UCLM gets €450,000 to investigate green hydrogen
Within the framework of a European project in which research institutions and businesses are involved, the “Tequima” research group of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) will work on the development of a new generation of electrolyzers that permits the production of green hydrogen. It has received 450,000 euros in funding for four nations.
Within the framework of the European Innovation Council’s EIC Pathfinder competitive call, the new research project “Elobio” has received funding of almost 4 million euros, of which approximately 450,000 euros will go to the local university group.
The Elobio project was chosen from among 403 proposals submitted for the EIC Pathfinder 2021 call for cutting-edge research projects to achieve progress in strategic areas, according to an announcement made this Friday by the UCLM in a press release. It will be carried out alongside eight other projects.
By electrolyzing platform molecules from lignocellulosic biomass, the project, which will start in January 2023 and last until December 2026, will make it possible to create a new generation of electrolyzers that can produce green hydrogen.
STILL aims for its clients to receive the handling equipment, the hydrogen fuel cell, and the complete service with the company’s seal
The hydrogen cell will eventually rank among the technologies of the future, along with lithium technology, for STILL. The company intends to introduce its own 24V fuel cell for maintenance cars in 2023 after nearly 20 years of study on this technology. With the achievement of this new milestone, STILL will remain the first manufacturer in the European market to produce fuel cells and original equipment. One of the long-term objectives is for customers to eventually receive not only handling equipment but also fuel cells and the associated STILL service, all bearing the company’s logo.
Coherent and sensible energy transition
Similar to STILL, work is being done to introduce 7 new fuel cell-integrated counterbalanced forklift, stacker, and order picker models.
Because not all technologies offer the same benefits in every industry, STILL is committed to ensuring that its customers begin their energy transition consistently and wisely. Its advisors evaluate it by carefully examining a wide range of factors, including investments, operating costs, and infrastructure. They can determine and suggest the solution that makes the most sense in this way. Lead-acid technology might be the best choice in situations where the fleet is only sporadically used, like in a business with few shifts. Lithium may be the best option in other businesses where the forklift fleet is heavily utilized and there are multiple continuous shifts, though hydrogen may end up being the most appropriate technology given the anticipated future consolidation.
Hanwha-Korea Zinc to strengthen ‘Green Hydrogen Alliance’
Hanwha and Korea Zinc extend their collaboration for the ‘new renewable hydrogen/battery’ business, the next growth engine.
In four key business areas—the hydrogen value chain, carbon capture, wind power generation, and resource development—the two firms intend to enhance their cooperation through this commercial agreement.
Hanwha will work on the development of hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen gas turbine power generation facilities, as well as the construction of ammonia tank terminals and ammonia cracking facilities for the production of green ammonia, which Korea Zinc intends to market through international subsidiaries.
In the blue ammonia project that Hanwha is considering funding in the US, Korea Zinc intends to take part. The two businesses would invest a combined 156.8 billion won in equity, exchanging 543,638,380 shares of Hanwha common stock for 238,358 shares of Korea Zinc common stock.
The Municipality of Brescia sees critical issues in the hydrogen train project
The prospective hydrogen trains on the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo “freeze” the suburban service’s expansion.
All of this is happening in response to the Lombardy Region resolution on the 338 million euro H2iseO project, which would see the first six hydrogen trains operating between Brescia and Val Camonica starting in 2024.
However, in order to provide a viable alternative to the car, the Municipality, the Region, and Ferrovie Nord had been collaborating since 2018 to upgrade the current infrastructure and develop the “suburban train” (financed with 13 million from the Region plus 3 million already spent by the Municipality). This train would have increased train frequencies between Brescia and Castegnato (15 minutes), Brescia and Iseo (30 minutes), and Brescia-Edolo (one hour).
“The resolution puts on paper frightening ramifications for us in terms of influence on the service,” claims the Councilor for Mobility of the Municipality of Brescia.
The frequency increase is put on hold for the time being, and the best course of action will be determined after the hydrogen trains start running.
The Lodge continues by highlighting further effects.
A substantial portion of the station platforms will need to be renovated since the new trains, which are 97 meters long, will require them to be too short for the cars, increasing the yearly management cost from the regional budget from 4 million to 24.5 million.
“It’s good that hydrogen is being tried here,” the mayor Emilio Del Bono says, “but we’re interested in the service; otherwise, I’d want to have lovely trains that are barely utilized.”
Green NortH2 Energy bags funding from Business Finland for hydrogen and ammonia production
Green NortH2 Energy, a leader in environmentally friendly ammonia production in Finland, has received R&D financing from Business Finland. The business is creating a green hydrogen and ammonia manufacturing idea with the help of the loan.
A scalable production model for green hydrogen and ammonia is being developed by Green NortH2 Energy, a project development business owned by Elomatic Oy. Business Finland has provided the company with EUR 2.3 million in research and development financing to support this. Letters of intent have already been signed by the business with Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto Oy, Wärtsilä, and Meriaura.
By substituting climate-damaging fossil fuels with hydrogen products derived from renewable energy, Green NortH2 Energy makes a substantial contribution to the green transition while also creating jobs.
The first green ammonia manufacturing facility will be built by Green NortH2 Energy in Naantali.
Beijing to add 10,000 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles by 2025
According to a five-year plan for growing the city’s hydrogen industries announced by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management, Beijing plans to have more than 10,000 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles operating on its roads by 2025 and to construct 74 hydrogen recharging stations.
Beijing intends to broaden the use cases for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to include, among other things, logistics, public transportation, environmental sanitation, and postal services.
The city intends to accelerate the construction of hydrogen refueling stations in important districts such Yanqing, Daxing, Fangshan, Changping, Shunyi, Haidian, and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. The city plans to use 74 stations by 2025, which will generate 148 metric tons of hydrogen daily.
Australian companies to incorporate green hydrogen with pumped hydro storage
Several large-scale pumped hydro energy storage projects in the Australian state of Victoria will be the focus of a new joint venture between Australian renewable energy developers Sunshine Hydro and Energy Estate. The venture also has plans to incorporate new renewable generation capacity and green hydrogen production.
The two firms indicated they will be looking into alternative long-duration energy storage technologies, such as flow batteries, solar thermal, compressed air, and hydrogen storage. The two companies earlier this year revealed plans to construct a renewable energy super-hybrid project in Queensland.
The state government’s support for new sources of clean energy generation as part of its objective to reach 95% renewables by 2035 and the hastened retirement of Victoria’s coal-fired power stations, according to Sunshine Hydro Chair Michael Myer, led to the formation of the new company.
First hydrogen fuel cell hybrid locomotive in China passes 20,000km test
Since it was put into service in 2021, the first hydrogen fuel cell hybrid locomotive produced in China has safely traveled more than 20,000 kilometers, according to Fu Yongjun, general manager of CRRC Datong and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC).
The locomotive has completed 7,127 shunting operations on a traction load of 4.28 million tons per kilometer over a distance of 20,384 kilometers on the Jinzhou-Baiyinhua Railway in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
It used 152,900 kWh of power, lowering carbon emissions by 350 tons and gasoline use by around 110 tons.
ITM Power adds new CEO
ITM Power announce Dennis Schulz’s selection as the organization’s new CEO, effective on December 1, 2022.
Dennis joins ITM Power from Dresden, Germany-based Linde Engineering, a branch of Linde, where he has served as Managing Director since 2020. He has worked with Linde Engineering for more than 14 years in a number of roles, including project execution, Head of Strategy, and CFO.
In his present role, he has already built solid relationships with the ITM team in Sheffield and has been heavily involved in ITM Power’s strategic collaboration with Linde. He has extensive knowledge of the green hydrogen and decarbonization markets in particular. Dennis is a Master of Science and Executive MBA graduate. Next month, the Company is eager to welcome him.
Santander UK and Levidian partner on decarbonization tech
Santander UK and Levidian, a leading provider of climate technology, launched a new partnership to promote and spread the use of Levidian’s revolutionary decarbonization technology.
The partnership offers the chance to deploy Levidian’s ground-breaking LOOP technology throughout Santander UK’s own office space and the chance to assist UK companies in their transition to a low-carbon economy.
Levidian, a company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and established in 2012, has created LOOP, a rapid decarbonization device that removes carbon from methane to produce clean hydrogen and high-quality graphene, a new material that can be used in a variety of applications, such as enhancing the durability of concrete, tyres, batteries, and producing anti-corrosion paint.
Marubeni opens office in Scotland
By locating its first office there, Marubeni Corporation, a worldwide corporation with headquarters in Japan, made a significant contribution to helping Scotland reach net zero through the construction of offshore wind farms and green hydrogen projects.
The facilities are located in Glasgow, where the corporation and its partners hope to create a Green Energy Hub that will provide green hydrogen to nearby users, such as Scottish Event Campus, in order to host net zero events.
AEMC sends hydrogen rules recommendations to energy ministers
As a crucial first step toward developing a national hydrogen and renewable gas economy, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has forwarded new hydrogen regulations to Australia’s energy ministers.
Energy ministers can modify the national gas and retail regulatory frameworks with the help of the AEMC’s recommended standards, allowing low-level hydrogen gas mixes and renewable gases to be securely supplied to existing distribution pipelines serving appliances in homes and businesses.
The AEMC was required to consult on the proposed rules in the final report per the terms of reference of the Review. After completing this, the AEMC is currently disseminating the suggested regulations.
These regulations, according to AEMC Chair Anna Collyer, are essential stages in the creation of a national hydrogen and renewable gas economy.
Green Hydrogen Alliance in Galicia
Francisco Conde, the Xunta’s economic vice president, took part on Thursday in the first round of consultations aimed at creating the Green Hydrogen Industrial Alliance, which unites the whole value chain.
Participants in the meeting in Santiago included the Galician Hydroxene Association, the port authorities of A Corua, Vigo, and Ferrol, the Intersectoral Technological Alliance of Galicia (Atiga), the Cluster of the Logistics Function, the Galician Naval Cluster (Aclunaga), the Association of Industries of Metal and Associated Technologies (Asime), the Cluster of the Automotive Companies of Galicia (Ceaga), and the three public universities.
When asked about prospects to develop this collaboration with hydrogen producers and industrial customers, as well as with component manufacturers and all logistics, Conde responded that Galicia had “a very important map of opportunities.”
In this vein, he emphasized that the goal of this alliance is to “encourage public-private collaboration” as well as “the creation and execution of specific support instruments, in which European funds will play a key role.”
In addition, he urged that “green hydrogen transport infrastructures must be developed in order to connect Galicia with the plateau and the north of Portugal.”
The state supports hydrogen filling station in Gersthofen
Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s Minister of Economics and Energy, has delivered two funding documents for the infrastructure expansion of the state’s hydrogen filling stations. The money from the millions is split between a bus firm in Bad Füssing and Gersthofen.
Tyczka Hydrogen is adding a hydrogen filling option to an existing conventional filling station in Gersthofen’s freight traffic center. The main goal of this is to supply hydrogen to nearby freight forwarders’ fuel cell trucks. The ministry claims that two million euros will be used to support the initiative.
Hydrogen grant certificate presented to Eichberger Reisen
Minister of Economics and Energy for Bavaria Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) has delivered two financial documents for the development of the hydrogen fueling infrastructure in Bavaria. The Eichberger Reisen company, which is constructing a hydrogen filling station in Bad Füssing (in the Passau area) and is also developing its own electrolyzer to supply hydrogen, received one of the two finance certificates. It is necessary to refill the company’s own fuel cell buses, which are now being acquired. The ministry’s finance program is providing 1.98 million euros to facilitate the development of the filling station.
Another funding certificate was given to Tyczka Hydrogen, which is adding a hydrogen filling option to an existing conventional filling station at the Gersthofen Augsburg Freight Traffic Center. The main goal of this is to supply hydrogen to nearby freight forwarders’ fuel cell trucks. Two million euros are used to finance the project.
The comeback of the steam locomotive – but with hydrogen
The innovation, which Alstom Group is proud of and which was co-developed in Stendal, ought to be available on the market no later than 2024. According to Neubauer, “the innovation resides in the fact that we were able to run an old, dirty diesel engine with green hydrogen and produce no emissions.” Steam may be released from the train without harming the environment.
The engineers’ thoughts for creating such a hybrid shunting locomotive solution were motivated by two things. On the one hand, locomotives can be operated for up to 70 years because they are quite stable. This indicates that there are still numerous locomotives in use today that use environmentally damaging technology.
Shunting locomotives, on the other hand, are frequently not utilized effectively. They remain motionless for 80% of the time, claims Neubauer. Because of this, driving a diesel vehicle is not only bad for the environment but also quite expensive.
Algeria looking into a roadmap for hydrogen development
The government looked over a development plan for Algeria’s hydrogen industry.
This roadmap, which the Minister of Energy and Mines presented, breaks down the national strategy for the development of hydrogen into a number of axes and “offers national and international players the necessary visibility regarding policies, regulations, and measures to incentive and encourage that will be adopted by the public authorities for the deployment of the hydrogen sector in our country.”
This roadmap focuses particularly on increasing energy security, speeding up the energy transition, and lowering the nation’s carbon footprint.
