It appears that natural gas cars are now dead (but trucks still have nat-gas options).
Hydrogen is made primarily from natural gas and electricity.
Current understanding of hydrogen fueling station development progress indicates a station
deployment pace one year slower than previously expected. In the 2016 Annual Evaluation, 38
stations were expected to be complete by the end of 2016; a similar number of stations (37) are
now expected to be open by the end of 2017. Similarly, 50 stations were previously expected by
the end of 2017; the updated projection is 42 by the close of 2018.
This shift in expectations is
indicative of ongoing difficulties with particular stations. Difficulties typically center on either
securing a mutually acceptable lease agreement between the station developer and the host gas
station’s owner and/or operator and protracted permitting and planning approval processes. In
a small number of cases, there have been difficulties with equipment procurement or the station
has undergone multiple rounds of tuning in order to complete the station testing and validation
process. GFO 15-605 introduced the enforcement of critical milestones to help ensure these types
of delays are prevented with newly-funded stations.
Between November of 2016 and March of
2017 the Energy Commission issued Stop Work Orders on nine stations funded in previous years
due to station developers’ lack of significant progress in construction of the stations and the
state’s fiscal deadline to utilize the funds. Station developers were required to provide a viable
and reasonable plan to complete station construction to potentially lift the Stop Work Orders. The
Energy Commission has lifted the Stop Work Order for the Mountain View station and is currently
considering whether to proceed with the Emeryville station. Completion of the Orange, Rohnert
Park, and North Hollywood stations remains uncertain. These five stations have been included in
the projections of this report. However, the Chino, Encinitas, Los Altos, and Newport
Beach upgrade (moved from the former Foster City station) are not proceeding since viable and
reasonable plans for completion were not received; hence, these stations are not included in
projections. Figure ES3 shows the latest expectation for cumulative hydrogen fueling network
development for all funded stations. . . .
1 Three Non-Retail stations currently have plans for upgrade to retail. Harbor City closed in Q4, 2016. Years 2014
and 2015 include a historical data correction. Three stations and one upgrade to retail no longer included due to
lack of substantial progress. CSULA included from 2014 on in this figure.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/08 ... 1-doe.htmlDOE issues $6M request for proposals for H2@Scale projects
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (H2_AT_SCALE_CRADA_CALL) for research projects that address the Hydrogen at Scale (H2@Scale) concept (earlier post), which enables wide-scale production and use of hydrogen to address issues such as grid resiliency, energy storage and security, domestic job creation, and domestic leadership in innovation.
In 2016, DOE national laboratories identified the potential of hydrogen to decarbonize deeply a multitude of sectors in a proposal termed “H2@Scale”. Preliminary analysis performed by the national laboratories on the H2@Scale concept indicated that nearly a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is possible by 2050 via such large-scale hydrogen production and use.
Through this request from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) seeks to double the impact of its funding in the applied research portion of its portfolio, with a focus on techno-economic modeling and analysis; materials compatibility R&D; grid simulation and electrolyzer testing; materials and component manufacturing R&D; development and use of co-products from hydrogen production; and performance verification of hydrogen equipment to inform R&D. . . .
The H2@ Scale concept aims to develop transformational technologies that reduce the cost of hydrogen production and distribution, diversify the feedstock available for economic hydrogen production, enhance the flexibility of the power grid, reduce emissions through novel uses of low-cost hydrogen, generate jobs, and provide global technology leadership for export of next-generation energy solutions. . . .
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/08 ... lemco.htmlULEMCo to offer a fuel cell range extender module for Nissan e-NV200 electric van
. . . With the combination of the on-board hydrogen storage and fuel cell module, the van will have a range of more than 150 miles (241 km) when laden, satisfying the range requirements of most average daily delivery operations for this size of van.
ULEMCo specifically engineered the module to provide additional energy to the vehicle so that the operational practicality of the full electric vehicle can be widened to cope with seasonal range variation, working lifetime, and the impact on range when fully loaded—all things that currently limit the range of duties an operator can target for existing for zero-emission commercial vehicles.
Using a 12kW fuel cell and 1.6 kg/day on-board hydrogen storage capability, the van will have almost twice the range of the standard e-NV200, measured to NEDC standards, without sacrificing load space capacity.
ULEMCo’s fuel cell RX power module will be roof mounted, and provide motive power via the battery to support the drive load requirements for the base van. . . .
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/08 ... ellhi.htmlEU NELLI project delivers new generation solid-oxide fuel cell; efficient and lower cost
The EU-funded three-year NELLHI project has concluded after successfully developing a new stack design of solid oxide fuel cells, from an all-European supply chain. NELLHI combined European know-how in single cells, coatings, sealing, and stack design to produce a novel high-performance 1 kW SOFC stack along with with the proof of concept of a 10 kWe SOFC stack. . . .
Interesting article. Thanks!DNAinaGoodWay wrote:Working on more economical production of clean hydrogen:
https://futurism.com/researchers-can-no ... uid-metal/
Sorry, but that is not "about the change".futurism wrote:Cars with hydrogen fuel cells carry hydrogen and take in oxygen from the air, which a catalyst combines to produce electricity. The problem is, these aren’t as easy to manufacture as the batteries in EVs.
That’s about to change, though, ...
Sorry, but this is the BIG LIE about hydrogen. It is not, and never will be, the "next step". A low-efficiency solution will NEVER replace a near-unity solution in the energy-constrained world in which we live. The best it can hope to achieve is some applications where batteries fall short. We have repeatedly identified some of these in this thread, not the least of which is seasonal energy storage.futurism wrote:“The recent shift to electric cars is irreversible,” Datta said. The next step is hydrogen fuel cells, which can offer a longer range and are easier to refuel than recharging batteries.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/09 ... shell.htmlShell, ITM Power to install 10MW electrolyzer for refinery hydrogen
Shell, together with ITM Power, plans to install a 10MW electrolyzer to produce hydrogen at the Wesseling refinery site within the Rheinland Refinery Complex. This would be the largest unit of its kind in Germany and the world’s largest PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) electrolyzer.
Today, the refinery uses approximately 180,000 tons of hydrogen per year in its various plants. The hydrogen is currently produced as a byproduct of the refining process or through natural gas reforming; electrolysis instead uses electricity to split water into the base components of hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolysis using low-cost renewable electricity could be a key technology for CO2-free hydrogen production in the Shell Rheinland Refinery. . . .
The project aims to enable the construction and operation of a large-scale 10 MW electrolyzer that can produce high-quality and CO2-free hydrogen while demonstrating technology and cost improvements through upscaling and new business applications. . . .
I love how they quote the electrolysis in units of "apples" and the load in units of "oranges" with the desire that many will get the impression that Shell is converting their hydrogen production from fossil fuels to hydrolysis. But that couldn't be farther from the truth.GRA wrote:Via GCC:http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/09 ... shell.htmlShell, ITM Power to install 10MW electrolyzer for refinery hydrogen...Shell, together with ITM Power, plans to install a 10MW electrolyzer to produce hydrogen at the Wesseling refinery site within the Rheinland Refinery Complex.Today, the refinery uses approximately 180,000 tons of hydrogen per year in its various plants.. . .