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At the Grove Fuel Cell Symposium in London, considerable progress was outlined in changing the energy infrastructure from fossil fuels to clean, efficient hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Kawaguchi-san accepted the Grove Medal on behalf of Honda Motor Company, which is beginning to lease out its hydrogen fuel cell cars and is planning large-scale production when the hydrogen infrastructure is in place. Honda is contributing to building up a new society, with home energy generation from renewable sources.
One of Honda’s first customers refuels his hydrogen fuel cell car
At the Grove Symposium, speakers from California announced progress with the hydrogen infrastructure which will make it possible to operate large numbers of fuel cell vehicles by 2015. Canada is also starting to build up the hydrogen infrastructure in greater Toronto and they are introducing fuel cells in several markets. Hydrogen and fuel cells are already cost effective in a variety of applications. In the UK, huge investment is being planned in the electricity grid over the coming decade and it was proposed that fuel cells should be employed, as they are efficient and can be powered by the fuels of the future. All energy sources are going to get a lot more expensive, but hydrogen developers are taking low value surplus electricity and turning it into a high value fuel for transport. Financiers outlined the investment required to bring hydrogen and fuel cell technologies to market and there were calls for a UK hydrogen and fuel cell programme, like those in the EU, the USA and Japan. This summer was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. This was the first major application of a fuel cell. Dr F.T. Bacon, who developed the fuel cell, was the first recipient of the Grove Medal at the Symposium in 1991.
This autumn the German Minister of Transport, Wolfgang Tiefensee, said : "After more than 100 years of combustion engines and the dominance of oil, we are facing a new technological era in the transport sector…. Today we can see that Germany is setting the pace when it comes to hydrogen and fuel cell technology. We are aiming to establish a nation-wide hydrogen supply in Germany by 2015, in order to support the serial-production of fuel cell vehicles."
A review of the Grove Symposium and other news from around the world will be available shortly in the autumn edition of Fuel Cell Power. |
