Fall 2013 V o l u m e 5 I s s u e 3 Electronic Newsletter Hydrogen-Fuel Cells: “OMG They bottom line is that the introduction and market success Work! Now What?” of true disruptive technologies are messy, hard to predict and do not occur in an orderly, cadenced or even pre- dictable fashion. But, if the hydrogen-fuel cell technology What’s Happening? is real as we believe it is , and if the projected benefits are In some quarters of the hydrogen-fuel cell community real vs. those of competing options, as we believe these today there is an undercurrent of frustration, or disheart- are, then a quick review of history will give us a sense of edness that this set of revolutionary, game changing the types of enablers, events and situations which will be technologies are not moving to the market place as part of the revolution we all hope for, believe in, and are quickly as expected or desired. The benefits are clear for anticipating. The following short, basically outline, will the environment and reduced petroleum usage as de- touch on the impediments our hugely, massively, disrup- scribed so clearly in National Academy and other studies. tive technology is facing, and suggest a mixed bag of Investments by major auto OEMs are continuing as ag- twelve elements from similar history, many of which will gressively as ever. “In field” experience such as GM’s Pro- play key roles in the eventual fulfillment of hydrogen-fuel ject Driveway and those of other OEMs are creating cell technology in the marketplace. Examples and short reams of testimonials, durability and performance are assertions will be posited, but not elaborated on , due to being proven. Learning curves and technology roadmaps space considerations. The intent is not to write an aca- show that fuel cell propulsion will, at the very least, be demic paper, but to stimulate your creative thought and cheaper in volume than mild hybrids or regulatory com- action as to how we as a community and individuals can pliant diesels with which they must compete in the fu- make this revolution happen most quickly, effectively and ture. Auto OEMs are teaming up to drive the volume and ultimately profitably. share learning to speed up and make more robust vol- Continued on page 2 ume vehicle introductions (as opposed to demos). ZEV, fuel economy and CO2 requirements remain in place as daunting goals for competitive technologies. Hydrogen is IN THIS ISSUE now in the process of demonstrating it’s ability to store  Page 5—Hydrogen News of Interest the mass of ever growing excess renewable energy in  Germany. Fuel cell fork lift trucks are moving into ware- Page 9—Research Group Highlights houses and factories worldwide, and back up power sys- Page 14—IJHE Highlights tems are being fielded in ever growing numbers. And yet,  Page 16—Hydrogen Economy there is a restlessness in the community. Engineers and  Page 18—From the Bookshelf scientists are seeing the technical metrics they’ve set be-  ing accomplished. Policy wonks, prognosticators and fu- Page 19—Student Chapter News turists are unsure what to say since there doesn’t seem to Page 20—National Organization News be a unified march to hydrogen and fuel cells. The fol-  Page 21—Upcoming Meetings & Activities lowing short thought paper will take a thumbnail view of  Page 22—Conference Spotlight some history of similar disruptive technologies to sug-  gest some of the elements and occurrences that should Page 24—Get Connected be expected in this ragged journey going forward. The Contact Us: IAHE, 5794 SW 40 St. #303, Miami, FL 33155, USA Any questions on the E-Newsletter or IAHE? Email Matthew Mench at [email protected] Hydrogen-Fuel Cells: “OMG They Work! Now What? continued Truly Massively Disruptive from basically proof of principal to full blown industrial It is hard to conceive a more massively disruptive advent transformation. then hydrogen-Fuel Cells considering they are poised to cause disruption in four major existing industries. The in- TWELVE HISTORICALLY OBSERVED KEY INGREDIENTS: dustries are: 1. The auto industry, 2. The oil, gas and coal industries ( the Energies), 3. The Electric Utilities ( through 1. GREAT LEADERSHIP enablement of renewables and distributed This is an absolute necessity. Some examples are: generation thru volume capable storage and smart- -Thomas J Watson Jr. taking IBM from a mechanical com- grids) ,and, 4. The Supply Bases to all of the above. pany to a computer company when many were predicting a market of a few 10’s of computers for solely govern- A quick glance at the Fortune 500 reveals that this por- ment defense uses. tends a massive multi-trillion dollar economic reordering. -Bill Gates acting on the modular architecture enabled by This will happen neither easily nor quickly. Fates of whole the IBM PC. industries, companies, and to a large degree, even some -Steve Jobs developing and acting on an uncanny sense countries hang in the balance. Push back, delay, over- of what consumers would like or desire analysis, procrastination for multiple reasons, anger, dis- -Gordon Moore, Bob Noyce, and Andy Grove leaving tain, and protectionist government lobbying should all be Fairchild Industries and forming Intel based on their con- expected given the consequences for all involved. For ref- viction of what the integrated circuit that Noyce had in- erence, check the dramatic changes in the Fortune 500 vented would eventually mean (Moore’s Law). following the invention of the transistor through the de- velopment of the internet. For hydrogen-fuel cells, who will emerge as the defining leaders? That remains to be seen, but they will and must THE EVENTUAL DYNAMICS AND TIMING OF THIS MAS- emerge. SIVE REVOLUTION WILL BE DETERMINED BY FOUR MA- JOR FACTORS: 2. ACTING ON THE VISION, and not letting the needs of 1. The ability to satisfy market (consumer) reactions, bi- the “sustaining business” delay the products of the future. ases, preferences with compelling products. Negative examples are: RCA, the dominant electronics 2. The ability to bring both vehicles and fueling infra- giant which had CMOS technology but didn’t seriously structure into the field together. implement. Kodak which had the capability to do digital 3. The ability to overcome the “valley of death,” i.e. the photography and chose not to for profit margin reasons. cumulative losses involved in developing, bringing to Or, Fairchild Industries who lost the Intel founders. market, and creating the necessary volume to yield profitable products; as well as exiting previous capital- To date, the auto fuel cell-invested OEMs have continued izations and corporate capabilities while investing in to stay the course in enabling technology with large on- and developing new ones. For hydrogen-fuel cells, the going investments, but daily it’s a demanding balance by “valley” is more difficult because the vehicle and infra- senior leaders to determine that proper balance, particu- structure must both be developed simultaneously. larly as the cost of the next step includes losses on initial 4. The ability to overcome internal organizational obsta- products on the market place. However, their delays in cles in ongoing enterprises based on the need to do driving to volume products is in the process of opening business in the existing world while underwriting the doors to new automotive start ups, like Tesla, as the ad- enabling investments into the future. vent of fuel cells and electric drive lower the barriers to entry due to the removal of environmental, drivability, du- Such situations have happened before, most recently and rability-reliability core knowledge needed to make ICEs, notably in the electronics, software and computer indus- Diesels and transmission-based powertrains fulfill the pro- tries. Some examples and generalizations will help us see gressively more stringent environmental requirements to the degree we can, some of the key ingredients that and consumer expectations. will likely be involved. Hopefully such insights will help Continued on page 3 fuel our collective and individual creativity as we move 2 Hydrogen-Fuel Cells: “OMG They Work! Now What? continued 3. LEARN AND REFINE IN THE MARKET university researchers. A good example might be Apple’s Newton which was the For fuel cells, will postal services, military on-base vehicles, precursor to today’s handheld devices, which was a fail- New York City or Tokyotaxis, or others help create this ure, but provided the insights on what a successful opportunity? product needed to be. The Jobs-less Apple withdrew, only to reenter many years later under Jobs. An automotive 8. NECESSITY DRIVEN COMPANIES WITH DIMINISHING example might be that Tesla is showing success in the MARKETS AND STRONG CAPABILITIES ENTER THE COM- market by building on the approach and learning derived PETITION from GM’s EV1. The current fuel cell invested auto compa- An example would be LG Industries exiting the VHS tape nies have learned and are digesting and refining customer market as it collapsed, building on their surface deposi- approaches based on the many structured demos and tion technology base to enter the TV and other markets early learning focused small volume product offerings as aggressively. a basis of upcoming products. The test for the winners will For hydrogen and fuel cells, are suppliers to current in- be the will and ability to continue to develop the market dustries who are at risk of being displaced potential and refine products to customer needs, tastes and experi- strong new entrants? ences, while losing money in the “valley of death.” This is one key place where industry-defining great leaders will 9. MODULARITY emerge. Modularity in designs creates new opportunities and bal- ances of power within an industry. An example is the IBM 4. COMBINE PRODUCTION VOLUMES TO REDUCE LOSSES PC architecture which became the basic industry OF THE “VALLEY OF DEATH” standard enabling Microsoft and Intel in particular to This is already happening with the three super teams of dominate the industry while the PC companies became Toyota-BMW, Daimler-Ford-Nissan, and GM-Honda. An- relegated to a large degree to packagers, marketers. other entry to this will be discussed later under the Fuel cell and battery Electric Drive propelled vehicles have Modularity heading. intrinsic modularities, which when carried to their logical conclusion as in the GM Autonomy concept, are likely to 5. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT disrupt the OEM-supply base balance through modular- Japanese government support in developing a semicon- scalable subsystems which are software tunable. In addi- ductor industry to compete with that of the US is a strong tion, the quiet, smooth, no vibration, instant torque , and successful example. In the emerging hydrogen-fuel characteristics of electric drive will certainly cause a re- cell world, Germany, Japan and Korea are notably think of what is a premium vehicle, as evidenced by the moving forward ( the later two should be particularly ef- customer satisfaction responses to the Tesla and Volt fective with “closed” auto markets as a learning arena for product offerings. future product exports). In the hydrogen-fuel cell world, who will emerge as new mega-dominant players in the OEM-supplier hierarchy 6. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS based on the intrinsic and projected new modularity op- An auto example is illustrative, namely the move to un- portunities, and exploiting the additional combined vol- leaded gasoline or the low sulphur fuel specifications. umes at suppliers to drive the cost curve and make more As for hydrogen-fuel cell, ZEV, Fuel Economy, EU CO2 and efficient use of capital? electric grid renewable percentage requirements are all in place and will help drive the changes. 10. Bundling Technologies and features bundled to provide better, 7. GOVERNMENT AS AN EARLY MARKET simpler, more satisfying customer experiences often ac- Examples are the early integrated circuits which were sup- celerate or enable market acceptance. A current example ported through the initial “valley of death” by purchases is the iPhone, due to it’s compelling bundling of iTunes, by the US military, particularly the Minuteman strategic iBooks ,email, photography and other capabilities. missile program, or the commercial Internet which grew out o f the US government ARPA-Net program connecting Continued on page 4 3 Hydrogen-Fuel Cells: “OMG They Work! Now What? continued For hydrogen and fuel cells, will vehicle-home fueling as platinum liquid cathode prove to have the ultimate ena- Honda has suggested help bridge the “chicken and egg bling technology or will others, either in research, or exit- car-infrastructure” conundrum and speed up market ing the lab provide that needed additional capability or development? Or, will a bundled GPS-App-Car enabled feature to accelerate or extend the market? mobile hydrogen delivery service directly to the car solve (author notes he is a board member for ACAL Energy). the early fueling conundrum while adding to customer convenience, as Larry Burns has explored? CONCLUSION Will storing and exporting power back to the grid through As we in the fuel cell-hydrogen community think about smart grids change the structure and economics of the “where to from here?”, as hopefully illustrated, though in utility grid network, particularly as renewables are stored very sketchy terms, the development of the technology in mass as distributed hydrogen or in underground cav- and an understanding of it’s massive benefits is just the erns comes into play? beginning. The path forward will be highlighted by both How about self driving-shared vehicles? small and audacious successes, as well as littered with fail- At any rate, it will be the full suite of features which will ures and heartbreaks. Threatened companies and individ- determine winners and losers in the marketplace. uals will find creative ways to slow down or disrupt pro- gress. New companies will arise, old companies will disap- 11. LEARN-GROW IN FROM THE LOW END OF THE MAR- pear. Customer-OEM-supplier hierarchies will be re- KET defined and new products with new features and bundled Successful disruptive technologies as described by Clay attributes will appear. Fortunes will be made. Fortunes will Christensen in his classic book, “The Innovator’s Dilem- be lost. The introduction of hydrogen-fuel cell technology ma,” often enter in at the low, less demanding end of the products, continued development and refinement of both market and learn and grow their way in, while incumbents the technologies and product attributes, as learnings are fail to adapt, see, or act on the opportunity. developed through experiences of real customers will take For Hydrogen and fuel cells, will companies like Hydro- time, money, great leadership, persistence, creativity, genics , Plug Power or ITM, among many examples, with hopefully government support and yes, for the winners a their selected smaller market initiatives like fork lifts or more than a little luck and good timing. But for all of us, cell phone back up, continue their growth and become we have the unique opportunity to help create, shape and the dominant players of the future? participate in a historic and amazing revolution, which, if we are successful will create not only a better, cleaner fu- 12. INVENT A NEW TECHNOLOGY WITH EVEN BETTER ture for our kids and grandkids but whole new businesses CHARACTERISTICS and enterprises in a very different world. The good news An example of this is the Invention of CMOS Integrated is that the process of creating the enabling technology Circuit technology (low power enabling) which Intel ex- base, and preliminary market understandings is just tran- ploited so rapidly and successfully, while RCA built some sitioning in a meaningful way to market entry. What an for the government mostly and companies like Texas In- exciting, hopeful, frustratingly ambiguous, fun time to struments stayed with T2L logic for an extended period. bring forth our very best efforts and creativity! Are companies like ACAL Energy with a unique non- -Byron McCormick About Byron McCormick Dr. McCormick has had a broad career in electronics, aerospace and automotive research, develop- ment and bringing product to market. He worked at General Motors as the Managing Director of Delco Propulsion systems, which developed, and brought to market the propulsion system and subsystems for GM's EV1 electric car. Dr. McCormick founded GM's Global Alternative Propulsion Center, which had responsibility for all activities related to Hydrogen and Fuel Cells within the Cor- poration. Retiring from GM, he has continued to work in the field of sustainable energy through the consulting firm Prepared Minds International, which he formed in 2009. His PhD is in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona. 4 HYDROGEN news of interest US Energy Department Announces scalable to commercial size. The Colorado School of Mines will receive $1.5 million to develop advanced hybrid New Investment to Reduce Fuel Cell membranes for cutting edge, next-generation fuel cells Costs that are simpler and more affordable and able to operate In support of the Obama Administration's all-of-the- at higher temperatures. above strategy to develop clean, domestic energy sources, the Energy Department today announced a $4.5 million Source: US Department of Energy investment in two projects—led by Minnesota-based 3M Five Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell Cars to and the Colorado School of Mines—to lower the cost, im- prove the durability, and increase the efficiency of next- Arrive in the UK Under the London generation fuel cell systems. This investment is a part of Hydrogen Network Expansion the Energy Department's commitment to maintain Ameri- Emission-free hydrogen powered vehicles will soon be can leadership in innovative clean energy technologies, operating in London. It is the intention that five Hyundai give American businesses more options to cut energy ix35 Fuel Cell models – the first production fuel cell cars in the world – will be an integral part of the London Hydro- costs, and reduce our reliance on imported oil. “ gen Network Expansion (LNHE) project. Fuel cell technologies have an important role to play in Hyundai Motor, as a supplier to the LHNE project, will join diversifying America's transportation sector, reducing our the existing consortium of companies with expertise in dependence on foreign oil, and curbing harmful carbon hydrogen transport infrastructure and operation, working pollution," said Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency to establish the UK’s first hydrogen transport network and Renewable Energy David Danielson. "By partnering covering London and south east England. The LHNE pro- with private industry and universities, we can help ad- ject, a government-backed initiative co-funded by the vance affordable fuel cell technologies that save consum- Technology Strategy Board, will put hydrogen-fuelled ve- hicles into daily business use and deliver the refuelling ers money and give drivers more options while creating infrastructure to support their operation. jobs in this growing global industry." These fuel cell vehicles will be leased to key public and Over the last decade, the Energy Department has invested private fleet users in the capital. They are among the first in research and development projects to improve the effi- of 1,000 examples that Hyundai has committed to pro- ciency and lower the costs of fuel cells. This research has duce between now and 2015 and are built on the same helped decrease the amount of platinum used in catalysts production line, in Ulsan, Korea, as the Tucson. by a factor of five and reduced the costs of transportation fuel cells by more than 80% since 2002. Projects such as The majority of those 1,000 cars will be available in Europe these have led to more than 400 patents, 65 pre- where the European Commission has established a num- ber of schemes, such as the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint commercial technologies, and nearly 40 commercial tech- Undertaking (FCH JU), to promote the use of hydrogen as nologies in the market—positioning the nation as a global an energy carrier with zero carbon content. leader in the emerging fuel cell industry. Three additional stations for London are planned by 2015, Building on these efforts, the projects announced today by which time it is expected that the number of fuel cell will continue research and development work aimed at vehicles in the city will have risen ten-fold from the initial making cost-effective, high-performing fuel cell mem- five to at least 50 or more including passenger cars, buses branes that can operate under hotter and drier conditions. and scooters. For example, 3M will receive $3 million to focus on devel- Source: FuelCell Today opin g innovative fuel cell membranes with improved du- rability and performance using processes which are easily 5 HYDROGEN news of interest Fuel Cells Now Outselling Conven- strategy framework aimed at helping diversify the city’s existing energy expertise. tional Micro-CHP Technologies For the first time ever, fuel cells have become the most Councilor Crockett, speaking on the opening day of the common technology employed in micro-CHP (Combined All Energy exhibition and conference in the city, said: heat and power) systems sold today. Until 2012, the glob- “Aberdeen City Council is determined to define the image al micro-CHP market was dominated by products pow- of an international 21st Century energy city and to lead a ered by combustion engines but according to industry leaner, cleaner industrial revolution. Hydrogen technology analysts Delta-ee, residential fuel cell now accounts for and transport will play a large part in that vision and the 64% of global unit sales. This represents a doubling of this council and its partners have a strong role to play in real- technology's market share since 2011. izing that vision.” Even in a harsh economic climate, 2012 ended up a land- He continued: “Aberdeen is world-famous for its expertise mark year for the global micro-CHP industry, with a large in offshore oil and gas production. Those skills are finding increase in total annual sales. This growth is being driven root in offshore renewables. We’re now adding the third mainly by Japan and to a lesser extent Germany, which component – a hydrogen economy. It’s a message we will together account for more than 90% of those yearly sales. be sending out far and wide, and all will be welcome to come to play a part. Changes in the political and regulatory landscape in Japan and Germany - both of which support a move towards “The launch of this strategy framework is an extremely decentralized energy generation - have been critical fac- important step. This is Aberdeen laying out its aspirations tors behind market growth. Japan is leading in residential and intentions for creating a hydrogen economy in Aber- fuel cell micro-CHP, although Germany should start con- deen. It is a crucial step towards Aberdeen becoming a tributing with sales within the next two years. If micro- world-leading, smart energy city. I firmly believe this doc- CHP fulfills its potential, the manufacturers and develop- ument, combined with our exciting ongoing hydrogen ers in Japan and Germany will be best positioned to be- demonstration projects will stimulate further innovative come the global leaders in the industry. hydrogen technology initiatives and attract even more high-level investment to this city.” Micro-CHP enables consumers to heat their homes and simultaneously generate low carbon electricity that can be The initiative was praised by Ed Davey, the UK Energy Sec- used within the home or exported to the grid. It can save retary. He said: “It’s great to see Aberdeen is giving hydro- consumers money and contribute to Europe's transition to gen the green light. A hydrogen strategy for the city will a low carbon economy, whilst also supporting the growth accelerate growth in the hydrogen energy and fuel cell of renewables, heat pumps and electric vehicles, by better market. balancing supply and demand and helping to stabilize the electricity grid. Source: Scotsman Source: FuelCell Today DfT Publishes ‘Action for Roads: A Network for the 21st Century’ Aberdeen Hydrogen Fuel Plans The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has published a Launched new paper entitled ‘Action for Roads: A network for the Aberdeen (Scotland) City Council announced ambitious 21st century’. The paper sets out the UK Government’s plans to develop Europe’s oil capital as a center of excel- long-term ambition for the country’s roads both in terms lence in the creation of new hydrogen technologies. of building and maintaining the network and also in en- As part of the drive Councilor Barney Crockett, the leader suring the UK is a world leader in the deployment of ultra- of th e city council, launched the authority’s new hydrogen low emission vehicles (ULEVs). 6 HYDROGEN news of interest Fuel cells and hydrogen form an integral part of this strat- “Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been a leader in egy, with the report stating ‘As technology develops, ul- providing capital and investment solutions for clean ener- -low emission vehicles (ULEVs), including pure electric ve- gy deployment,” said Bill Kurtz, Chief Financial & Com- hicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell electric vehicles, will mercial Officer of Bloom Energy. “This program demon- play an increasing role in the way we travel. These vehicles strates the value in Bloom’s technology for customers and are now starting to come onto the market in significant organizations looking for ways to invest and support the numbers, and in the coming decade will become a com- transition to a clean energy future.” mon sight.’ The multi-million dollar commitment is part of the Bank of On the topic of building a hydrogen refueling infrastruc- America’s $50 billion environmental business initiative, ture, the report adds ‘An important part of managing the which delivers lending, equipment finance, capital markets road network over the next thirty years will be preparing and advisory activities, and carbon markets finance to cli- the infrastructure for a shift to these new types of vehicles. ents around the world to help address global climate In the years ahead there is likely to be a need for wide- change and demands on natural resources. reaching networks of rapid charge-points and hydrogen refueling stations. The expansion of such infrastructure “Our company has a long history of supporting innovation across the strategic road network will encourage consum- in energy and developing financing mechanisms to make er adoption of ULEVs. While much of the investment is clean energy more accessible,” said Paul Omohundro, likely to come from the private sector, there may well be a head of Global Vendor Finance for BofA Merrill. “This pro- role for government in supporting this in the early years – gram extends the impact of the bank’s commitment to as demonstrated by the recent announcement of 37 mil- focusing on environmental issues and empowers other lion of government funding for plug-in vehicle charging organizations to deploy clean energy on a large scale.” infrastructure across the UK.’ It is encouraging that the DfT recognizes the role govern- “The Bloom project enhances our operations and reduces ments can play in financially supporting the initial rollout our carbon emissions while we remain focused on our of hydrogen stations; something it will be aware of due to main goal to deliver innovative high performance prod- its participation in the on-going UKH2Mobility project. ucts,” said Andy Stenz, Facilities Director, TaylorMade- adidas Golf Company. “Through the Bank of America leas- Source: FuelCell Today ing program, we can use our existing budget to support the Bloom project and realize benefits immediately.” Bank of America Merrill Lynch Pro- “We strive to be a progressive leader in our industry and vides Fuel Cell Leasing Program for are proud to be the second sports and entertainment are- Bloom Customers na to utilize this innovative technology,” said Michael Bloom Energy has announced the launch of a new leasing Schulman, Chairman of the Board of Honda Center, Home program with Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill) of the Anaheim Ducks. “Working with Bloom Energy al- for business customers to finance Bloom Energy projects lows us to immediately reduce our carbon emissions, that will generate clean, reliable, on-site power at custom- while continuing to provide the outstanding entertain- er facilities. The program streamlines customer deploy- ment environment our fans have come to expect.” ment of Bloom Energy Servers and eliminates the need for an upfront capital investment. BofA Merrill has made a This financing is a continuation of Bloom Energy's Bloom multi-million dollar commitment to the program’s two Electrons scheme, which was first launched in January initial projects —TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company manu- 2011. facturing facility in Carlsbad, CA and Honda Center in An- aheim, CA, home to the National Hockey League’s Ana- Source: Bloom Energy heim Ducks. The two entities will use Bloom Energy’s clean energy technology to power their facilities. 7 HYDROGEN news of interest Honda and GM to Collaborate on the same technology. Fuel Cell Vehicles Takanobu Ito, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co. General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. announced in Ltd., said: “Among all zero CO2 emission technologies, July they will jointly develop a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles have a definitive advantage with fuel cell vehicle powertrain for use by both automakers range and refueling time that is as good as conventional around 2020 — the latest joint effort to reduce costs and gasoline cars. Honda and GM are eager to accelerate the commercialize the zero-emission technology. market penetration of this ultimate clean mobility tech- nology, and I am excited to form this collaboration to fuse The two automakers announced in New York they have our leading fuel cell technologies and create an advanced signed a long-term, definitive master agreement to co- system that will be both more capable and more afforda- develop next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen ble.” storage technologies “aiming for the 2020 time frame. The collaboration expects to succeed by sharing expertise, In January, Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Daimler economies of scale and common sourcing strategies,” the AG announced an agreement to develop a common auto- Detroit and Japanese automakers said in a joint state- mobile fuel cell system, with the goal of producing the ment. They will also work to improve hydrogen refueling first mass-market fuel-cell vehicles as early as 2017. The options. automakers said they will collaborate on a global program across three continents in an effort to signal to suppliers, Neither would announce any price targets or more specif- policymakers and the industry the seriousness of develop- ics of what the vehicle might look like in 2020. ing an emission-free technology. Honda and Toyota Motor Corp. both have said they plan Also in January, Toyota and BMW Group agreed to devel- to sell hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in 2015, while GM hasn’t op components for fuel-cell vehicles. GM and Toyota in announced its production plans. GM vice chairman Steve 1999 had an information sharing partnership on fuel cells, Girsky declined to say when GM might start selling vehi- but not as elaborate as GM and Honda’s. In 2005, BMW cles, but denied a suggestion that the company is “far be- joined Honda and GM in working jointly on fuel cell tech- hind” competitors. nologies. Honda plans to launch the successor of FCX Clarity in Ja- Tetsuo Iwamura, president, American Honda Motor Co., pan and the United States in 2015, and then in Europe. praised the two automakers work on fuel cells previously Despite decades of work and promises of wide scale use, as “an exchange of technologies and components. Since there are only a few hundred test vehicles on the roads in then, we have maintained a strong relationship with engi- U.S., including some buses. neers from our companies exchanging opinions about the future of cars and alternative fuels,” he said. “This collaboration builds upon Honda and GM’s strengths as leaders in hydrogen fuel cell technology,” GM and Honda will work to boost refueling infrastructure, said Dan Akerson, GM chairman and CEO. “We are con- since there are only a handful of fueling stations — mostly vinced this is the best way to develop this important tech- in California. nology, which has the potential to help reduce the de- pendence on petroleum and establish sustainable mobili- Girsky said fuel cell vehicles still face issues. ty.” “The cost of such technology has not come down as far as Honda engineers will be stationed in Pontiac to work with it must to become more commercially viable,” Girsky said. GM’s fuel cell team, while GM engineers will work along- “We also face the challenge of the lack of infrastructure to side Honda engineers in Japan. The automakers could support a hydrogen-based automotive transportation jointly build vehicles, but no decision has been made. model. GM and Honda will work together with govern- Both automakers expect to build separate vehicles with ments and other stakeholders to further advance a new 8 HYDROGEN news of interest refueling infrastructure, which is critical for the long-term In 2008, the National Academies of Science said the Unit- viability and consumer acceptance of fuel cell vehicles.” ed States needs to invest $200 billion in new fueling sta- tions and research to speed up the development and The Obama administration has shifted its focus on alter- widespread use of hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles. native energy, instead moving more resources to electric That figure includes about $55 billion in government vehicles after the Bush administration spent $1.2 billion on funding through 2023. the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It pro- posed big cuts in hydrogen research funding. In fuel-cell vehicles, the fuel cell stack converts hydrogen gas with oxygen into electricity to power an electric mo- Much of the push for fuel cell vehicles is being prompted tor. Fuel-cell vehicles emit only heat and water, but pro- by California’s requirement that automakers build zero duction costs, storage systems, public acceptance and du- emission vehicles. But in May, the Energy Department rability remain major hurdles for automakers. launched H2USA — a new public-private partnership fo- cused on advancing hydrogen infrastructure to support GM’s Project Driveway program, launched in 2007, has more transportation energy options for U.S. consumers, accumulated nearly 3 million miles of real-world driving in including fuel cell electric vehicles. The partnership in- a fleet of 119 hydrogen-powered vehicles. GM said in cludes major automakers, government agencies, gas sup- 2007 it planned to have a 1,000-fuel cell vehicle fleet on pliers, and the hydrogen and fuel cell industries to coordi- the roads around 2012, but scrapped that timetable. nate research and identify cost-effective solutions to de- ploy infrastructure. Honda began leasing of the Honda FCX in 2002 and has deployed 85 vehicles in the U.S. and Japan, including its The Energy Department says research has helped reduce successor, the FCX Clarity, which was named the 2009 automotive fuel cell costs by more than 35 percent since World Green Car. 2008 and by more than 80 percent since 2002. At the same time, fuel cell durability has doubled and the amount of expensive platinum needed in fuel cells has Source: The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/ fallen by 80 percent since 2005. article/20130702/AUTO0103/307020061#ixzz2dC8Yc2cc Research Group highlights Research Activities at University of Picardie Jules Verne and CNRS Research activities in Professor Alejandro A. Franco's group at the Laboratoire de Réactivité et de Chimie des Solides (LRCS), Université de Picardie Jules Verne and CNRS (Amiens, France), are devoted to the deep understanding of the operation principles of electrochemical devices for energy conversion and storage, including H -feed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2 (PEMFCs), PEM Water Electrolyzers (PEMWEs), rechargeable Lithium Ion and Metal Air Bat- teries (LIBs and MABs) and supercapacitors (SCs). Prof. Franco's group approach consists in developing novel multiphysics, multiscale and multiparadigm models describing the materials, components and devices behavior in conditions representative of real applications, and closing the gap between the materials chemical and structural properties and the overall device opera- tion. This approach is articulated in two strongly connected axes: 1. Specific modeling and simulation techniques are used to calculate activity, stability, selectivity, physico-chemical and structural properties of the materials towards electrochemical reactions and transport processes which are Continued on page 10 9 R esearch Group highlights cont. relevant for the devices operation. These techniques include: ab initio approach (Density Functional Theory) to predict the electrochemical pathways and associated elementary energetics of the single reaction steps (e.g. Oxygen Reduction Reaction in PEMFCs), Monte Carlo approach to predict the morphology of multimetallic na- noparticles, particularly in relation with degradation and adsorbates-induced reconstruction phenomena (e.g. ca- talyst nanoparticles in PEMFCs), mean-field elementary kinetics approach to predict experimental observables (e.g. electrode potential) as function of the nanostructural and chemical properties of the materials (via the DFT- generated data), Statistical Mechanics approach / nanos- cale electrified interface theory, developed by Prof. Franco himself, to describe the structure under non equilibrium conditions of the electrochemical double layer at the vici- nity of active materials, mesoscopic techniques (e.g. ba- sed on Monte Carlo approach) to predict ("reconstruct") the mesoscale structural properties of the electrodes. 2. Novel algorithms and computational software are developed by integrating the ingredients extracted from the atomistic and molecular approaches in macroscopic electrochemical device models allowing to predict the im- pact the physico-chemical and structural properties of the used materials and components onto the overall cell response (observables). For more than 11 years, Prof. Franco has been inventing several simulation packages doing this, the most recent one being the computational code “MS LIBER- T” (Multiscale Simulator of Lithium Ion Batteries and Electrochemi- cal Reactor Technologies) devoted to the numerical simulation of electrochemical devices for energy conversion. This software con- stitutes a breakthrough compared to previous models, as it is cod- ed on an independent C + Python programming language basis, highly flexible, modular and portable (it can eventually be coupled to commercial software such as Matlab/Simulink). MS LIBER-T is designed to support direct multiparadigm calculations, for in- stance, simulations coupling on the fly the numerical resolution of continuum models (e.g. describing charge transport in the porous electrode volume) with discrete models (e.g. Monte Carlo module describing the elementary reaction kinetics). Another novelty in- troduced by MS LIBER-T is its capability of integrating phase field models de- scribing multiphases formation, separation and evolution. This software al- lowed progressing on the understanding of competitions and synergies be- tween detailed electrochemical reactions, transport phenomena and materials degradation mechanisms as function of the materials chemistry and structure. The model supports explicit mathematical descriptions of the feedback be- tween detailed electrochemistry and transport with materials aging mecha- nisms: that means that at each numerical simulation time step, the model de- scribes how the calculated local conditions impact local materials degradation kinetics, simultaneously to how the materials degradation affects, in the next time step, the local conditions. For example, this approach has been used by Prof. Franco’s group for the simulation of PEMFCs by accounting for the feedback between the performance and the cathode carbon catalyst support corrosion, catalyst dissolution, oxidation and ripening, membrane and Continued on page 11 10