The e-Journal on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Europe is leading the way in developing the breakthrough technologies needed to realise hydrogen’s energy potential. With hydrogen-powered buses and taxis being used across major cities, we have demonstrated that the technology can be used on a large scale.
In June 2019, mere weeks before stepping down as British prime minister, Theresa May committed the United Kingdom to an ambitious new target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The amendment to the Climate Change Act made the UK the first G7 nation to enshrine net-zero emissions in law. This toughened stance has resulted in carbon dioxide reduction becoming a more pressing issue than ever.
Despite the current wave of enthusiasm about the potential of hydrogen, there is much discussion and much uncertainty about the role of synthetic fuels. If you follow the current debate, you sometimes get the impression that E-Fuels are either another saviour or a spawn of evil.
That’s how it is when theory and practice diverge: While the former VDA boss Bernhard Mattes announced a new beginning at the International Automobile Exhibition 2019 (IAA), the exhibition halls were once again full of the same fuel wasters as always.
There is a lot going on in the energy sector at the moment. As a result of numerous activities and events – be it diesel scandals or CO2 pricing, driving bans or Fridays-for-Future demonstrations, flight shame or real laboratories – more and more players are committing themselves to more sustainability as well as to hydrogen as an energy storage.
Not so long ago, CO2 certificates were still the epitome of a bureaucratic failure: Hardly anyone wanted them. They were introduced into the energy industry, but in a way that hardly allowed them to have any effect.
Are cars like the BMW i8 electric vehicles? A question hotly debated by many stakeholders in the electric transportation industry, not least since the government has planned to introduce various incentives for these types of vehicles. The German Electric Mobility Act (EmoG) passed in June 2015 says that communities can allow electric cars on bus lanes – whether or not the vehicles in question are actually running on gas or electricity
(Source: Hydrogenics)
Looking at the share prices for fuel cell companies that are being traded on the stock exchange right now, one could be forgiven for thinking that a crash had just taken place. It is as if the technical breakthroughs in the further development of the fuel cells had never taken place, and as though the production, storage and use of hydrogen had zero chance of achieving any success. Yet in fact, the opposite is the case. Right now we are at the start of a new mega trend, and in 2015,
In May 2015, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) presented the long-awaited funding instrument for the market launch of fuel cell heating devices. As announced by Minister of Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel, the market launch is to be supported via the so-called Energy Efficiency Incentive Program. The program is part of the National Action Plan on Energy Efficiency (NAPE), which was passed by the German federal government at the end of 2014. With other projects, it aims to contribute to a big improvement in the level of effectiveness in the construction sector. The package of measures has an annual funding volume
Considering the current fuel cell activities in China, it can be concluded with some certainty that over the course of years to come, the People’s Republic will not suddenly become a pioneer in the field of FC mobility. At the same time, however, in the area of research and development and on the governmental side, the country is now doing some initial groundwork with the use of renewable energy in the area of energy supply. Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are playing an important role here.