HAI Newsletter
Hydrogen Association of India
Vol 1: Issue 3
May 2016
Editorial Committee
 Alok Sharma
 Saurabh Rohilla
 Manjunath Rao
 Sachin Chugh
Innovative catalyst fabrication method may yield breakthrough in
fuel cell development
The successful future of fuel cells relies
on improving the performance of the catalysts they use. Gold nanoparticles have
been cited as an ideal solution, but creating a uniform, useful catalyst has proven
elusive. However, a team of researchers
at Kyushu University's International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research
(I2CNER) devised a method for using a
new type of catalyst support.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/
Honda begins sales of Clarity Fuel Cell hydrogen-powered sedan
Quote:
Fuel Cells and the Hydrogen economy are absolutely the next great race
for Industry.
Larry Burns
Honda has commenced sales of its new
Clarity Fuel Cell, a hydrogen-powered 5passenger sedan, and its co-developed
external power output device, the Power
Exporter 9000.
Honda says it has increased the Clarity's
range by about 30 percent over the previous generation, boasting a range of
750 kilometers (466 miles). That exceeds
the farthest-driving electric vehicle, the Tesla Model S, by a substantial 196
miles. The Clarity also has a 70 MPa high-pressure tank that takes only 3
minutes to fill.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/
Volume 1, Issue 3
BMW’s Hydrogen Car getting closer to becoming a reality
It’s no secret that BMW is fond of hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative to gasoline
or pure battery electricity. The Bavarian brand’s fondness of hydrogen has been
met with heavy criticism by proponents of pure BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles)
such as the Tesla Model S and Chevrolet Bolt. However, those detractors have
not yet, and probably will not, sway BMW’s opinion on Earth’s most abundant resource.
BMW has toyed with hydrogen fuel before, developing a hydrogen 7 Series a
while back and, more recently, a hydrogen i8 prototype. Much of BMW’s continued interest in hydrogen fuel has to do with its connections with Japanese automaker, Toyota, who is also very fond of hydrogen and has been working with it
for 23 years, longer than anyone else in the industry. Toyota is pushing for hydrogen hard and BMW is following suit. But it isn’t just the BMW/Toyota bromance
that’s considering hydrogen as a serious long-term solution. Honda, Audi and
General Motors are also working on hydrogen technology. So clearly, BMW is on
to something.
http://www.bmwblog.com/
Japan eyes 40,000 fuel-cell cars, 160 hydrogen stations by 2020
aiming
to have 40,000
hydrogen-powered cars on its roads by 2020, with
Japan
Fuel isCell
operates
on Biogas
plans for a 20-fold expansion to 800,000 by 2030, according to a report released
by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Wednesday outlining the future
use of hydrogen and fuel cells.
While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to turn the nation into a “hydrogen
society” as a way to diversify energy sources and cut carbon dioxide emissions, it
currently has about 400 fuel-cell vehicles and about 80 hydrogen stations either
operating or soon to operate, according to the report. Japan also plans to double
the number of hydrogen stations to about 160 by the time the fiscal year ends in
March 2021, boosting that to 320 in the following five years.
As part of the hydrogen push, Japan has also been promoting home fuel cells that
are capable of producing electricity and hot water, with a goal of 5.3 million units by
2030. Currently, the number of installations stands at about 150,000, according to
the ministry.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
Fuel cells 2016: 'Within striking distance' of profitability
Still, the fuel-cell market is growing -- as is the list of Fortune 500 companies that
are fuel-cell customers. In fact, almost 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies use
fuel cells for stationary or motive power. The fuel-cell industry grew to $2.2 billion in
2014, up from $1.3 billion in 2013, according to a DOE report , which counts more
than 50,000 fuel cells shipping in 2014, for a total of 180 megawatts. More than 81
megawatts of large stationary fuel cells were deployed or ordered in 2014, with
Bloom accounting for more than 32 megawatts that year. Fuel-cell market forecasts
are all over the map, however. The research firm MarketsandMarkets sees a $5.2
billion industry by 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.7 percent from
2014 to 2019. According to a 2014 report from Navigant Research, the global revenue for stationary fuel cells will grow from $1.4 billion in 2013 to $40 billion in 2022,
while WinterGreen Research sees the stationary fuel-cell market poised to increase
to $14.3 billion in 2020.
http://www.greentechmedia.com
Page 2
Volume 1, Issue 3
Researchers move one step closer to sustainable hydrogen production
Upcoming Events
WHEC
june 13-16, 2016
Zaragoza-Spain
Fuel Cell &Hydrogen 2016
Splitting water into its hydrogen and oxygen parts may sound like science fiction, but it's the
end goal of chemists and chemical engineers like Christopher Murray of the University of
Pennsylvania and Matteo Cargnello of Stanford University.They work in a field called photocatalysis, which, at its most basic, uses light to speed up chemical reactions. They've come a
step closer to such a feat by tailoring the structure of a material called titania, one of the bestknown photocatalysts, to hasten hydrogen production from biomass-derived compounds.
Through a five-year collaboration with Drexel University, the University of Trieste in Italy, the
University of Cadiz in Spain and the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Germany, the researchers determined that lengthening nanorods to 50 nanometers, a size 1,000 times smaller than
the diameter of a hair, increased the hydrogen production rate of a rare form of titania called
brookite, only accessible at the nanoscale.
http://phys.org/
May 25-26, 2016,
Birmingham, UK.
New fuel cell design powered by graphene-wrapped nanocrystals
While there remain scientific challenges to making hydrogen-based energy sources more competitive with current
automotive propulsion systems and other energy technologies, a new material for has been developed to push its
performance in key areas.
The graphene shields the nanocrystals from oxygen and
moisture and contaminants, while tiny, natural holes allow the smaller hydrogen molecules to pass through.
This filtering process overcomes common problems degrading the performance of metal hydrides for hydrogen
storage. In a hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle using
these materials, known as a "metal hydride" (hydrogen bound with a metal) fuel cell, hydrogen
gas pumped into a vehicle would be chemically absorbed by the magnesium nanocrystaline
powder and rendered safe at low pressures.
Next steps in the research will focus on using different types of catalysts--which can improve
the speed and efficiency of chemical reactions--to further improve the fuel cell's conversion of
electrical current, and in studying whether different types of material can also improve the fuel
cell's overall capacity.
Hydrogen
Association of India
IOC R&D Centre,
Sector-13,
Faridabad-121007
Haryana, India
Phone:
0129-2294431
E-mail:
sharmaa@indianoil.in
https://www.sciencedaily.com/
Intelligent Energy delivers 10MWh milestone of fuel cell power to Indian telecom
sites
IE purchased contracts from GTL to supply energy management services to
over 27,400 telecom towers via Essential Energy, its wholly owned Indian
subsidiary, and will replace the previous diesel generators with clean hydrogen (H2)powered fuel cells over the next 10 years. IE has deployed its
‘modular’ fuel cell system into India, which can be remotely monitored using
remote asset monitoring technology providing real-time system data analysis. Peter Brown, Managing Director of Intelligent Energy’s Distributed Power & Generation division, highlighted, “We have clearly demonstrated that
not only can our fuel cell technology provide more efficient, cleaner power in
challenging remote areas, but that it has a clear role to play in helping India
manage its emissions and tackle concerns on air quality issues.”
Future Lies Here
Page 3