How can hydrogen contribute to
a zero waste society?
5th WIEF-UITM Global discourse on zero waste
Kuala Lumpur, April 30, 2014
Pieternel Claassen
Zero waste, cradle to cradle,
aaaaaacircular economy
CO2 +
H2 O
Heat
CnHmOp +
O2
What is CnHmOp ?
 CnHmOp
= biomass for food, chemicals, materials,
aaaaaaaaaenergy
 Biomass = carbohydrates, proteins and lipids
 Residues are in
● Production of crops
● Processing industry
● Residues after main application
Options for residues with air present
 Thermochemical process
● Combustion: heat and ash
 Biochemical process
● Composting: heat, fertiliser, humic acids
Options for residues, no air present
 Thermochemical processes
● Pyrolysis: oil, gases and tar
● Gasification: CO, CH4, H2, alkenes and tar
● Hydrothermolysis: biocrude and tar
 Biochemical process
● Fermentation: organic acids, alcohols, CH4, H2
Zero waste, cradle to cradle,
aaaaaacircular economy
CO2 +
H2O
Heat
CnHmOp +
Products
O2
Why hydrogen?
 Most widely-used chemical e.g. for fertiliser, food and
electronics
 Fuel for fuel cells: H2 and O2 to electricity, heat and
water
Fuel cell properties
 Benefits of fuel cells:
● Superior efficiency (70%) as compared to
combustion (35%)
● Low maintenance, no noise, robust
● Zero emission: no emission of NOx, SOx, CO or CO2
particulates, organic volatiles
● Reliable and can be used as stand alone
● Scalable to fit any power need
 Challenges:
● Cost
● Durability
Examples of FC applications
Toyota PEM fuel cell vehicle
Hyster hydrogen forklift truck
Adobe’s gas to power FC’s to
supply 9.5 GWh per year
Upp rechargeable fuel cell charger
FC-CHP units in JA and GE outselling micro CHP’s
Sources: The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2013 and Fuel Cells 200
www.fuelcelltoday.com,www.fuelcells.org,www.intelligent-energy.com
Fuel cell applications and supply
Portable
Stationary
Transport
Power
range
5 W - 20 kW
kW to MW
1kW - 100 kW
Examples
Torches, cameras,
battery chargers, mp3
players,
communication/
navigation, auxiliary
power units
Combined Heat and
Power units
(micro/large),
uninterruptible power
supplies (telecom, offgrid back up)
Cars, trucks and
buses,
materials handling
trucks
Supply
Trailer/pressure
vessels
Pipeline for H2 or on-site Pipeline, on-site,
production (SMR or
cryogenic tank
electrolysis)
trailer
Sources: The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2013
www.fuelcelltoday.com and Mulder et al. IHJE 32, 2007
208 Filling stations world wide (March 2013)
76 fuelling stations
80 fuelling stations
49 fuelling stations
Domestic FC CHP units in ENE-Farm
In 2012 subsidy at < 25% retail cost
Cost decrease due to:
• Fewer components
• Economy of scale
• Less platinum
• Extended durability to 60 000h
Number of FC CHP units sold in Japan
and subsidy per unit.
2 million Yen = MYR 64439
Source: www.fuelcelltoday.com Feb 2013
Fuel cell distribution world-wide
Asia is dominant in adopting
FC technology
Source: The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2013
www.fuelcelltoday.com
Distribution of fuel cell power
Korea is the leading country
in adoption of large stationary
fuel cell systems
Source: The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2013
www.fuelcelltoday.com
UKM-YSD Chair on Sustainable
Development:
Zero Waste Technology
RM15 Million Endowment by Sime Darby Foundation
since February 2011
Forging Mutually Beneficial Partnerships between UKM- Sime Darby
Inspiring Futures,
Nurturing Possibilities
To turn palm oil mills into green
factories-targeting for carbon neutral
No pollutants to the air
No pollutants to the ground
No pollutants to the water
-But yet;
 Increase of revenue
 long term productivity and sustainability of the oil palm industry
ensured
UKM-YSD Chair on Sustainable Development
THRUST AREAS
1 H2 for Power and Steam Generation
2 In-line composting for organic fertilizer
3 H2 production from POME and biomass
4 Pretreatment of biomass for H2 production
5 Algae production to sink CO2
6 Water recycle and reuse
Key Messages from Tun Chairman
Integrate projects within Sime Darby with UKM-YSD
Key Messages from EVP Plantation & Agribusiness
Short term: Focus on Quick Gain Projects
Long term: DO NOT reinvent the wheel
Examples of world wide biohydrogen pilots
 Harbin Institute of Technology, China; wastewater and
melasses
 Feng Chia University, Taiwan; wastewater
 Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals, India; Sorghum
bagasse
 Wageningen UR FBR, The Netherlands; straw, potato
steampeels, vegetable residues, verge grass
 Glamorgan University, UK; co-product flour milling
 Petrobras Campinas, Brasil: brewery waste
Biohydrogen at Feng-Chia University in
Taichung
H2 storage
500 L reactor for biohydrogen production
Source: www.fcu.edu.tw
HyTIME, an FCH JU project
In HyTIME:
•
9 partners
•
•
6 countries
2 universities, 2 research
organisations, 5 industries
•
Start at Jan 1, 2012
•
End at Dec 31, 2014
•
Total budget MYR 11.7
•
FCH-JU grant MYR 5.3
www.hy-time.eu
Increase of productivity by cell retention
SEM of Caldicellulosiruptor owensensis on zeolite
Packed bed reactor with
C. saccharolyticus and
C. owensensis on HDPE carriers
Thank you