Press Clipping
Translation of Article in Frankfurter Allgemeine, April 21,
2004
Fuel Cell Family Reunion
Pioneers still fighting with start-up problems of a new
Technology Hanover, April 20th. Fuel cell-technology could
possibly become the key-technology for the reduction of CO2-
Emmission. With respect to this, the experts of the podium
discussion of The Association of Engineers (VDI), Germany,
at the Hanover Fair agree. At the end of the 90s, the use
of Fuel Cells was seen as too optimistic, but now the opposite
is true: they threaten to underrate this technology. “The
strategic importance of this market segment should not be
underestimated”, warned Wolfgang Winkler, Head of VDI-Expert
Committee Fuel Cells. It could well be that the development
of manufactured products will be achieved in foreign countries
and Germany would then lose its leading position in developing
new technologies.
One of the most passionate promoters of the Fuel Cell Technology
– which would be able to make us independent from oil
prices – is Arno Evers. Born in 1946, the technical
entrepreneur became the head of the press department of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm
(MBB). At the age of 45 years he was no longer satisfied with
being an employee. Therefore, he created his own business
and started to organize special tradeshows for the Deutsche
Messe AG. Among these trades shows was also a fair about hydrogen-
and fuel cell-technology, which was a young topic in 1995.
As is often the case, this fair took three years to develop.
The results were modest: 21 exhibitors covering 175 square
meters. “We’ll never make a cent with this; Let’s
give up”, the Deutsche Messe AG decided. But Evers didn’t
give up.
Since 1998 he has rented space from the Deutsche Messe AG
and has organized the Group Exhibit- Hydrogen + Fuel Cells
at his own risk. With only two employees at the start, Evers
had to fight for every single exhibitor. The breakthrough
came in 2000 when the first American exhibitors came to Hanover.
The following year, total exhibit space tripled, and in 2002
it grew again by another 70 %. This year, total display space
is roughly the same again at 1400 square meters in the wake
of the downturn in 2003 due to the SARS scare. Some 100 exhibitors
are presenting their success stories in hydrogen and fuel
cell technologies at his Group Exhibit. “ It doesn’t
really look like a fair”, some exhibitors say. It feels
more like a family meeting of the industry. In the morning,
exhibitors get breakfast, and at noon they’re served
a warm lunch. If somebody needs decorations for their booths,
and if anyone needs a quiet room to talk to a client, they
can turn to Evers and his seven full-time staffers. As one
exhibitor described Evers’ contribution, “Once
a year we, who normally compete and don’t give anything
away, get together here and compare notes.”, something
for which Evers charges $1000 per square meter.
Evers believes in this technology. “This all goes
up and down with the oil price”, Evers believes, explaining
the still absent breakthrough on the market. If the oil price
goes straight up, then the time of the fuel cell will come.
The fuel cell reverses the process of electrolysis which we
all know from our physics lessons at school. The students
learn that you can separate water into hydrogen and oxygen
when you add energy; in this case electricity.
The fuel cell reconnects hydrogen and oxygen and extracts
energy which is emitted. This energy can be used to power
cars or heat houses. Today the main problem is dealing with
hydrogen as a source of energy. The VDI believes in this technology.
The final breakthrough is expected in ten years, at the earliest.
Arno A. Evers, however, is more optimistic in this regard.
One positive reason is that the major oil enterprises are
interested in obtaining access to this technology. Approximately
20,000 people are working on fuel cell breakthroughs worldwide
and Evers has 15,000 of these developers in his files.
Linde, Still and Proton Motor Fuel Cell are currently cooperating
on the development of a hydrogenpowered fork lift now undergoing
tests at Munich Airport. The oxygen needed for this process
is extracted from the surrounding air. Additionally, the German
research institute, Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt
e.V. (DLR) and Airbus are working on a joint project to use
fuel cells to generate electricity onboard airplanes. Viessmann,
a German high-tech heating-systems company, is currently running
a trial heating project in a Spanish hospital.
Evers is also promoting and developing his Group Exhibit:
Hydrogen + Fuel Cells. In November of this year, a hydrogen
and fuel cells group exhibit will take place in China for
the first time – a joint venture of Arno A. Evers Fair-PR
and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. An assumption
exists that automakers do not promote hydrogen cars because
this could make the combustion engine redundant. However,
some hydrogen and fuel cell companies expect that China will
be the first market where the mass production of hydrogen
and fuel cell technology will occur. Many manufacturers expect
that if China wants a hydrogen car, then this trend will spread
across the world.
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