The first Programme Review from the FCH JU has the objective of assessing the portfolio of projects; 44 projects from the call 2008 and 2009 as well as some 14 projects supported by the European Commission under the 7th framework programme, which are linked to the Joint Undertaking portfolio and have been either the forerunners or the complement of a number of FCH JU projects.
The Council of Bolzano gave the green light to a notice for the purchase of 5 hydrogen buses. The 5 fuel cell buses are part of the CHIC project supported by European Union which was signed by a consortium of European cities and provinces including the Province of Bolzano, London, Oslo, Milan and Aarau.
The latest EU Fuel Cell Hydrogen bus project, High V.LO-City, was inaugurated by the president of the Provice of Imperia on March 23, 2012.
The three hydrogen-powered buses, that will soon be in service for ATM, are now arrived in Milan. Wednesday 14 March 2012 at the conference of the European project Clean Hydrogen in European Cities (Chic), in which is also involved the City of Milan, was presented the new hydrogen ATM coach. The fleet of ATM is composed of three zero emission buses that will come soon in operation at the municipality of Milan. The three Mercedes-Benz Citaro Fuel Cell Hybrid buses are hybrid vehicles with fuel cells. The new buses will refuel at two deposits: the ATM San Donato deposit, where the fuel station construction is almost completed, and another gas station yet to be built. On the way test performed on March 14 it was possible to notice how these new hydrogen-powered buses, as well as prevent pollution of city air, are also very silent compared to traditional fuels bus. It also does not require special devices for drivers since there is no difference from other buses of ATMs.
€ 150 million’s worth have been allocated for the support of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies through research and demonstration projects, with € 77, 5 million from the European Commission matched by in-kind contributions from industry and research organisations. The 2012 call covers 31 topics divided into 5 application areas: transportation and refuelling infrastructure; hydrogen production and distribution; stationary power generation, early markets and cross-cutting issues.
In the field of renewable ENEA focuses its research on the following technologies: solar thermodynamic solar photovoltaics Biomass and biofuels Solar heating at low and medium temperature Hydrogen, fuel cells and energy storage systems. ENEA activities in Hydrogen, fuel cells and energy storage systems field are generally aimed at contributing to the development of energy vectors and electrochemical systems for energy conversion and storage. Such systems can reduce energy consumption and emissions in the distributed energy and transport sectors, thus encouraging the latter to benefit from the use of renewables. Compact & Multi-Energy Hydrogen To converter (COMETHY) is one of the projects (started 12.01.2011) FCH-JU-funded under the seventh Framework Programme, ENEA (in collaboration with Israel, Germany, Greece, Netherlands) has conducted. The two years project aims at developing a compact steam reformer to convert reformable fuels (methane, bioethanol, glycerol, etc.) to pure hydrogen, adaptable to several heat sources (solar, biomass, fossil, refuse derived fuels, etc.) depending on the locally available energy mix. The following systems and components will be developed: a structured open-celled catalyst for the low-temperature (< 550°C) steam reforming processes - Reducing reforming temperatures below 550°C by itself will significantly reduce material costs. a membrane reactor to separate hydrogen from the gas mixture the use of an intermediate low-cost and environmentally friendly liquid heat transfer fluid (molten nitrates) to supply process heat from a multi fuel system. The process [...]
Politecnico di Torino coordinates the FCH-JTI call 2010 project: “SOFC CCHP with poly-fuel: operation and maintenance” (SOFCOM), started November 1, 2011, received funding of approximately 2.94 million euros from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU) with funds from the Seventh Framework Programme. Combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) plants; Small-medium size plants locally distributed; Plants with maximization of the energy recovery from the primary sources: maximum exergy efficiency of the whole system; Flexibility in the use of local primary sources (biogas, bio-syngas, bio-fuels); Easy and efficient CO2 separation from the plant exhaust This are the criteria to pursue in order to acheive a new energy framework, based on the concepts of sustainability, energy security using local resources, maximization of the exergy efficiency of the whole system. Among the technologies which could satisfy these criteria, a new technology is gaining more and more interest: energy systems based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) which, in the medium term, could become one of the most interesting technologies able to address the above criteria. SOFCOM is an applied research project devoted to demonstrate the technical feasibility and the energy and environmental advantages of CCHP plants based on SOFC fed by different typologies [...]
The project Mobility with Hydrogen for Postal Delivery (MobyPost) proposes to develop the concept of electric vehicles powered by fuel cells for delivery application. MobyPost, started in february 2011 for a period of 36 months, received funding of € 4,26 million from FCH-JU with funds from 7Th Framework Programme.
MAESTRO aims to establish methods to increase the mechanical stability of state of the art perfluorosulfonic acid membranes for stationary application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) to increase their durability and cell lifetime.
Started in january 2011, DESIGN project aims for a better understanding and detection of the failure mechanisms and the internal condition of stacks in order to introduce the SOFC technology into the market.
