Mahle develops coating for fuel cell coolers + + + Enapter sells first “AEM Multicore” electrolyzer + + + Study: “Direct Air Capture” + + + Study on renewable methane for trucks and ships + + + Federal funding for hydrogen filling stations + + + Studies & Reports
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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The Stuttgart automotive supplier Mahle GmbH has developed a new type of internal coating for fuel cell coolers. According to the information, this does not contain heavy metals or environmentally harmful chemicals. This is a “razor-thin, ceramic skin on the inner aluminum surface of the cooler,” which ensures that the coolant remains largely free of harmful ion inputs and thus retains its non-conductive properties over the long term. When designing operationally reliable cooling circuits for fuel cells, non-conductive coolants must be used because they come into contact with the current-carrying components inside the fuel cell. Conductive coolants would lead to leakage currents.
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The Enapter AG has received the first order for its “AEM Multicore” electrolyser, a containerized system for the production of megawatt-class green hydrogen. The large system was developed by the German Steinbeis Innovation Center Siz Energie+ ordered and is scheduled to be delivered to Braunschweig in June 2023. There it will be used at the research airport, among other things, to supply fuel cell test benches. The waste heat heats one of the buildings on the site. The AEM Multicore combines 420 core modules (AEM stacks) and, according to the company, can produce around 450 kilograms of hydrogen per day. Enapter presented the system in April of this year.
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The Berliner Climate Research Institute MCC has the carbon footprint of one “Direct Air Capture” (DAC), in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere using chemical filters. The study shows the resource consumption over the entire life cycle of such filter systems. It is based on data from the Swiss Climeworks AG (TSA technology, “temperature swing adsorption”) and the Canadian company Carbon Engineering Ltd. (HT-Aq, “high-temperature aqueous”). According to the scientists, the TSA process requires 1.000 kilowatt hours of energy to filter one ton of CO2 from the air. There are also 36 kilograms of material, seven tons of sorbent, three cubic meters of water and 11.000 square meters of space for a year.
The study also weights resource consumption according to its climate impact. According to this, air filters that are conventionally operated with energy from natural gas are currently CO2 inefficient: “The bottom line is that for one ton of CO2 filtered out, 300 kilograms of CO2 equivalents will sooner or later be emitted.” The HAT-Aq process used by the company Carbon Engineering scores with 580 Kilos are even worse in comparison. In contrast, in a scenario with low-CO2 heat and power supply, these values are significantly lower at 150 and 260 kilos. “There is a great risk that the air filter technology will not yet be ready for use on a sufficient scale when it will be needed in a decade or two,” says Kavya Mahdu, lead author of the study. The results were published in the specialist journal “Nature Energy" released.
Mahdu, K., Pauliuk, S., Dhathri, S., Creutzig, F., 2021, Understanding environmental trade-offs and resource demand of direct air capture technologies through comparative life-cycle assessment.
The Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) was founded by the Mercator Foundation and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
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By using renewable instead of fossil fuels, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) or LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). Greenhouse gas emissions in road freight transport by around 50 to 80 percent; in shipping, the use of renewable methane would bring a reduction of 35 to 80 percent. For a greenhouse gas reduction of over 80 percent, “upstream emissions would also have to be further reduced.” This is the result of a study by Institute for Environment and Energy an der TU Hamburg On behalf of the NOW GmbH.
The aim was to investigate what substitution potential and associated greenhouse gas reduction potential lies behind renewable methane as a truck and ship fuel by 2030. Accordingly, “the majority of the potential that can be mobilized is still unused”. Due to the age structure, the biogas plants in Germany would increasingly be excluded from the EEG remuneration and would be able to make biogas available for the transport sector. In addition, reference is made to the enormous untapped potential of advanced biomethane, which can be produced from residues such as straw or manure.
Due to the lack of regulatory requirements and usage incentives in shipping, scientists do not assume that fossil LNG will be replaced in large quantities by renewable methane in the foreseeable future.
The study “Substitution potential for renewable methane in heavy trucks and ships” is available free of charge as a PDF (81 pages).
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The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is launching a new call to promote the development of public Hydrogen filling stations for commercial vehicles. Up to 60 million euros are available. The funding supports the construction of hydrogen filling stations that emit 100 percent renewable hydrogen during operation. The funding rate is 80 percent of eligible expenses. The construction of electrolysis plants to supply the filling stations with hydrogen from 100 percent renewable electricity is also being supported. In this case, the funding rate is 45 percent of the eligible expenses for the construction of the facility. Applications can be submitted until January 31.01.2022, XNUMX.
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Photos
iStock / © aryos
