4th International Conference,
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
"Hydrogen + Fuel Cells
on their way to commercialisation"
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (H2/FC) technologies
have been on worldwide probation for the last
30 years. Billions of US $ – financed
privately and from Governmental funds - have
already been invested. However, in some key
markets, H2/FC applications have been made and
real systems used to meet the demand for cleaner,
more practical energy solutions. Fuel Cells
are on the verge of being introduced commercially,
revolutionizing the way we presently produce
electricity.
At this conference, international industry
leaders and executives from seven countries
gave their insight on the commercialisation
results and future aspects in their particular
regions. All conference attendees had the opportunity
to learn more about different innovative approaches
that are already under way or are still in the
making. As a special feature, each presentation
was concluded with a 10-minute discussion between
the speaker and the audience.
As part of the programme, delegates had the
unique opportunity to visit the presently worldwide
largest commercial and most international Group
Exhibit for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in Hall
13, just minutes away from the conference centre.
All conference participants witnessed live demonstrations
and newly developed, launched, or updated products.
Afterwards, delegates dined together at a at
a special Networking evening in the middle of
the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells exhibition. They met
with international H2/FC industry leaders and
executives, using the opportunity to exchange
views with key individuals.
Introduction,
Presentation of all speakers
Ulrich Walter, Moderator Arno A. Evers
FAIR-PR, Germany
Words of Welcome
I
Peter Rippen, Deutsche Messe AG, Germany
Words of Welcome
II
Arno A. Evers, Owner and Operator Arno A. Evers
FAIR-PR, Germany
"I appreciate and admire
the work of all those thousands of researchers,
engineers and designers who work on the
future of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, however,
maybe we all together need a little more
creativity and fantasy to come to real
mass market products and services for
the end-users worldwide!"
"The ubiquitous
use of tomorrow's powerful mobile phones
will not be limited by information technology,
but by battery capacity.
Even if today's lithium-ion batteries'
capacity could be doubled, they would
not meet future demands.
Samsung, as a global leader in "Digital
Convergence", therefore focuses on
the development of mobile Fuel Cells."
China’s hydrogen &
fuel cells energy policies and strategies Mr. Shi Dinghuan
Consultant of the State Council of China,
Chief of Middle-Long Term S & T Development
Program Group and Chairman of China Solar
Energy Association, Former Secretary
General of MOST of China
"China's booming economy
faces several energy challenges. Among
them, the dependency on oil imports, the
pollution caused by excessive use of coal
power plants and the emission of greenhouse
gases. To cope with these challenges,
the "Law for renewable energy"
will be put into force on January 1 2006.
A major effort is made in the automotive
sector, especially for the Olympic Games
in 2008 and the EXPO in 2010."
Utsira - demonstrating
the hydrogen society on renewable terms Knut Harg, Senior
Vice President, Managing Director Hydro,
Electrolysers, Norway
"Utsira is not only the
name of an island 20km off the east-coast
of Norway, it also stands for "Utility
Systems in Remote Areas". This project
is a full scale demo installation of a
wind-powered Hydrogen system. 10 households
are supplied with energy created by two
600 kW wind turbines. The energy demand
for two days can be stored as hydrogen,
so that in windless times a Fuel Cell
can stand in. The system is completely
remote controlled and operates at about
90% annual efficiency."
Japan’s hydrogen and fuel
cells projects Akiteru
Maruta, Project Manager Research &
Development Department Technova
Inc., Japan
"Japan is highly dependent
on energy imports and therefore needs
energy diversity. The challenging target
set by the METI is to have 15 Mio. Fuel
Cell vehicles in 2030. But in my opinion,
stationary Fuel Cells are much closer
to market readiness. Their successfull
introduction will provide positive impulses
for the automotive sector as well. Public
acceptance for Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
is wide, especially because of Toyota's
engagement. This gives people convidence
in the technology."
Canadian H2 program perspective Dr. Hugo
Vandenborre
Member of the Hydrogenics Corporation Board
of Directors
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive
Vice President of Stuart
Energy Corporation, Canada
"The national not-for-profit
organisation "Fuel Cells Canada"
is currently working on three main projects:
the Hydrogen village in Toronto, the Vancouver
Fuel Cell vehicle program and the Hydrogen
highway project.
Hydrogenics' 7, 10, 20 and 65 kW units
cover a whole range of applications. The
HyPM Power Module offers both versatility
and performance. Built into a fork-lift
truck, it is highly competitive against
lead-acid batteries."
"The ECTOS project in
Reykjavik runs 3 DaimlerChrysler Fuel
Cell busses and is funded by the European
Union. An incident with a malfunctioning
cooling loop prooved to be a valuable
lesson for interaction with the authorities.
45.000 km were driven in 2004, a survey
showed over 90% of public acceptance for
the new fuel. My conclusion is:
Being independent of fossil
fuel imports could be realised in Iceland
during the next decades
Projects like ECTOS will
provide information for next steps
Together, it is possible
to create a Hydrogen society"
Global commercialization
of Fuel Cell Energy’s DFC power plant
products Jerry
D. Leitman, President, Chief Executive
Officer and Director FuelCell
Energy, Inc., USA
"FuelCell Energy considers
itself as being the #1 high temperature
stationary Fuel Cell manufacturer and
developer. The core products are high
temperature, high efficiency, carbonate
Fuel Cell power plants for base load commercial
and industrial applications. From our
point of view, it is illusionary to expect
that people are going to pay more for
electricity just because it is "green".
But the premium is dropping rapidly and
the positive attributes of Fuel Cells
make good selling propositions.
My Conclusion would be:
Distributed trigeneration
of electricity, heat and Hydrogen is
attractive
Current technology is competitive
with small scale/distributed Hydrogen
production
Future developments have
potential to make fuel cell produced
hydrogen the preferred method of supply"
Panel Discussion with all speakers:
A lively discussion between the speakers
was started, also involving the audience.
Subjects were taken from the speakers' presentations
and involved the continued need for field
testing, the importance of governmental
support in the area of Fuel Cell marketing
and codes & standards. Which kind of
Fuel Cell application, stationary, automotive
or mobile, is most likely to achieve the
first breakthrough in commercialisation
was also under serious discussion. Moderator
Ulrich Walter was looking forward to the
next International Conference "Hydrogen
+ Fuel Cells on their way to commercialisation
II" were these and other topics can
be updated and extended.
Please make a note of the date:
April 25, 2006 10 am
They used the unique opportunity
to meet with international H2/FC industry
leaders and executives at the center of
the Group Exhibit Hydrogen + Fuel Cells,
joining a Networking
evening including a buffet and drinks
Dates:
Tuesday, 12 April
2005, 10.00 a.m. – 15.30 p.m.
Venue:
Convention Center
(CC), Room 1 A
Conference language:
English
Organizer:
Arno A. Evers FAIR-PR
Achheimstraße 3
82319 Starnberg / Germany