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The presentation, 'NREL Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies Program Overview,' was presented at the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Expo and Policy Forum, April 24, 2013, Washington, D.C.
This NREL Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Highlight describes how early market end users are operating 1,111 fuel cell units at 301 sites in 20 states with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Program and analysis by NREL.
Comprehensive, concerted efforts supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) are advancing research and development to demonstrate clean hydrogen production and industrial decarbonization pathways. These pathways enable an economically competitive and environmentally beneficial future energy system across sectors and can address specific applications that are difficult to decarbonize. NREL's research accelerates development, integration, and scale up of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies to enable widespread deployment across multiple energy sectors. Our work helps industry overcome technical challenges and supports DOE's H2@Scale vision for clean hydrogen across multiple applications and economic sectors. We also bridge technologies with other research areas across the lab and through multiple DOE and national lab research initiatives, consortia, and collaborations including: the Hydrogen Energy Earthshot, H2@Scale, National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, H2NEW: Hydrogen from Next-generation Electrolyzers of Water Consortium, HydroGEN: Advanced Water Splitting Materials Consortium, HyMARC Hydrogen Materials Advanced Research Consortium.
This NREL Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Highlight describes a time-lapse geographical visualization map of early market use of fuel cells for telecommunications backup power. The map synthesizes data being analyzed by NREL's Technology Validation team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Program with DOE's publicly available annual summaries of electric disturbance events.
In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.
This presentation describes an independent assessment of fuel cell durability status and discusses the project's relevance to the Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program; NREL's analysis approach; the FY12 technical accomplishments including the fourth annual publication of results; and project collaborations and future work.
In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.
The project objective was to further assist in the commercialization of fuel cell and H2 technology by building further upon the successful fuel cell lift truck deployments that were executed by LiftOne in 2007, with longer deployments of this technology in real-world applications. We involved facilities management, operators, maintenance personnel, safety groups, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction. LiftOne strived to educate a broad group from many areas of industry and the community as to the benefits of this technology. Included were First Responders from the local areas. We conducted month long deployments with end-users to validate the value proposition and the market requirements for fuel cell powered lift trucks. Management, lift truck operators, Authorities Having Jurisdiction and the general public experienced 'hands on' fuel cell experience in the material handling applications. We partnered with Hydrogenics in the execution of the deployment segment of the program. Air Products supplied the compressed H2 gas and the mobile fueler. Data from the Fuel Cell Power Packs and the mobile fueler was sent to the DOE and NREL as required. Also, LiftOne conducted the H2 Education Seminars on a rotating basis at their locations for lift trucks users and for other selected segments of the community over the project's 36 month duration. Executive Summary The technology employed during the deployments program was not new, as the equipment had been used in several previous demos and early adoptions within the material handling industry. This was the case with the new HyPx Series PEM - Fuel Cell Power Packs used, which had been demo'd before during the 2007 Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge. The Air Products HF-150 Fueler was used outdoors during the deployments and had similarly been used for many previous demo programs. The methods used centered on providing this technology as the power for electric sit-down lift trucks at high profile companies operating large fleets. As a long-standing lift truck dealership, LiftOne was able to introduce the fuel cells to such companies in the demanding applications. Accomplishments vs Objectives: We were successful in respect to the stated objectives. The Education Segment's H2 Education Sessions were able to introduce fuel cell technology to many companies and reached the intended broad audience. Also, demos of the lift truck at the sessions as well as the conferences; expos and area events provided great additional exposure. The Deployments were successful in allowing the 6 participating companies to test the 2 fuel cell powered lift trucks in their demanding applications. One of the 6 sites (BMW) eventually adopted over 80 fuel cells from Plug Power. LiftOne was one of the 3 fuel cell demonstrators at BMW for this trial and played a major role in helping to prove the viability and efficiency of this alternative form of energy for BMW. The other 5 companies that participated in the project's deployments were encouraged by the trials and while not converting over to fuel cell power at this time, expressed the desire to revisit acquisition scenarios in the near future as the cost of fuel cells and infrastructure continue to improve. The Education sessions began in March of 2009 at the 7 LiftOne Branches and continued throughout the duration of the project. Attendees came from a large base of lift truck users in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The sessions were free and invitations were sent out to potential users and companies with intrigue. In addition to the Education content at the sessions (which was offered in a 'H2 101' format), LiftOne was able to demonstrate a working fuel cell powered lift truck, which proved to be a big draw with the 'hands on' experience. LiftOne also demo'd the fuel cell lift trucks at many conferences, expos, professional association meetings, trade shows and 'Green' events in major cities region including Charlotte, Greenville, and Columbia. Such events allowed for H2 Education Material to be presented, and recruit attendees for future sessions. The Deployments began in May '09 and continued through August'10. While the overall results were good, there were some technical problems with the fuel cells at times during the trials. These items are detailed in the attachment provided with this submission. There were never any safety issues during the trials as design features and diagnostic capabilities allowed for quick analysis and field repairs. There were no products developed during this award, as we demo'd existing products. During the project, Tom Dever was able to speak at several panel type discussions and presentations at the NHA/ Fuel Cell & H2 Energy Annual Conference, as well as at the Promat Show in Chicago. Expertise and deployment/ education experiences were imparted during these events. The presentations are included as attachments.
The research and development taking place today at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is paving the way for nature's most plentiful element—hydrogen—to power the next generation. NREL researchers are working to unlock the potential of hydrogen and to advance the fuel cell technologies that will power the automobiles, equipment, and buildings of tomorrow. Hydrogen and fuel cells are a fundamental part of the broader portfolio of renewable technologies that are moving our nation toward its goals of energy independence and sustainability.
Comprehensive, concerted efforts supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) are advancing research and development to demonstrate clean hydrogen production and industrial decarbonization pathways. These pathways enable an economically competitive and environmentally beneficial future energy system across sectors and can address specific applications that are difficult to decarbonize. NREL's research accelerates development, integration, and scale up of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies to enable widespread deployment across multiple energy sectors. Our work helps industry overcome technical challenges and supports DOE's H2@Scale vision for clean hydrogen across multiple applications and economic sectors. We also bridge technologies with other research areas across the lab and through multiple DOE and national lab research initiatives, consortia, and collaborations including: H2NEW: Hydrogen from Next-generation Electrolyzers of Water Consortium, HydroGEN: Advanced Water Splitting Materials Consortium, and BioH2. Within the plenary panel called: From the Classroom to the Lab to the Board Room, I will represent the Lab in this panel and will be talking about hydrogen technology at NREL, the lab's role in bridging university research with industry commercialization. I will also talk about my personal career path and what it's like to work at NREL, along with work force development and DEIA programs at NREL.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under the guidance of Drs. Michael Seibert (retired, Fellow Emeritus) and Maria Ghirardi (Fellow), led 15 years of research addressing the issue of algal H2 photoproduction. This project resulted in greatly increased rates and yields of algal hydrogen production; increased understanding of the H2 metabolism in the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii; expanded our knowledge of other physiological aspects relevant to sustained algal photosynthetic H2 production; led to the genetic identification, cloning and manipulation of algal hydrogenase genes; and contributed to a broader, fundamental understanding of the technical and scientific challenges to improving the conversion efficiencies in order to reach the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office’s targets. Some of the tangible results are: (i) 64 publications and 6 patents, (ii) international visibility to NREL, (iii) reinvigoration of national and international biohydrogen research, and (iv) research progress that helped stimulate new funding from other DOE and non-DOE programs, including the AFOSR and the DOE Office of Science.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) objective for this project is to identify performance needs for onboard energy storage of early motive fuel cell markets by working with end users, manufacturers, and experts. The performance needs analysis is combined with a hydrogen storage technology gap analysis to provide the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Program with information about the needs and gaps that can be used to focus research and development activities that are capable of supporting market growth.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in association with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), held a Biogas and Fuel Cells Workshop on June 11–13, 2012, in Golden, Colorado, to discuss biogas and waste-to energy technologies for fuel cell applications. The meeting was spearheaded by the Fuel Cell Technologies Program in coordination with the Biomass Program. The overall objective was to identify opportunities for coupling renewable biomethane with highly efficient fuel cells to produce electricity; heat; combined heat and power (CHP); or combined heat, hydrogen and power (referred to as CHHP or “trigeneration”) for stationary or motive applications. The workshop focused on biogas sourced from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), landfills, and industrial facilities that generate or process large amounts of organic waste, including large biofuel production facilities (biorefineries).
This presentation provides a summary of NREL's FY15 fuel cell electric vehicle evaluation project activities and accomplishments. It was presented at the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program 2015 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting on June 10, 2015, in Arlington, Virginia.
The fiscal year 2015 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting (AMR), in conjunction with DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office AMR, was held from June 8-12, 2015, in Arlington, Virginia. This report is a summary of comments by AMR peer reviewers about the hydrogen and fuel cell projects funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
An efficient, cost-effective hydrogen storage system is a key enabling technology for the widespread introduction of hydrogen fuel cells to the domestic marketplace. Air Products, an industry leader in hydrogen energy products and systems, recognized this need and responded to the DOE 'Grand Challenge' solicitation (DOE Solicitation DE-PS36-03GO93013) under Category 1 as an industry partner and steering committee member with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in their proposal for a center-of-excellence on Carbon-Based Hydrogen Storage Materials. This center was later renamed the Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence (HSCoE). Our proposal, entitled 'Designing Microporous Carbons for Hydrogen Storage Systems,' envisioned a highly synergistic 5-year program with NREL and other national laboratory and university partners.
In 2008, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under contract to the US Department of Energy (DOE), conducted a manufacturing readiness assessment (MRA) of fuel cell systems and fuel cell stacks for back-up power and material handling applications (MHE). To facilitate the MRA, manufacturing readiness levels (MRL) were defined that were based on the Technology Readiness Levels previously established by the US Department of Energy (DOE). NREL assessed the extensive existing hierarchy of MRLs developed by Department of Defense (DoD) and other Federal entities, and developed a MRL scale adapted to the needs of the Fuel Cell Technologies Program (FCTP) and to the status of the fuel cell industry. The MRL ranking of a fuel cell manufacturing facility increases as the manufacturing capability transitions from laboratory prototype development through Low Rate Initial Production to Full Rate Production. DOE can use MRLs to address the economic and institutional risks associated with a ramp-up in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell production. In 2010, NREL updated this assessment, including additional manufacturers, an assessment of market developments since the original report, and a comparison of MRLs between 2008 and 2010.
This presentation discusses analysis results for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act early market fuel cell deployments and describes the objective of the project and its relevance to the Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program; NREL's analysis approach; technical accomplishments including publication of a fourth set of composite data products; and collaborations and future work.