August 2004

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Photo courtesy Arnold Evers Fair-PR The lineup of fuel cell and hydrogen i.c.-engined cars outside the Pacifico Yokohama Center drew lots of WHEC 15 conference participants during session breaks.

YOKOHAMA - With just over 2000 participants, the 15th World Hydrogen Energy Conference, held here in this forward-looking city June 27-July 2, was the biggest yet in this series that began in the early 1970s.

The organisers counted some 1400 registrants from 37 countries for the conference itself, absorbing information and data presented in 300 oral and 150 poster presentations.

Not surprisingly, Japan accounted for the largest group with close to 900 experts among presenters and audience. The next largest delegations came from the United States (87), Korea (59), Canada (52) and Germany (35). Both Britain and Norway each sent 13 experts. Hiroshi Nakada, the energetic 38-year-old mayor of Yokohama - the youngest person ever to head a major Japanese city - set the appropriate tone at the welcoming evening reception with an entertaining, impassioned speech on saving energy and on making his city eco-friendly. Clearly, Yokohama is already engaged in the hydrogen economy, having several phosphoric acid fuel cells operating on waste gases.

The conference itself was a slightly mixed affair. An excellent outdoor exhibition, including both fuel cell vehicles from major manufacturers from Japan, the United States and Europe and the new rotary-engined hydrogen Mazda (H&FCL Nov. 03, Feb. 04) was set alongside the impressively modern conference facility, the Pacifico Yokohama Conference Center. Inside, more booths displayed stationary products, more cars, and other technology items such as sensors and materials. Registration and all subsequent events ran smoothly and on time.

Mild Criticism

But the level of excitement was lower than the most recent previous world conference in Montreal, Canada, two years ago. Some delegates commented, somewhat negatively, on the perhaps overly long plenary sessions and the wide range of quality in the content. Clearly, the organisers had faced the traditional conference dilemma regarding the optimal number of parallel sessions; some delegates felt that a shorter plenary session and fewer parallels would have enabled them to take in more reports on the detailed analysis that is going on worldwide.

A novel and well-attended portion of the conference were the NEDO-organised and sponsored lunchtime addresses. NEDO, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation, is the main Japanese funding body for hydrogen and fuel cell technology development, putting in about Yen 19.3 billion this year (about US $175 million). These lunchtime seminars included an overview of NEDO activities, and specific more detailed presentations on ongoing research projects. These included safety and standards, in which the impressive new JARI (Japan Automobile Research Institute) facility inTsukuba for hydrogen safety testing was described and shown on video, and also materials such as austenitic stainless steel bipolar plates developed by Sumitomo Metals Industries. The NEDO presenters also showed unexpected talents in providing brief comedy skits before some of the sessions.

Novel Gas Detection System

Among the exhibits, one of the more interesting was a hydrogen detection system showcased by the Shikoku Research Institute, in Takamatsu. Two different systems are used , one to give an image of hydrogen gas leaks, and one of hydrogen flames. In the former, a laser shines onto a defined area, and then a UV camera is used to detect Raman scattering. An image generated using this information is then superimposed onto a separate image of the background, taken with a normal camera. The same system can also use three cameras - visible, UV and thermal - to sense and superimpose the image of a hydrogen flame onto a background image, giving an apparently visible flame. Work is still needed on both response time and on reducing size.

The strength of the Japanese industry and developments were hinted at in other exhibitions, with several hydrogen refuelling systems on display (Iwatani and Tatsuno amongst them), many different fuel cells (including PEM systems from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and a wide range of almost identical residential 1kW systems), and even some regional representation. Mie prefecture is keen to build on local skills and the availability of by-product hydrogen to develop industry in its prefecture, much as US states and European regions are attempting.

The technical tours were also well-attended, with additional buses having to be laid on for some. Japanese government commitment is made abundantly clear by the many fully-financed hydrogen refuelling stations that are part of the JHFC project in the Tokyo/Yokohama area. Some are hidden out of the way of the general public, but one at least is on the corner of a busy road, just opposite a row of private homes and next to a high school. When asked if there had been any resistance from the local residents, planners said the residents had all been consulted and the reason and importance of the station explained to them. No complaints had been received. Other countries will be eyeing this enviously.

Infrastructure Needs is Key Theme

During the conference itself, a significant amount of time was devoted to infrastructure modelling and development, clearly a key stage in helping to outline coherent strategies for the future. Air Liquide presented a very cautious view of safety developments based on their experience in building and operating some of the world existing fuelling stations. Sensibly based on precautionary principles, the analysis suggested that current wide spacing and safety walls were required in view of the status of technology. While this could potentially aggravate concerns about hydrogen safety, Air Liquide also stated clearly the expectation that these distances and containment requirements would be reduced markedly as technology and experience developed.

Infrastructure was also a key theme in the Shell Hydrogen plenary speech, in which the company’s chief executive, Jeremy Bentham, outlined two strategic points. The first, presented with the aid of slides showing developed world population density by satellite photos of lighted areas, suggested that the vast majority of the population could be served using hydrogen provided from existing refineries and other production sites at least in geographic terms, if not in terms of quantity.

The second discussed mini-networks, fleets of a hundred or so vehicles fuelled using a network of 4-6 small integrated hydrogen/gasoline stations in partnership between public and private organisations and operating on a semi-commercial basis. "I’m convinced this will be a more effective application of public funds than many smaller, ad hoc, or stand-alone projects," Bentham told the audience.

In passing, Bentham touched on the lingering problem of unfamiliarity with hydrogen: “We’ve certainly noticed a difference between working in communities like Iceland, where support and desire have really been built up, and Washington, where our latest project has been greeted with community and regulatory suspicion,” he said, adding, “nor is it unknown for this fear to be hijacked by special interest groups for political purposes.”.

Said Bentham, “It is now time to develop a new generation of ‘Lighthouse Projects’ that more accurately represent the reality of what the future will look like.”

Bentham and Shell recommend a focus on transportation in urbanised areas, such as “Tokyo/Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka, Los Angeles and New York, the Rhine region,” as he put it.

“Each project should have the highest possible visibility to build public awareness and support,” he added. “They should not be like dim lights just giving a vague idea of future possibilities, but real beacons to guide us - hence the name ‘lighthouse!’”.

Managerial, Technical Transition Challenges

An indication of the kind of technical and managerial transition challenges the hydrogen and fuel cell industry, such as it is, faces was provided by a General Motors presentation in which GM outlined the scope of its manufacturing partnerships. Of 88 core suppliers for their fuel cell system, 59% do not come from an automotive background and so need to be guided through the expectations on delivery timing, quality assurance and related aspects. The supply base is worldwide, and while 43% are US-based and 33% German (to be expected, given the GM and Opel locations), 6% are from Japan and 3% from the UK.

One of the 450 presentations piqued more curiosity than most others which, more often than not, described small, turn-of-the-screw advances and refinements. “The Unique Rodriguez-Baker Data on Hydrogen Storage in Graphite Nanofibers Might Be True,” was the intriguing title of a paper by Yury S. Nechaev, Daniil V. Iourtechenko, and T. Nejat Veziroglu, all of the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. This was a reference to the controversial findings by Nelly Rodriguez and Terry Baker, at the time at Northeastern University, Boston, MA who reported up to 67% hydrogen storage by weight (H&FCL Feb., Sept. 97, June 98), a claim that met with widespread skepticism and that other researchers had been unable to duplicate.

The new paper’s authors were apparently questioning some of the underlying assumptions about the mechanisms in hydrogen sorption processes, but their reasoning left some conference participants unconvinced. “They say that not all of the hydrogen absorption and desorption peaks can be adequately explained in terms of conventional carbon-hydrogen bonding, and that further experiments are needed,” said one storage specialist. “I’d agree with this, however, I think it’s a huge leap to suggest that the Rodriguez-Baker data might be correct,” he added.

Two researchers from the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), Dr. Ali T-Raissi and Dr. Cunping Huang, were honored with the Innovative Technology Award, the only U.S. based scientists to win awards at the conference. The two were cited for their work on “A New Solar Thermochemical Water-Splitting Cycle for Hydrogen Production.” Decisions were also taken for the future WHEC events. The next conference is set for Lyon, France, in 2006, to be followed by Brisbane, Australia, in 2008, and Essen, Germany, in 2010. It seems you need to get in early nowadays to secure a place.

By David Hart in Yokohama, with additional staff reporting. Hart is Head of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research at the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology, Imperial College, London.