At the efficiency and sustainability in construction show – Klimahouse – to be held in Bolzano 26 to 29 January 2012, will be officially presented H2ydroGEM (Giacomini SpA): a zero CO2 emissions system for heating buildings based on the use of hydrogen as fuel.
On April 1, 2011 Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo signed the decree of the environmental compatibility of the construction of a plant for the production of pure hydrogen from natural gas (HMU3) at the Milazzo refinery. “The project, which intend to use BAT, aims to increase conversion of heavy residues of refinery runs in higher quality and low sulfur content petroleum products, in line with the EU directives for environmental protection” said the ministry. These results will be achieved, compared to the current production standard, “with a progressive reduction of industrial site emissions, in combination with the recent AIA decision for the refinery issued by Minister Prestigiacomo “said the ministry. The activation of the hydrogen production plant will also provide the consolidation and improvement of employment prospects and company market on the Milazzo area. Source: Ministero dell’Ambiente, della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare
McPhy Energy has announced that the company has signed a contract with the Enel Group, Italy for the supply of a solid hydrogen storage solution. The system has a capacity of 2 kilograms of solid hydrogen, stored in the form of magnesium hydrides (which do not require compression), offering an innovative solution for safe, reversible hydrogen storage, with energy efficiency.
A prototype of the system design was validated through a series of tests at the CEA-LITEN (the French national Laboratory of Innovation for New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials in Grenoble, France). The test tank was coupled to an electrolyser and to a fuel cell, successfully demonstrating the storage of renewable energy.
To green up its operations, Adobe Systems, the maker of the ubiquitous Flash media player, has done everything from installing waterless urinals to building a wind farm at its downtown San Jose, Calif., headquarters. Now the company has put a dozen 100-kilowatt Bloom Energy fuel cells on top of a parking garage that will supply nearly a third of the three-tower complex’s electricity. It will be the nation’s largest installation of Bloom Energy Servers, a cutting-edge solid oxide fuel cell that has been bought by Google, eBay and other big corporations. Bloom Energy, a long-secretive Sunnyvale, Calif., start-up that has raised $400 million from some of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists, introduced the energy servers to great fanfare at a February event attended by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California; Gen. Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state; and a host of technology chiefs. Each of the Bloom Energy Servers sells for $700,000 to $800,000, although state and federal tax incentives can halve the cost. To minimize the fuel cells’ carbon footprint, Adobe has signed contracts to purchase methane, a potent greenhouse gas, emitted and captured at a landfill in Pennsylvania. Source: NY Times Green Blog
The Managing Director and General Manager of Enel CEO Fulvio Conti, the President of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia, the Mayor of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, the President of the Province of Venice, Francesca Zaccariotto, inaugurated the innovative combined cycle power plant fueled by hydrogen Fusina (Venice). The plant, the world’s first such industrial-size, has a total power of 16 mw. It consists of a combined cycle fed with hydrogen to produce electricity and heat, developing a power of about 12 megawatts (MW). The yield cycle is increased using the heat present in exhaust fumes to produce high temperature steam that was sent to the nearby coal plant generates more energy for a capacity ‘additional approximately 4 MW. The plant, which uses 1.3 tons of hydrogen per hour, has an overall electrical efficiency of approximately 42%, and ‘essentially no emissions of any kind. The energy produced approximately 60 million kilowatt hours per year, will ‘be able to meet the needs of 20,000 households, avoiding the release into the atmosphere of more than 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). The plant, which required a total investment of 50 million euros, Enel is located in the “Andrea Palladio” adjacent to the petrochemical area [...]
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Hydrogenics Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products, and Rosetti Marino S.p.A., an established provider of engineering and construction services and technology for the oil and gas industry, today announced an agreement to jointly design, develop and commercialize utility-scale hydrogen power plants for peak shaving and energy management. The plants will incorporate Hydrogenics’ electrolyzer and fuel cell systems for turnkey applications that produce hydrogen for energy storage and electricity generation. Rosetti Marino will provide expertise in large-scale gas compression, storage, and facility design. “Rosetti Marino believes that the combination of Hydrogenics’ technology and product platform with our experience in large scale gas plants and storage facilities creates a clear path towards the commercialization of hydrogen energy storage systems in the gigawatt-hour range,” said Gianfranco Magnani, President of Rosetti Marino Group. “These systems will help expand the market for renewable energy and serve to catalyze the transformation and optimization of the next generation of electrical infrastructure.” Source: Hydrogenics
Ebay has received permission to install 5 Bloom Energy fuel cell systems that would be able to provide up to 500kW of electrical output. According to the San Jose Business Journal, the units will be installed outdoors, and would be comprised of solid oxide fuel cells fuelled with natural-gas. The fuel cell systems are reported to release half as much carbon dioxide as modern power plant currently emit. Source: Fuel Cell Today
Since last saturday diamond with measures 12 per 8 meters has started lightning the paths between Pratolino’s natural park, territory of the city of Vaglia not far from Florence and Giambologna’s Gigante dell’Appennino. Diamond is the result of a collaboration which started in 2007 between Enel Ricerca and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Pisa, within the project “Innovation and Environment”. Diamond consists of a new-generation power plant utilizing solar energy which is efficient, functional, flexible at the same time and, above all, a context sensitive solution perfectly matching the area’s natural beauty. The Fuller structure, chosen for mounting the power system, turns the plant into a valuable piece of architecture in balance with the landscape which combines usefulness and functionality with aesthetics, flexibility, visibility and stability. Diamond external surface is equipped with a set of photovoltaic panels for producing electricity which will either satisfy the energy demand or feed an electrolyser for dissociation of water into oxygen and hydrogen. This latter, suitably stored into tanks housed in spherical cavities inside “Diamond” itself by means of a metal hydride system, can feed a fuel cell for supplying electricity also in time spans when insolation is not enough, such as at [...]
WholeFoods, a U.S.-based supermarket chain, has installed a 400 kW hydrogen fuel cell from fuel cell manufacturer UTC Power at the grocer’s newest Massachusetts store. The shop will be the chain’s largest in the North Atlantic region of the United States. Managers have estimated that by capturing and using the fuel cell’s waste energy for heating and cooling, the store will be able to generate approximately 90 percent of its electricity needs onsite as well as nearly 100 percent of the store’s hot water. This will be the second WholeFoods to use a fuel cell to generate energy onsite. Other “green” features include a 80 kW solar array on the roof of the building as well as other innovations that, according to the grocer, will allow the store to reduce, reuse or compost its waste by 80 percent. Source: Whicked Local
