The e-Journal on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Only slowly, the Energy Observer fought its way up the Elbe to Hamburg against the tidal ebb. The Hanseatic city in which the solar hydrogen ship moored on 28 April 2019 was the 35th station on the six-year circumnavigation of the world. A total of 101 locations in 50 countries are to be visited.
The Port of Emden located close to the German / Dutch border, recently announced plans to study the technical and economic feasibility of converting excess wind energy into hydrogen.
The 68th International Motor Show has to get itself re-organised. Two years ago, the organising German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) already had to contend with numerous cancellations by automobile manufacturers because quite a few preferred a presence at the Consumer Electronics Show in the USA to an exhibition in Frankfurt (see HZwei booklet Jan. 2018).
Great Wall Motor (GWM) did not join H2 Mobility as originally planned. At the end of October 2018, a press release stated that the Chinese market leader for off-road vehicles and pickups wanted to invest in the German hydrogen filling station network. Nikolas Iwan, Managing Director of H2 Mobility, told the FAZ that he had contacted GWM at the beginning of 2018.
Since the number of hydrogen filling stations in Germany is unstoppably approaching the three-digit range, the inauguration celebrations are becoming smaller and the press releases fewer. Most recently, numerous high-ranking industry representatives and politicians appeared at the 50th H2 station in Potsdam.
While Formula E in Germany was held in Berlin on 24 and 25 May 2019 with purely battery-operated racing cars, preparatory measures are currently underway elsewhere to ensure that hydrogen cars can also take part in races in the future. On 28 March 2019, the LMPH2G prototype completed its first laps at Le Mans with driver Emmanuel Collard and prominent co-driver Bertrand Piccard.
The real laboratories are now to give fresh impetus to new energy technologies. Greater room for manoeuvre in regional projects should enable local business concepts to be tested first and then implemented on a larger scale nationwide. There’s a lot of interest in it: By the beginning of April 2019, project outlines could be submitted and, as has been confirmed by various parties, the call was oversubscribed several times.
The research alliance Campfire wants to decarbonize the maritime sector with the production of green ammonia and its application in emission-free drives.
Hydrogen is considered by many to be the energy source of the future. It can be generated from renewable energies and utilised in different sectors for material and energy production, which is referred to as sector coupling. However, the distribution of hydrogen in particular is the subject of numerous discussions.
The signs are quite clear: Large manufacturers of classic combustion engines are gradually abandoning their traditional fields of activity and investing in hydrogen technology.