Hydrogen is presented as one of the main zero emission fuels for ports and cities

Hydrogen is consolidating itself more and more as a sustainable and competitive alternative to traditional fuels thanks to the advances and technological solutions developed during the last years. To explain the possibilities offered by this gas as a zero emission fuel in ports and cities, the Port of Barcelona and the Energy Research Institute of Catalonia (IREC) jointly organized the conference «Hydrogen in a Europe without emissions».

The day, which was held at the Port of Barcelona, ??was inaugurated by its president, Mercè Conesa; and the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Marta Subirà.

Among the participants, the interventions of Albert Tarancón, ICREA professor and head of Nanoiònica y batteries de combustible of IREC stood out; Carlos Navas, Head of Strategy and Marketing of the FCH 2JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) of the European Union; Enrique Centeno, General Director of Corporate Affairs of Toyota, Fernando Palacín, Director of the Hydrogen Foundation of Aragón; Beatriz Ruiz, from the department of Innovation and New Energies of Enagas; Jordi Vila, Head of Environment of the Port of Barcelona; and Xavier Sabaté, Head of Environment Projects.

A new ‘water fuel’ for hydrogen cars promises a range of 1,000 km between charges

Electriq Global is a half-Australian, half-Israeli start-up (and financed by the Netanyahu government) that ensures it is ready to test in the Netherlands its solution to the big emissions problem in combustion cars: a fuel formed in a 60% for water.

Its objective is to have twice the yield, be 50% cheaper and 100% ecological, and also be included in the field of lithium-ion batteries or compressed hydrogen. Now ‘only’ needs to be made to work on a large scale.
First tests, in 2020

Through its partnership with the Dutch company Eleqtec, the water-based fuel of this start-up will begin its testing phase in the Netherlands in 2020. The company says it can run on a hydrogen car with a fuel cell, although it presents it as a solution for any type of vehicle in the future.

But how does it work? Electriq Global fuel, based on water, releases hydrogen by reacting with a catalyst – a salt chemical called BH4 – which is used to generate electricity and power the vehicle.

What they do not specify is how exactly they convert water into fuel, since this isolated element can not act as such because it does not contain chemical energy.

High-powered fuel cell boosts electric-powered submersibles, drones

The transportation industry is one of the largest consumers of energy in the U.S. economy with increasing demand to make it cleaner and more efficient. While more people are using electric cars, designing electric-powered planes, ships and submarines is much harder due to power and energy requirements.

A team of engineers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a high-power fuel cell that advances technology in this area. Led by Vijay Ramani, the Roma B. and Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished University Professor, the team has developed a direct borohydride fuel cell that operates at double the voltage of today’s commercial fuel cells.

This advancement using a unique pH-gradient-enabled microscale bipolar interface (PMBI), reported in Nature Energy Feb. 25, could power a variety of transportation modes – including unmanned underwater vehicles, drones and eventually electric aircraft – at significantly lower cost.

«The pH-gradient-enabled microscale bipolar interface is at the heart of this technology,» said Ramani, also professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering. «It allows us to run this fuel cell with liquid reactants and products in submersibles, in which neutral buoyancy is critical, while also letting us apply it in higher-power applications such as drone flight.»

The fuel cell developed at Washington University uses an acidic electrolyte at one electrode and an alkaline electrolyte at the other electrode. Typically, the acid and alkali will quickly react when brought in contact with each other. Ramani said the key breakthrough is the PMBI, which is thinner than a strand of human hair. Using membrane technology developed at the McKelvey Engineering School, the PMBI can keep the acid and alkali from mixing, forming a sharp pH gradient and enabling the successful operation of this system.

«Previous attempts to achieve this kind of acid-alkali separation were not able to synthesize and fully characterize the pH gradient across the PMBI,» said Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, a research scientist on Ramani’s team. «Using a novel electrode design in conjunction with electroanalytical techniques, we were able to unequivocally show that the acid and alkali remain separated.»

US Navy creates a superconductor that works at room temperature

A scientist working for the US Navy has applied for a patent for a superconductor at room temperature, a potential paradigm shift in power transmission and computer systems.

A superconductor at room temperature is a material that is capable of exhibiting superconductivity – lossless energy transmission – at temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius. Current superconductors work when they cool near absolute zero, and the hottest superconductor, hydrogen sulfide, only works at -70 degrees Celsius.

Salvatore Cezar Pais is registered as the inventor in the United States Navy patent application made public on Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The application states that a superconductor at room temperature can be constructed using a cable with an insulating core and an aluminum coating PZT (lead zirconate titanate) deposited by vacuum evaporation with a penetration depth thickness of London and polarized after the deposition.

An electromagnetic coil is placed circumferentially around the coating so that when the coil is activated with a pulsed current, a non-linear vibration is induced, allowing superconductivity at room temperature.

«This concept allows the transmission of electrical energy without losses and exhibits optimal thermal management (without heat dissipation),» according to the patent document, which leads to the design and development of new energy generation and collection devices with enormous benefits for the civilization.

¿Did you know that…?

Did you know that Air Liquide, Idex, STEP and Toyota create HysetCo to promote mobility based on hydrogen?

Toyota joins Air Liquide, Idex and Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP) with the aim of achieving a clean mobility that allows to improve air quality.

Air Liquide, Idex, Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP) and Toyota have joined forces to promote the development of hydrogen-based mobility with a joint venture called HysetCo. It is the first in history dedicated to the development of mobility based on hydrogen in the Île-de-France region, in Paris.

This collaboration represents an unprecedented milestone in the promotion of a hydrogen-based society in France and in the development of Hype, the world’s first hydrogen-based, emission-free fleet. It is a project launched in 2015, during COP21 and that has fuel cell cabs in circulation in Paris and throughout the Île-de-France region.

HysetCo will facilitate the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their charging infrastructure in the Île-de-France region to reach the goal of 600 taxis by the end of 2020. Toyota will supply another 500 Mirai before the end of 2020, to Complete the existing fleet of 100 Hype vehicles.

This joint venture covers two activities: the distribution of hydrogen and the development of applications related to mobility. Within that ecosystem, each collaborator contributes his own knowledge. The entity’s mission is to promote the transition of the sector towards the elimination of emissions, with the aim of having ‘Taxis / VTC without emissions for the Olympic Games of Paris 2024’.

Agenda

Sixth International Conference on Multifunctional, Hybrid & Nanomaterial

ModVal 2019, 16th Symposium on Modeling and Experimental Validation of Electrochemical Energy Technologies

Energy Storage Europe 2019 Expo & Conference

Light Electric Vehicle Summit, LEVS 2019

15th International Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Conference, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells-Powering the Future, CCSHFC2019

ARIEMA Course on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells [in Spanish]

AIChE 2019 Spring Meeting and 15th Global Congress on Process Safety, including Topical 5: Emerging Technologies in Clean Energy

Spanish Fuel Cells Association – APPICE https://appice.es

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