The e-Journal on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
In November 2016, E4tech published data and analyses on the fuel cell industry in its latest edition of Fuel Cell Industry Review. Since 2014, it has contacted businesses in the industry and aggregated their shipment figures to capture the most recent market developments. The following sections will present some excerpts from this review and explain the changes to the preliminary 2016 figures published last November.
Japan remains fully committed to integrating hydrogen into its national energy mix, and is looking to Europe and to a lesser extent the U.S. for markets and research support. Developers f residential fuel cell systems have all found European partners to bid for FCH-JU funding. And Japan’s Toyota has quietly led an international effort to engage corporations
The RD&D activities of the industry and the public sector have successfully established a global market for hydrogen and fuel cells. There is growing consensus about the importance of these clean energy carriers in transportation and several manufacturing segments. Countries such as Germany, Japan and the United States – and organizations such as the European Commission – have been spearheading efforts in research, development and demonstration technologically and politically to show how sustainable and reliable these resources really are.
The 22nd World Hydrogen Energy Conference will take place next year in Brazil – with the help of a German business. Co-organizer of the WHEC 2018 held under the auspices of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy is reported to be Peter Sauber Agentur Messen und Kongresse. The hosts in Rio de Janeiro from June 17 through 22 will be the Laboratório de Hidrogênio, or Lab H2 for short, and the Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa de Engenharia, or COPPE UFRJ.
When the Mirai became available in late 2014, Toyota was convinced that the fuel cell would be the future of the automotive industry. Last year, however, the carmaker adjusted its strategy and explained that – previous statements notwithstanding – it would also start offering battery-driven vehicles. Did the then-number one carmaker get cold feet after previously announcing
Although Daimler, Ford and Nissan have been working together since 2013 to develop a fuel cell system, Symbio FCell has had its own collaboration project with Nissan to design an H2 range extender. At the FC Expo in Tokyo this March (see Japan Leads the Way), Symbio – by its own account, the “European leader of hydrogen mobility solutions”
At the Geneva International Motor Show, Korean carmaker Hyundai unveiled its new fuel cell concept study, the FE Fuel Cell Concept. It offers a glimpse into the fourth vehicle generation boasting much higher output and an extended range. The fuel cell unit is said to be twenty per cent lighter and ten per cent more efficient than in previous models, which would raise energy density by thirty per cent.
The head of Swatch, Nick Hayek, intends to use the company group’s subsidiaries Belenos and Renata to establish a second stream of income by developing electric cars with vanadium batteries. After many years of work, they are said to be tested soon in China. In summer 2015, Swatch had announced its decision to stop the development of fuel cell versions and transfer activities in this field to Groupe E
The core market of Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus has been Asia; in Europe, it sold merely 70,000 cars last year. Despite the headwinds, Lexus is increasingly becoming a serious alternative for many buyers, even though – or maybe precisely because – 98 per cent of its vehicles are hybrids. Alain Uyttenhoven, head of Lexus Europe, said: “When customers come in to pick up their Lexus
With passing the climate action plan, the German government has set clear, unequivocal targets: By 2050, the entire transportation sector is to produce zero CO2 emissions, and a 40 per cent reduction compared to the baseline year of 1990 is to be achieved by as early as 2030. A hydrogen economy is one way to approach this social project, but it will require cooperation among all of society’s members