London Press Service Informs

POWERING TOWARDS A CLEAN ENERGY WORLD

Improvements in the development of electrolyser devices to create hydrogen have opened the prospect of the world’s economy powered without the need for fossil fuels within the next 20 years.
That’s according to a director of Europe’s largest technology company in this field, Dr Donald Highgate, a respected physicist who leads research at the ITM Power company in England.
He says that ITM scientists are set to boost the potential of hydrogen to power vehicles as well as becoming a clean energy source for homes, offices and factories.
ITM chief executive Jim Heathcote backs the claim, saying: “This could be the most important breakthrough for science since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Britain has the opportunity to take a world lead in alternative fuel technology and to help create safe, cheap and clean energy supplies for millions of people.”
Harnessing hydrogen economically as a clean, competitively priced alternative fuel source has been an ambition of scientists for generations, and more recently for environmentalists concerned about global warming.
Up to now, massive technical problems and cost issues have stood in the way of a hydrogen-powered economy. But now, the latest progress with electrolysers that can turn water and electricity into clean, non-polluting hydrogen promises fundamentally to change the way that industry and consumers view the product’s potential as “the fuel of the future” for the home and travel.
ITM was founded in 2000 and claims to be Europe’s largest electrolyser and fuel-cell company. It says “the door to a hydrogen world has been opened by a series of developments that have made electrolysers simpler and more cost effective to make”.
ITM’s membrane costs five US dollars a square metre compared with the estimated 500 dollars cost of industry-standard membrane material, and is said to owe much of its success to Dr. Highgate’s background in hydrophilic polymer chemistry.
This electrolyser is expected to go into production in 2008 at a new production plant in Sheffield with a total annual capacity of up to 10 megawatts to make it one of the world’s largest producers of such devices.
A company spokesman said of its product: “It can create its own hydrogen fuel from a totally green supply now becoming increasingly available from wind, wave, solar or hydroelectric power. Users could use low-cost off-peak electricity or choose a green tariff from their existing supplier to produce hydrogen.
“The hydrogen produced can be stored and then used as a conventional gas to burn in new or converted central heating boilers and as a fuel for cooking. But, unlike gas and oil, when hydrogen burns it releases no CO2 emissions, merely water vapour, offering the opportunity to significantly cut the domestic carbon footprint.

Green gas power: latest advances suggest that future homes could use renewable energy sources such as the wind and sun. This will produce electricity that could be converted into hydrogen to provide clean, low-cost, safe power for houses, offices, factories and also vehicles.

“Stored hydrogen can also be reconverted to electricity using domestic fuel-cells or generators to power lighting or other electrical appliances, removing the inconvenience of power cuts for homes and serious supply interruptions for hospitals, schools and businesses,” he added.
In addition to its use in the home, hydrogen produced by the ITM electrolyser can be used to power a family car. ITM plans to unveil a hydrogen home-refuelling station for the automotive market and a converted bi-fuel petrol/hydrogen car based on Europe’s best-selling mode, the Ford Focus.
The company aims to demonstrate that the vehicle can be refuelled using hydrogen generated by a home electrolyser and can complete an average daily commuting journey without the need to use petrol.
ITM’s work on the bi-fuel Ford Focus has been carried out in partnership with Hertfordshire University, southern England. With minimal modifications the Focus has already completed a programme of initial trials, during which it travelled more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) on a single charge of hydrogen before being switched to run on petrol.
Driving under public road conditions when using hydrogen was said to be “excellent,” and no CO2 emissions were produced.
The spokesman added: “Later this year, ITM plans to publicly demonstrate both the vehicle and refuelling system using electrolyser prototypes that will closely resemble the initial units to be manufactured at the new Sheffield production site.”
“The bi-fuel car and refuelling system clearly demonstrate a simple, convenient and low-cost transportation solution that can significantly reduce greenhouse gases and help mitigate climate change. We believe combining electrolysers with an internal combustion-engined vehicle brings affordable hydrogen transportation forward by many years.
“Although some hydrogen-powered cars are currently undergoing trials, they have no access to a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and rely on liquefied hydrogen which must be stored at ultra-low temperatures. By contrast, ITM Power’s conventional Ford Focus test car runs on pure hydrogen gas which can be produced anywhere that has access to water and electricity,” added Mr. Heathcote.
Meanwhile, the UK government has given 20 million pounds of backing for research into new, environmentally friendly low-carbon vehicles that could be running within the next seven years.
The funding from the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Transport is aimed at speeding the development and introduction of such vehicles able to cut exhaust emission levels that are currently polluting the atmosphere.
A spokesman explained: “Tackling the growth of carbon emissions from road transport, which account for around 20 per cent of domestic emissions in the UK, and meeting demanding new EU carbon emission standards for new cars are major challenges for the UK’s automotive industry.