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Monday, 08 October 2007 09:22 |
Opening of the second Hydrogen-station in MantovaMonday, October 8, 2007 Source: FuelCellWorks With the opening of the second hydrogen-station in Mantova (Italy) the project ZERO REGIO has reached another milestone.  Eni chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, and the President of the Lombardy Region, Roberto Formigoni, opened the third Agip multiEnergy service station, a state-of-the-art facility that makes innovative use of new forms of energy to improve respect for the quality of the environment and of life. The station is part of the European Zero Regio Project, which aims to develop, in Lombardy and the Rhein-Main region in Germany, integrated systems for sustainable mobility through the use of multifuel hydrogen service stations for zero-emissions vehicles.
The Zero Regio Project, which is co-financed by the European Commission, involves the construction and experimentation of two innovative structures for the supply of multifuel hydrogen, in Mantua and Frankfurt, for the refuelling of fuel cell vehicles, using a range of technological options for the production and distribution of hydrogen. 16 partners from 4 European countries are involved in the project and it is coordinated, at a European level, by Infraserv Höchst GmbH and in Italy by the Lombardy Region. In Mantua hydrogen is produced, at the service station, using a gas-powered 20 mc/h reformer. The technology uses a high-temperature catalytic process with a pre-mixed flow of steam and natural gas which is transformed into hydrogen in successive stages. The fleet of vehicles is made up of three cell fuel-driven Fiat Pandas, bought by the Lombardy Region for the municipality of Mantua. Always with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions, the Mantua and Frankfurt stations are also considered ”Green Petrol Stations”, given that they are equipped with solar panels of 8 and 20 kWp respectively, that can generate electricity from a renewable source of around 30,000 kWh/year, which corresponds to a reduction of around 16 tonnes/year of CO2 emissions. For the petrol-based part, multiEnergy is an innovative modular concept that integrates the refuelling of hydrogen with a range of conventional liquid and gaseous fuels, including biofuels, with a view to contributing to the development of the new generation of low/zero-emission vehicles that car manufacturers are offering the market. In terms of energy saving, the multiEnergy station could become, in the short term, a platform for bio-construction and bio-architecture to test low-impact recycled materials, electrical, heating, air-conditioning and lighting systems with efficiency gains that will make it possible to reduce energy consumption in terms of kWh/m2/year as is happening across Europe. In the short term Eni will use hydrogen mixed with methane. The aim being to launch, at a national and European level, the use of this hydrogen-methane mix as an immediate solution, exploiting the Italian competitive advantage in terms of infrastructure and know-how in methane compared with the rest of Europe. Eni’s commitment has been formally recognised by two important sustainability indexes: the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good. The creation of this new Agip multiEnergy station is a further demonstration of Eni’s commitment to the continuous improvement of the entire Agip network and the objective of providing a wide range of services and products. Eni has always viewed “Technology and Environment” together; the Agip network was the first in Italy to distribute unleaded petrol in 1987 and to produce, from the early ’90s, low sulphur diesel, as well as products such as BluDiesel, BluSuper, sulphur-free diesel and petrol, anticipating by a wide margin the introduction of European norms in 2009. In Lombardia FIAT Panda Hydrogen will be fed from a central production facility as well as from an ‘On-Site’ reformer facility developed within the project. The reformer produces hydrogen from natural gas at the service station. A dispenser unit for hydrogen gas at 350bar is built and integrated in the public multi-fuel service station to be built within the project like at Höchst. In the first step the Panda Hydrogen-Cars are filled with 200bar. In the next 24 months the FIAT hydrogen-cars are tested in every day-life in northern Italy, explains Heinrich Lienkamp, Infraserv Höchst. The aim is to improve the acceptance for this future technology within society.
Hydrogen Economy: Hype or Potential Reality?Monday, October 8, 2007 Source: Frost & Sullivan PALO ALTO, Calif.--Exciting innovations take place in hydrogen production and storage technologies as countries across the world realize the need to identify alternate and self-sustaining sources of energy. This need is caused by spiraling oil and gas prices, along with mounting concerns about greenhouse gas emissions. New research from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.ti.frost.com), Innovations in Hydrogen Production and Storage Technologies, finds that significant developments take place in the field of hydrogen production and storage technologies. These developments expect to achieve commercialization and enter the market in a reasonably short time. “Governmental initiatives such as the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative in the United States and various projects in the European Union also help to accelerate active R&D in hydrogen technologies,” notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Naveen Sundar. “Increasing industry-academia collaborations and industry-government partnerships are a clear indication of the promising developments that lie ahead.” Currently, the dominant hydrogen production technology is reforming natural gas due to cost advantages over electrolysis and other renewable technologies. However, renewable technologies attract tremendous interest with companies that use readily available and renewable sources of energy such as solar, biogas and biomass to produce hydrogen in large quantities. Research on hydrogen storage technologies is equally dynamic. Some companies improve the current cylindrical and tank storage media using novel materials and increased compression, while others develop newer complex hydrides and nanomaterials-based storage. The industry expects these newer technologies to achieve commercialization fairly soon and compete against current technologies in the near future. Both production and storage technologies face several challenges that must be overcome before the hydrogen economy becomes an achievable reality. Cost is perhaps the biggest challenge and has a major role in determining which technologies will dominate and which will take time to achieve commercialization. This explains why less expensive techniques such as reforming will continue to lead production technology in the near future, while renewable technologies will take a long time to achieve mass market adoption despite generating huge interest. Similarly, chemical hydrides and other novel nanomaterial storage media undergo extensive research, but it will take some time before they are used in commercial applications. Infrastructural issues could also hinder technology development. Production and storage technologies should be developed in sync with each other and complemented by proper distribution networks to ensure synergistic growth across these technologies as opposed to isolated development. This calls for the development of a complete infrastructure using hydrogen in production, storage and distribution. “To overcome the challenges associated with high costs, governments have released roadmaps and encourage public-private partnerships to ensure that hydrogen is accepted as a source of energy,” says Sundar. “These partnerships also help to alleviate the infrastructural issues that plague the hydrogen economy.” Innovations in Hydrogen Production and Storage Technologies, part of the Technical Insights subscription, provides an overview of developments in hydrogen technologies such as electrolysis, biomass, complex hydrides and carbon nanotube technologies, along with an analysis of technology drivers, challenges and trends. It also provides an overview of major developments in key areas on a region-wise basis, as well as possible timelines for these technologies to reach the market. Interviews with the press are available. If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users and other industry participants with an overview of the latest analysis Innovations in Hydrogen Production and Storage Technologies, then send an e-mail to Johanna Haynes, Corporate Communications, at
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with the following information: your full name, company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, state, and country. We will send you the information via e-mail upon receipt of the above information. Technical Insights is an international technology analysis business that produces a variety of technical news alerts, newsletters and research services. Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.
Plug keeps eye on Russian split Sunday, October 7, 2007 Source: http://timesunion.com Last year, Plug Power Inc. in Latham got a huge boost from a $217 investment by a group of Russian investors led by billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov. The problem is, the two business partners are splitting up, and Bloomberg News reported last week they came to an agreement on how to divide their assets. The question is: How will this affect Smart Hydrogen Inc., the entity they created to make the Plug Power investment? Smart Hydrogen owns 34 percent of Plug's shares. Bloomberg reported Oct. 1 that the two men are working on splitting up the assets, and then will be free to sell them, although it's unclear who will get the Plug Power shares.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:51 )
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