Honda on January 27, 2010 began operations of a next generation solar hydrogen station prototype at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, Inc., intended for ultimate use as a home refueling appliance capable of an overnight refill of fuel cell electric vehicles. Designed as a single, integrated unit to fit in the user’s garage, Honda’s next generation Solar Hydrogen Station reduces the size of the system, while producing enough hydrogen (0.5kg) via an 8-hour overnight fill for daily commuting (10,000 miles per year) for a fuel cell electric vehicle. The previous solar hydrogen station system required both an electrolyzer and a separate compressor unit to create high pressure hydrogen. The compressor was the largest and most expensive component and reduced system efficiency. By creating a new high differential pressure electrolyzer, Honda engineers were able to eliminate the compressor entirely – a world’s first for a home use system. This innovation also reduces the size of other key components to make the new station the world’s most compact system, while improving system efficiency by more than 25% (value calculated based on simulations) compared to the solar hydrogen station system it replaces.

Compatible with a “Smart Grid” energy system, the Honda Solar Hydrogen Station would enable users to refill their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage, which would lower CO2 emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power. During daytime peak power times, the Solar Hydrogen Station can export renewable electricity to the grid, providing a cost benefit to the customer, while remaining energy neutral.

Designed for simple, user-friendly operation, the intuitive system layout enables the user to easily lift and remove the fuel hose, with no hose coiling when the hose is returned to the dispenser unit.

Engineered for an 8-hour, slow fill for overnight refilling of a fuel cell electric vehicle, the home-use Solar Hydrogen Station would replenish the hydrogen for a typical daily driving, meeting the commuting requirements of many drivers. As with the previous generation system, the hydrogen purity from the new station meets the highest SAE (J2719) and ISO (14687) .

The European Commission published the results of the first JTI Call: 16 projects were approved among which a big vehicles demonstration project “H2Moves Scandanavia”, involving Daimler and Fiat fuel cell cars. Also the third extension of the succesful Hydrosol project to produce hydrogen from solar thermal has been funded. Five projects will tackle fuel cell degradation and lifetime fundamentals. Two projects will work on effivient electrolysers. For more infomation please visit the JTI website

ADAC, Europe’s biggest automotive club, awarded Linde’s CEO Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle with the 2010 Personality ‘Yellow Angel’. ADAC praised  Reitzle’s longstanding and strong commitment to hydrogen as a future fuel for automobiles and for the consolidation of the company as a global company in the fields of gases and engineering. The ‘Yellow Angel’ award is also handed in the following categories: Auto, Brand, Quality, Innovation and Environment. For more info visit Linde’s Hydrogen Solutions site

TMS and Toyota Motor Manufacturing and Engineering North America, Inc. announced at the Detroit Motor Show that it will place 100 vehicles with universities, private companies and government agencies in both California and New York as aprt of  a three year course  demonstration program.  Toyota’s demonstration program expansion will provide one of the largest fleets of active fuel cell vehicles in the country with the primary goal of spurring essential hydrogen infrastructure development.  The demonstration program also will serve to demonstrate fuel cell technologies reliability and performance prior to its 2015 market introduction.

“We plan to come to market in 2015, or earlier, with a vehicle that will be reliable and durable, with exceptional fuel economy and zero emissions, at an affordable price,” said Irv Miller, TMS group vice president of environmental and public affairs.  “Toyota will not be alone in the fuel cell marketplace and building an extensive hydrogen re-fueling infrastructure is the critical next step.  Hopefully, expansion of demonstration programs like this one will serve as a catalyst.”

The EHA and the European Industrial Gases Association, EIGA,  have prepared a joint position paper to ask the EU Commission for its consideration of the impacts of the current Seveso II Directive that dates from 1996 on to he commercial use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier.   The  EHa and EIGA more specifically suggest that hydrogen be deleted from the list of specifically named substances in Annex 1 of the Direci, so that it is exclusively covered by the “extremely flammable” category.  Thresholds for hydrogen are currently 5 and 50 tons in the Seveso II Directive ; comparable to those of “Very Toxic” substances (5 and 20 tons). Even Chlorine has a  higher threshold of 10 tons, and those for “Liquefied extremely flammable gases (including LPG) and natural gas” are 50 and 200 tons.  At the current lower limit of 5 tons, road vehicle fuelling stations could fall under the scope of the Seveso directive, severely and unjustifiably compromising the development of the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure necessary to support the commercialisation of hydrogen vehicles projected from 2015 onwards, as indicated above.
With the change proposed the lower limit for hydrogen would be raised to 10 tons in  the new Directive. This remains quite conservative, as the consequences of an  accidental release of hydrogen are not worse overall than for other flammable gases.

A draft plan of the Commission , sent to member states the last week of the new year , sets out the rules on allocating the 300 million allowances of the  ‘new entrants reserve’ of the EU ETS to CCS and renewable projects. At a carbon price of €20 a tonne, the revenue would amount to about €6 billion, the EU executive estimates. Todays carbon proices are around € 12. The draft proposes to award the allowances through two rounds of calls for proposals: in the first call mature projects, like CCS according to the commission, could receive funding.  The  impact assessment accompanying the draft argues that in the case of renewables, it would be “preferable” to wait until the second call to allow for a “maximum number of technologies to come to maturity”. However, the draft stresses that there should be a balance between CCS and renewable energy projects. It lists the technologies eligible to receive funding for at least one project in order to ensure that only technologies that are not yet commercially viable but ready for large-scale demonstration qualify. Each member state will be able submit two projects. The draft text requires member states to co-finance the projects by matching the EU ETS investment. They should therefore have the opportunity to decide which projects they will support in their territory, the Commission says, while reserving its right to make the final selection.Countries will send their proposals to the European Investment Bank (EIB), which assesses the financial and technical viability of the projects before making recommendations to the Commission. Member states are scheduled to vote on the text in February.

Mercedes-Benz will launch 200  series produced B-Class F-Cell eletric car with a fuel cell  this Spring in Europe and US. The B-Class F-Cell has a range of about 400 kilometers or 248 miles, said Mercedes-Benz. That means it can travel twice as far as the Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell.

“[The B-Class F-Cell] is some 40 percent smaller than the system in the A-Class F-Cell from 2004, but develops 30 percent more power while consuming 30 percent less fuel,” Daimler  said in a statement. The B-Class F-Cell bundles a compact fuel cell stack, a lithium-ion battery, three 700-bar tanks for the hydrogen and lightweight 136-horsepower drive motor at the front axle.

The B-Class also “boasts outstanding cold-start capability down to minus 25 degrees Celsius,” said the automaker. “The system features a new humidification system consisting of hollow fibers that ensures, unlike with the first-generation fuel cell, that water no longer freezes in the stack, a characteristic that used to impair cold-start capability,” Mercedes-Benz said. It noted that, even at low temperatures, the B-Class F-Cell “starts just as quickly as the very latest diesel engine.”

The design of the B-Class F-Cell includes what Mercedes-Benz calls a “sandwich floor,” which means key components for the electric drive with fuel cells are in the vehicle underbody. This helps to conserve space in the cabin. “In the event of a crash, safety valves close the hydrogen supply lines to the fuel cell and decouple the tanks from the other system components,” it said. “Even after a serious accident, the hydrogen poses no risk whatsoever.”

The first Hydrogen Vehicle Bridge Crossing Event in Europe on November 30 from Malmoe to Copenhagen was the result of a very constructive collaboration between the EHA, HyRaMP, the NEW IG JTI Industry Grouping and the JTI Programme office, coordinated by Danish hydrogen supplier  H2 Logic.  By pulling together the networks of these different organisations, a broad group of stakeholders in Europe were involved to get the cars to Malmoe and Copenhagen and to inform national and international media and key stakeholders.

EHA’s 15 national member associations are able to activate collectively over 250 of the main fuel cell and hydrogen companies in Europe and over a 100 reseach institutes and universities. In addition EHA’s own contact database includes key Members of the EU Parliament, European Commission officers, coordinators of the main EU projects and the main European media. Together with the now 30 members of HyRaMP , a community of dedicated key stakeholders is steadily building and committed local governments are ready to welcome the first commercial applications.

As the EHA is entering its second decade of promoting hydrogen as a clean energy carrier, it will step up its efforts to ensure that a sustainable and efficient European hydrogen infrastructure will be built in key locations of Europe. It will facilitate broad visibility of these developments in Brussels and beyond, identifying technology transfer opportunities with regards to future  Climate agreements.  With the updated EHA website we will also be able to build hydrogen communities online , linking with relevant national and local developments, other EU organisations and digital media and networks.  We therefore invite  new national associations and industries to join our EHA hydrogen community and support our efforts to ensure Europe maintains its role as market leader in this field.

The EHA in collaboration with Danish Hydrogen supplier H2Logic, HyRaMP, the European 30-member Regions and Muncipalities Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, the Joint Undertaking for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (JU FCH) and its Industrial Grouping, NEW IG  of over 70 of the main European industries cofinacing the JU FCH is organizing a Fuel Cell Vehicle Tour crossing the scenic bridge form Malmoe to Copenhagen. The tour will mark the coming of “commerical age” of fuel cell vehicles and their potential to significantly reduce transport emissions, next to battery cars and second generation biofuelled vehicles. for more inforamtion please visit the  Bridge2H website .