The scene for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies is no longer restricted to research and development within government-supported programmes, but now features a number of emerging commercial markets. These are still niche markets and the growth is far behind early expectations, but the future is a lot more promising because market penetration may materialise independent of public subsidy. The cost of fuel cells is still about twice the target value, but there are buyers that accept this as they want to join in on a prospective technology of the future. Actually, the true cost is even further away from the target, as fuel cell durability is currently only around half the target value. Thus there is still a lot of work to do, for the scientists, the engineers, and the commercial developers. For automotive fuel cell applications, the early limitations on driving range on a full hydrogen tank have been lifted and the performance of fuel cell cars is now similar to that of cars using fossil fuels. This book promotes the view that battery vehicles should not just be seen as a competitor, but as a welcome opportunity for marketing hybrid fuel cell-battery cars performing better than both of the individual technologies. Stationary and portable fuel cell applications are following a trend similar to that of vehicle applications, but with a delay due to the later development start. Researchers still work in alternative or new directions, for hydrogen production as well as for various types of fuel cells, hoping to find new technologies better than those already exploited. This edition contains full updates on all the relevant technologies, as well as presentation of new cost and durability data. A new market scenario is introduced, covering all the regions of the British Islands. It finds that all regions of Ireland and the UK can obtain energy self-sufficiency with 100% use of renewable energy, and further that a surplus of electric power can be produced from abundant offshore wind resources, enough to supply more than half the entire continental European Union power demand and thus enabling the EU to fulfil its climate goals if a good trade collaboration is maintained with the regions of the British Isles. Without such reliance on the British Isles, it will become very difficult for the continental EU to reach the desired sustainable energy future.
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Emerging Technologies and Applications (Third Edition)
Giuseppe Spazzafumo
2018-01-01
Abstract
The scene for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies is no longer restricted to research and development within government-supported programmes, but now features a number of emerging commercial markets. These are still niche markets and the growth is far behind early expectations, but the future is a lot more promising because market penetration may materialise independent of public subsidy. The cost of fuel cells is still about twice the target value, but there are buyers that accept this as they want to join in on a prospective technology of the future. Actually, the true cost is even further away from the target, as fuel cell durability is currently only around half the target value. Thus there is still a lot of work to do, for the scientists, the engineers, and the commercial developers. For automotive fuel cell applications, the early limitations on driving range on a full hydrogen tank have been lifted and the performance of fuel cell cars is now similar to that of cars using fossil fuels. This book promotes the view that battery vehicles should not just be seen as a competitor, but as a welcome opportunity for marketing hybrid fuel cell-battery cars performing better than both of the individual technologies. Stationary and portable fuel cell applications are following a trend similar to that of vehicle applications, but with a delay due to the later development start. Researchers still work in alternative or new directions, for hydrogen production as well as for various types of fuel cells, hoping to find new technologies better than those already exploited. This edition contains full updates on all the relevant technologies, as well as presentation of new cost and durability data. A new market scenario is introduced, covering all the regions of the British Islands. It finds that all regions of Ireland and the UK can obtain energy self-sufficiency with 100% use of renewable energy, and further that a surplus of electric power can be produced from abundant offshore wind resources, enough to supply more than half the entire continental European Union power demand and thus enabling the EU to fulfil its climate goals if a good trade collaboration is maintained with the regions of the British Isles. Without such reliance on the British Isles, it will become very difficult for the continental EU to reach the desired sustainable energy future.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
