In April, Daimler announced plans to enter a joint venture with Volvo to develop fuel cell trucks. In mid-June, preliminary agreements solidified as Daimler Truck set up a new subsidiary, Daimler Truck Fuel Cell, to pool fuel cell expertise.
Are batteries or fuel cells the more environmentally friendly, technically superior and economically prudent solution for electric transportation? Short answer: It depends.
The Automotive Business Barometer has found that a clear majority of executives working in the auto industry wish automakers and politicians in Germany would support more of the technologies deployed in electric vehicles. Over 80 percent of those who took part in the survey criticized the current focus of politics and industry on all-electric transportation.
Fuel cell systems are also of great interest for use in drones due to their higher range compared to pure battery systems. For several years, research and development has been carried out in this field of aeronautical engineering, whereby the focus is not always on playful activities.
(Source: Hydrogenics)
Looking at the share prices for fuel cell companies that are being traded on the stock exchange right now, one could be forgiven for thinking that a crash had just taken place. It is as if the technical breakthroughs in the further development of the fuel cells had never taken place, and as though the production, storage and use of hydrogen had zero chance of achieving any success. Yet in fact, the opposite is the case. Right now we are at the start of a new mega trend, and in 2015,
While the further development of the H2 and FC technology is diligently perfected in the laboratories and workshops using new catalyst materials or production processes, elsewhere – just as diligently – discussions are taking place about the political framework conditions. In spring 2015, it was decided in Brussels that in the future, during the refining of fuels, hydrogen which is produced from renewable energies will gain a multiple offsetting against the biofuel quota, but “only” by a factor of two and not – as requested by many – by a factor of four.
There is a major information deficit with the topic of hydrogen and fuel cell technology – both in expert circles and in the public realm. There are almost no affordable English magazines that cover the research results from other regions of the world. The few press releases which are published on the internet often suffer from a lack of detailed facts. For this reason the Hdrogeit Verlag is now offering a new information service which reports on the latest developments in the hydrogen and fuel cells sector: H2-international.
Considering the current fuel cell activities in China, it can be concluded with some certainty that over the course of years to come, the People’s Republic will not suddenly become a pioneer in the field of FC mobility. At the same time, however, in the area of research and development and on the governmental side, the country is now doing some initial groundwork with the use of renewable energy in the area of energy supply. Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are playing an important role here.
It’s a moment many have been long been waiting for: at the Hanover trade show, the companies of the Fuel Cells Initiative [Initiative Brennstoffzelle IBZ] presented many of the fuel cell heating devices which are currently available on the market. After the home energy providers showed off their products and services at the ISH in Frankfurt am Main in mid March 2015 with their own stands – an event which claims to be the biggest exhibition for energy-efficient heating and air conditioning technology in the world, in Hanover they shared a single shared booth. The Logapower BZH192iT from Buderus was on show there for the first time. SOLIDpower also made its debut at the IBZ. And Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFC) was