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Study: Fuel Cell Development in the UK is “Relatively Neglected”
24 July 2006
A new study funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) concludes that development of the hydrogen fuel cell has been relatively neglected through insufficient support from industry and government.
The study suggests that the nature of fuel cell technology as a disruptive innovation is one of the major obstacles to development. Disruptive innovations are radically different from the existing dominant technology and to begin with they are often not as good. The result, the report asserts, is two-fold. First the proponents of existing technology are likely to fear and so resist the new development. Second, because profits are unlikely to be immediate, funding can be problematic.
Fuel cells are a genuine “clean” technology. But re-investment in nuclear technology is likely to squeeze out the investment necessary to make fuel cells competitive with existing energy sources and with other non-nuclear alternative energy options.
—Professor Chris Hendry of the Cass Business School, London
The report states that while the potential of fuel cells is being pursued in the UK, Germany, North America and Japan, interviews with seventy companies in these countries show the UK fuel cell industry is lagging behind.
Although the UK is comparatively strong in developing hydrogen as a fuel source, reflecting the interests of the oil and gas companies, and in fuel cell components, the industry supply chain for fuel cells is generally underdeveloped and there have been few efforts by government to support the creation of a market.
By contrast, the study finds, Germany has more medium and large firms along the supply chain as well as technological excellence in engineering and electronics to support the overall design of fuel cell systems.
It has energy supply companies committed to testing fuel cells, and there are active government incentives. As a result, Germany has 75% of the installations in Europe. Germany and Japan offer the most favorable conditions for fuel cells in residential combined heat and power and, the authors say, may well become lead countries in technology and market development.
Buses seem a promising test-bed for fuel cells but large technical systems like transport and power generation are embedded in institutional and economic commitments which fuel cells will have to overcome, according to the authors. Bus manufacturers and operators are lukewarm and, with the exception of Iceland, there is little evidence of coherent government transport and taxation strategies anywhere in the world to encourage the transition to low emission buses. As a result, the bus market is failing to provide a viable niche for fuel cells, let alone a foothold for wider automotive applications.
This shows the limitations imposed by framing demonstration projects as technological rather than social experiments and the need for continuing public procurement to provide a bridge beyond demonstrations.
The role of a clear guiding vision and political will is illustrated by Japan, which has bypassed bus demonstrations in favour of building a fuel infrastructure that can be used by the automotive industry to support the development of cars.
The study found broad agreement that fuel cells will first find adoption in the portable electronics market, followed by stationary power generation and automotive, although when and how quickly varies by country.
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July 24, 2006 in Europe, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: James | July 24, 2006 at 08:14 AM
Isn't this a UK project?
http://www.qinetiq.com/home/newsroom/news_releases_homepage/2005/2nd_quarter/lifecar_project.html
Posted by: AES | July 24, 2006 at 08:22 AM
Considering the ultra-high purity of hydrogen needed for fuel cells and the problem of CO2 poisoning plus the low kwh/liter of H2 plus the energy inefficiency of the whole idea compared to storage batteries then lack of fuel cell research in the UK might be a plus for them. Let taxpayers in the EU and US foot the futile research bills.
Posted by: tom deplume | July 24, 2006 at 09:18 AM
Posted by: Robert Schwartz | July 24, 2006 at 09:55 AM
We should be careful to distiguish between the PEM fuel cell and other fuel cells though. PEM is the only type of fuel cell that requires pure hydrogen. Well, AFC also relies on fairly pure H2, but high temperature fuel cells are still sustainable because they can basically run on any fuel...like paint fumes for example.
Posted by: ben | July 24, 2006 at 10:32 AM
The thing about research is that you can turn it off, but you can't just turn it on again and expect it to be where it was. Yes I think that PHEV,EV is the way things will go. And I'm very excited about that. I'd like to see more research money go in that direction. I'm a firm believer that all research has unintended side affects that are almost always more beneficial than the original intent of the research. So rather than just kill off hydrogen research lets just pair it down a little and send some extra funds over to the battery guys.
Posted by: Neil | July 24, 2006 at 11:26 AM
1. This article refers to hydrogen as a "fuel source." But as many people point out, hydrogen is not a primary source of energy. It is an energy carrier. For instance, coal is effectively a primary energy source (though really it is just a carrier of ancient solar energy), while electricity can be a carrier of the energy stored in coal. Similarly, hydrogen is a carrier of energy derived elsewhere -- from fossil fuels, wind turbines or even nuclear stations. Thus, a renewed UK emphasis on nuclear power is not incompatible with a hydrogen/fuel cell research program. Nuclear plants can theoretically be very effective generators of hydrogren. A nuclear plant can power homes and businesses during the day, and generate hydrogen at night. Wind turbines can generate hydrogen if the wind blows during off peak hours.
2. Fuel cells, in most of their foreseeable forms, do not seem to make much sense in general automobile use. Yet there are plenty of niche markets in which their attrative qualities would be at a premium. Extremely sensitive air-quality locations are one market -- indoors (forklifts), road tunnels, city centers, etc. Noise-sensitive locations are another (home combined heat/power appliances). APUs for trucks, and backup generators are another possibility. These are not insubstantial markets, and the potential for "spin-off" innovations is substantial.
Yet, if the UK decides that it has better things to do with its time, I cannot blame them. There is plenty of room for a better battery out there, or what have you. As long as they don't give up on R&D entirely, and spend their money on something halfway worthwhile, they'll be okay.
Posted by: NBK-Boston | July 24, 2006 at 11:49 AM
Not every country has to do research on everything.
Posted by: t | July 24, 2006 at 11:50 AM
A while back, GM stated that they were going to proceed with developing fuel cells for the stationary market to get economies from that before proceeding with mobile applications. In plain speak that means creating fuel cells for combined heating, cooling and electric power for buildings and homes...then cars.
Posted by: sjc | July 24, 2006 at 01:28 PM
If the UK government wants to encourage businesses to develop fuel cells, do a small public service announcement run and perhaps offer some tax breaks as incentives, but at this point I really don't see a need to sink public funds into this particular technology as long as there are much cheaper, simpler and better developed options such as battery tech that could be implemented in the near future.
Posted by: Erick | July 24, 2006 at 02:57 PM
There are developments in DME in China:
Since DME has an advantage of decomposition at lower temperature than methane and LPG, R&D for hydrogen source for fuel cell has been carried out.
If you would like to know more on the latest DME developments, join us at upcoming North Asia DME / Methanol conference in Beijing, 27-28 June 2007, St Regis Hotel. The conference covers key areas which include:
DME productivity can be much higher especially if
country energy policies makes an effort comparable to
that invested in increasing supply.
By:
National Development Reform Commission NDRC
Ministry of Energy for Mongolia
Production of DME/ Methanol through biomass
gasification could potentially be commercialized
By:
Shandong University completed Pilot plant in Jinan and
will be sharing their experience.
Advances in conversion technologies are readily
available and offer exciting potential of DME as a
chemical feedstock
By: Kogas, Lurgi and Haldor Topsoe
Available project finance supports the investments
that DME/ Methanol can play a large energy supply role
By: International Finance Corporation
For more information: www.iceorganiser.com
Posted by: Cheryl Ho | May 23, 2007 at 09:27 PM
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I would rather see a halt to fuel cell development untill someone comes up with a way to produce hydrogen without using a huge amount of energy.