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Hydrogen fuel cells: The long road to commercialization…

Public consciousnessAs we approach the end of the millennium’s first decade, it’s clear that the ‘green’ revolu-tion has not yet taken off to the extent that one might have hoped back in 1999. In that time an enormous amount of progress has been made, however, to the point where the popula-tion of the Western world now has a new green lexicon, featuring words and ideas that were very much the preserve of the elite a few short years ago.

Public opinion has by and large been con-verted to the benefits and potential of what is now known as clean technology. What remains to be done is to introduce these concepts as fixtures in the lives of hundreds of millions of people, and for the economic and environmen-tal payback to become clear.

Gradually, that process is producing results. In many ways, the story of how hydrogen fuel cells have entered the public consciousness – and their potential to be a solution to many of the world’s future energy issues – encapsulates that of clean tech as a whole. This versatile technology can reshape the fortunes of a number of industrial sectors and become part of people’s everyday lives, all while saving car-bon and ultimately, money.

It may be that not every application cur-rently in development makes it to the consumer market. But the momentum sustaining fuel cell progress to date is clear evidence that a range of industries, investors and consumers are aware of the ways in which fuel cells address the most pressing clean energy needs of the world today.

A prime solutionFuel cell power systems have long been regarded as a prime solution to meet the reduced emissions and improved performance needs of various sectors, from automotive to aerospace. The promise of products that emit no CO2 or other pollutants at the point-of-use has proved attractive to entrepreneurs, businessmen, designers and engineers the world over.

Developments in recent years have shown that proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have the capability to not only provide the performance level required to satisfy the demand of some of the world’s major compa-nies, but that they have the potential for signifi-cant market penetration across a diverse range of markets in the near future.

The business of fuel cellsIntelligent Energy (IE) is in the business of developing cleaner power systems, using its proprietary fuel cell technologies. The origins of the company lie in the Fuel Cell Group at Loughborough University in the UK. A col-laboration between the Chemistry and the Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering Departments during the 1980s and 1990s, resulted in the construction of the UK’s first 1 kW PEM fuel cell stack in 1995. This was followed by the establishment of a university spin-out company, Advanced Power Sources (APS) Ltd, which became part of IE in 2001.

The last two years at IE have been tremen-dously productive, signifying the culmination of a phase of research and development that has lasted more than two decades. That is not to say that R&D has now ceased – how can it, in a forward-thinking organization – but rather that IE is now in a growth phase which will see rapid commercialization of its proprietary fuel cell products.

Symbiotic relationshipIntelligent Energy as a business believes that hydrogen fuel cells are indeed critical to sustain-able energy. However, they also fit nicely into a patchwork quilt of renewables that form a sym-biotic relationship capable of securing a highly sustainable future. Since power generation is responsible for nearly 40% of global energy related CO2 emissions, renewables – with little or no cost to the environment – offer a wel-come solution.

As such, IE’s pioneering technology has been used through partnerships with some of the

world’s biggest companies, including Boeing, Suzuki Motor Corporation, PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Scottish and Southern Energy.

The IE business model often involves work-ing behind the ‘factory gates’ with its blue-chip partners – often under strict confidentiality – across its target sectors, which include auto-motive, aerospace, distributed generation, and portable power. But whether IE’s key customer relationships lie in the public domain or not, the aim of the company remains the same: to become the world’s first consumer clean energy company; to have its cleaner power systems embedded inside its partners’ products; and to provide competitive differentiation.

Experience has taught Intelligent Energy that a number of things need to be in place for its fuel cell technology to take hold, and this is the same across the entire industry. The technology needs to be robust and reliable, and offer advantages to the user over incum-bent devices, whether this be in the shape of new or improved functionality, or enhanced sustainability.

Nevertheless, it is of paramount importance that IE demonstrates to its partners and their customers the advantageous impact on their bottom line. It must be clearly delineated how the new products and technology not only bring about real environmental benefits, but also cost savings. For businesses, this is espe-cially important, as the technology represents a potential for diversification of their offerings and opening up new markets.

IE works with a range of leading companies, building its clean fuel-cell power systems into their products and accelerating the commer-cialization process, and ultimately reducing the time-to-market. During the past year, IE has integrated its technology in a variety of different applications across its target sectors, and has unveiled a number of ground-breaking prototypes. These demonstrate the progress the company is making with its partners and bring-ing clean power to the consumer.

Small-scale combined heat and powerA recent joint venture with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has been established to develop and commercialize combined heat and power (CHP) systems for commercial and resi-

Intelligent Energy co-founder, Dr Jon Moore, here discusses the challenges presented through the firm’s work in various sectors. He looks forward to key industry milestones on the way to widespread consumer application of hydro-gen fuel cells in the coming years.

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dential use. This partnership is a clear example of the real consumer benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology.

SSE has a history of seeking out and work-ing with innovators in energy generation and supply, and the company has shown a clear commitment to finding cleaner, more efficient energy sources to provide for the needs of its customers. Both Intelligent Energy and SSE are determined to create something that will add real value to the supply of clean energy throughout the UK and Ireland.

The nature of this joint venture is based on the fact that the heat-to-power ratio of fuel cells is particularly suited to CHP applications. CHP is the simultaneous generation of heat and electricity in a single process. Whereas an electricity-only plant is typically large and connected to a high-voltage transmission net-work, a CHP unit is usually much smaller, and attached directly to a site which consumes the heat and power locally. As a form of distributed energy, CHP eliminates the need for costly and inefficient transmission and distribution networks, allowing for the maximum utilization of the energy content of the fuel (for example, natural gas) by using both thermal and electri-cal outputs (heat and power).

On average, conventional power generation is only 35% efficient. Up to 65% of the energy is released as ‘waste’ heat. CHP substantially reduces this loss by providing the heat for the chosen application – industrial, commercial or residential. In this way around 90% of the energy can be utilized.

PEM fuel cells are at the forefront of hydro-gen fuel cell technology in terms of technical and product maturity for small-scale CHP. As they are highly efficient, and produce both heat and power in a controllable manner, they are ideally suited to the heat and electricity demands of modern housing and commercial buildings. PEM fuel cells are also capable of silent or near-silent operation, and have heat-to-power ratios integral to the demands of modern buildings.

Replacing the traditional boilerIntelligent Energy has worked with Sasol, the South African energy company, to develop and demonstrate a scalable inte-grated reformer/fuel cell solution that is fuel-flexible. The utility provides the fuel to the customer as before, and the natural gas is converted to hydrogen onsite, mini-mizing supply infrastructure costs. To the homeowner, the box on the wall looks like the traditional boiler that took gas from the mains supply and provided heat.

IE is developing CHP systems that take an input from the same gas main, gener-ate hydrogen from it, and produce heat and power simultaneously for the home via a fuel cell system. The first systems of the joint SSE–IE venture will be installed at a series of test sites where the capabilities of the tech-nology can be proven.

By removing some of the burden of domestic heat and power from the grid, we begin to be able to see what the diverse energy landscape of the near future can look like. The next few years may see enormous changes in the way that homes and businesses get their energy. The SSE–IE partner-ship is just one example of a new era of partner-ships that will foster energy sustainability.

Avoiding large-scale infrastructure investmentThe long-term distributed generation approach that Intelligent Energy subscribes to ensures that enormous amounts of capital expenditure are not required. This strategy is synonymous

with that of the mobile phone industry, focus-ing on the benefits of adoption for consumers rather than pumping investment into networks and infrastructure. In this way, fuel cells can work their way into many aspects of daily con-sumer life in the next few years.

Hydrogen alone cannot solve the issues we face in terms of energy supply and CO2 emis-sions, but it certainly has a powerful role to play in providing stability and versatility in the energy networks of the future. Growing demand for energy worldwide will be one of the key indicators of economic recovery, and the efforts of those in the energy and transportation sec-tors will be central to sustainable growth in the future. The coming years promise energy and fuel supply combinations that will draw on a wide variety of traditional, renewable and clean sources. To do this, one has to look at the energy landscape holistically, and this includes transport.

Transportation for the futureIn the automotive arena, Intelligent Energy is leading a consortium producing a hydrogen

Intelligent Energy has set up a joint venture with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to develop and commercialize combined heat and power (CHP) systems for commercial and residential use. The first systems of the SSE–IE joint venture will be installed at a series of test sites where the capabilities of the technology can be proven.

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fuel cell hybrid version of the iconic London Black Cab. With project partners Lotus Engineering, London Taxis International and TRW Conekt, IE is aiming to field a fleet of 50–100 hydrogen fuel cell taxis on the streets of London in time for the 2012 Olympics. These are the kind of iconic projects that serve to stimulate interest and wider demand in the possibilities of a sustainable approach, and of using hydrogen and fuel cell systems as part of that approach.

The major players in the automotive sector as a whole have spent billions developing fuel cell vehicles and the fuel cell power systems that propel them for general use. The automotive industry is increasingly committed to investing in the development behind and the manufac-turing of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Whereas debate continues between technology advocates as to the shape of the automotive future, the majority of the world’s leading auto companies believe that vehicles powered, or partly pow-

ered, by fuel cell systems are the only practical, low-carbon alternative to the performances obtained from traditional cars that are powered by the internal combustion engine.

Fuel cell vehicles themselves are now leav-ing the demonstration phase and entering the launch stage of their development, prior to the beginning of full commercialization. Evidence of this progression comes from the automak-ers themselves. Toyota has stated that its fuel cell cars will be available to the consumer in 2015, and will be priced ‘surprisingly low’, while Daimler is aiming to begin commer-cialization of its fuel cell cars in 2012, and to sell 100 000 by 2015. Korean automaker Kia also recently announced that it aims to begin small-scale production (1000 per annum) of a fuel cell hybrid vehicle in 2012, and to pro-duce 10 000 vehicles a year from 2015. As can be seen, 2015 appears to be the milestone year for the auto industry whereby fuel cell vehicles will enter the mainstream en masse.

Changing the gameFuel cell systems are well down the road to proving what a game-changing technology they can be. They have the capability to revo-lutionize many of our energy needs in the near term, across many different markets. Fuel cells and hydrogen, however, are not ‘silver bul-lets’. Rather, they are part of a diverse range of technologies and products that will be required to provide cleaner and more energy-efficient alternatives to the burning of hydrocarbons, while simultaneously reducing our reliance on reserves of fossil fuels.

Consequently, a whole range of green indus-tries – including the wind, solar, wave, biomass, and battery sectors – need to redouble their efforts to underline the strategic importance of sustainability in business. Sustainable energy will realize its force once synergistic opportu-nities across old dividing lines are identified. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen which companies will be at the forefront of the drive towards commercialization of clean technolo-gies. Perhaps the leaders will be those businesses who recognize the importance of communicat-ing the long-term market and financial benefits to their partners as well as the consumer, or those that focus on the reduced carbon emis-sions, secure energy future and ultimately improved business efficiency.

For more information, contact: Dr Jon Moore, Director

of Communications, Intelligent Energy, The Innovation

Centre, Epinal Way, Loughborough LE11 3EH, UK.

Tel: +44 1509 225863, Email: jon.moore@intelligent-

energy.com, Web: www.intelligent-energy.com

Intelligent Energy is leading a consortium to produce a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid version of the iconic London Black Cab. With project partners Lotus Engineering, London Taxis International and TRW Conekt, IE aims to field a fleet of 50–100 hydrogen fuel cell taxis on London’s streets in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Intelligent Energy collaborated with French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroën on the H2Origin project, which integrated IE’s fuel cell technology as a range extender in an urban delivery vehicle with an electric powertrain.