The Energy Department announced Thursday a new report that shows the fuel cell industry is continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate, totaling more than $2.2 billion in sales in 2014.
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Intelligent Energy’s Evaporatively Cooled 90 kilowatt fuel cell automotive technology is a compact and power dense system that requires fewer balance of plant components than conventional fuel cell solutions.
“This Back to the Future-inspired milestone has taken 30 years to arrive, and Toyota has been developing hydrogen fuel cell technology nearly that long”, Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager, said in a release. Considering the major infrastructure changes needed to accommodate these features, it’s unlikely FCV Plus will be available anytime soon, but the concept vehicle gives a preview of Toyota’s vision for for an eco-friendly future.
The hydrogen and fuel cell market is growing rapidly. “Transport for London and the city it serves will provide the ideal environment for Mirai to demonstrate the significant potential of hydrogen as a practical alternative fuel for the next century and beyond”.
There are now seven zero-emission hydrogen passenger cars in London, but with the arrival of the Mirai and further cars expected from South Korean motor manufacturer Hyundai this number is set to more than triple in the coming year.
Hydrogen powered vehicles emit no emissions from the exhaust pipe, just water vapour, and have a comparable driving range, speed and refuelling time to normal cars. Hydrogen for these stations can be delivered to a site via truck or pipeline, produced by natural gas reformation, biomass conversion, or by electrolysis, including electrolysis driven by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. “To bring them to mass market, we need to ensure our fuel cell stacks are robustly industrialised, which is the aim of this programme”, said Chris Dudfield, director of Intelligent Energy’s research and technology division.
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The “first of its kind” hydrogen fuelling station has been opened in Golden, Colorado, by Air Products.
