Hydrogen (H2) started before and is working now.

[Las Palmas]

Norled H2 ferry sails into operation, completing world-first achievement

By ANGIE BERGENSON            https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/author/angie-2-2-2-2-2/

The world’s first liquid hydrogen-powered ferry is officially in operation in Norway.

On March 31st, the Norled H2 ferry broke new ground for cleaner marine vessels when it was approved for service by the Norwegian Maritime Authority, officially entering service after undergoing extensive sea trials and a pilot test at Hjelmeland quay earlier this year (2023).

The vessel uses 4 tons of liquid hydrogen.

The 80-car ferry, called the MF Hydra, is the first ferry in the world to operate using liquid hydrogen fuel as its primary power source. It services a triangular route in Norway between Hjelmeland, Skipavik and Nesvik.

Specifically, the Norled H2 ferry uses two 200 kW fuel cells supplied by Ballard, 4 tons of liquid hydrogen supplied by Linde Engineering in Germany, a 1.36 – 1.5 Mwh Battery from Corvus Energy, and two 440 kW diesel generators. The hydrogen used by the ferry is trucked from Leipzig, Germany, and the 80 cubic meter tanks that hold the hydrogen, as well as the fuel cells, are located on top of the vessel.

Westcon and SEAM worked together to equip and complete the hydrogen ferry, with SEAM also supplying the automation scope for the hydrogen system. The vessel also received full approval by the DNV.

The launch of the Norled H2 ferry isn’t the company’s first major eco-friendly achievement.

The Norwegian shipping company is known for its innovation in the ferry transport industry. Back in 2015, Norled launched the MF Ampere, the world’s first battery-operated, propeller-driven ferry. Today, Norway has about 70 electric-powered ferries in operation.

Company Officials Say…

“It’s important for us to be at the forefront when it comes to technology development,” said Norled CEO, Heidi Wolden. “Investing in innovation, sustainability, and collaboration to develop new solutions is our way of taking social responsibility.”

Norled CTO Erlend Hovland added that “There are only two parties in the world that use liquid hydrogen as a fuel. These are Norled with the MF Hydra, and then the space industry using it as fuel for launches.”

Hovland said that after plenty of development and testing of the Norled H2 ferry, the company is looking forward to welcoming passengers on board the MF Hydra for an emission-free journey between Hjelmeland and Nesvik.

 

When so many are investing in Hydrogen and Synthetic fuel based on CO2+H2 we need not worry about being able to drive combustion engines.

[Las Palmas]

The company in Norway have used batteries in their ferry's since quite a long time, 2015 - 8 years, and if that was the solution, they would not start with H2 now.

This is something that Battery electric car owners should take notice of: Unfortunately, so many have bought Battery EV cars for obvious reasons because they were never informed about the negatives. I feel sorry for them; when the batteries no longer have the capacity, it used to have and they find out that it is not possible to trade their electric cars into a new car without getting almost nothing for the old. Most expensive part of these cars is the Battery, and very difficult, expensive and maybe not possible to put a new in when most other parts of the car will still be able to function much, much longer.

I think that Tesla is the only company that has functioning Battery temperature regulation, meaning that the batteries will still not last so long that it is comparable to life span of combustion engine cars, but longer than competition.

In UK and colder countries, it is too cold for correct temperature for batteries, several months yearly- here on the island it is too hot, several months yearly. Li-ion batteries live longest in the narrow range 25 – 30 degrees Celsius.

[javadude]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas said:

This is something that battery electric car owners should take notice of: Unfortunately, so many have bought battery EV cars for obvious reasons because they were never informed about the negatives. I feel sorry for them; when the batteries no longer have the capacity, it used to have and they find out that it is not possible to trade their electric cars into a new car without getting almost nothing for the old. Most expensive part of these cars is the battery, and very difficult, expensive and maybe not possible to put a new in when most other parts of the car will still be able to function much, much longer.

I think that Tesla is the only company that has functioning battery temperature regulation, meaning that the batteries will still not last so long that it is comparable to life span of combustion engine cars, but longer than competition.

I think it's only the old Nissan leaf that doesn't have active Battery temperature management.

The Battery should outlive the life of a BEV according to the experts (eg national grid https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/journey-to-net-zero-stories/what-happens-old-electric-car-batteries). Lexus for example warranty the Battery of the UX300e for 8 years or 100k miles and with regular checks will extend this to 10 years or 600k miles (https://www.lexus.co.uk/electric-cars/how-all-electric-works). They're not gonna do that if they expect to have to pay out on most cars within a few years. Most ICE cars will have needed a new engine by 600k miles and the owner will have spent an awful lot of money on servicing and repairs to the engine and ancilliaries. In 2.5years my BEV has needed brake check and cabin filters costing about £70.

[Las Palmas]

European provisional agreement for hydrogen stations infrastructure shows its faith in H2

 By JAKE BANKS                     https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/author/jake-2-2-2-2/

The Council and European Parliament have come to a political agreement to move forward in alternative fuels.

The agreement is shows that Europe strongly believes H2 will be a critical step forward in energy.

The agreement will also provide European citizens and other stakeholders with a clear message that the EU will be installing refueling and recharging infrastructure in the form of electric recharging and hydrogen stations. With more refueling capacity along motorways as well as within urban areas, citizens will be able to feel more confident that purchasing an alternative energy vehicle won’t limit their ability to travel. 

This also underscores the importance of H2 in the transportation industry throughout Europe as a part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also improving energy security.

 

[Mr Vlad]

You're post is quite interesting Chris. You have a tesla and it suits you well. I think it's stretching it a bit saying the batteries will last 600k miles. But yes batteries will last longer than what folk think. Tesla owners are fortunate to have a great charging infrastructure and its a credit to Mr Musk. Electric is Not the answer to climate this n that. Hydrogen will play a much bigger part and the way things are going it'll be sooner rather than later.

WOW that ferry looks great. Liquid Hydrogen now that's another great way forward. 

The future is looking bright. Hydrogen, synthetic fuels, yes batteries, hey and who knows smokeless coal power!

[Las Palmas]

1 hour ago, javadude said:

I think it's only the old Nissan leaf that doesn't have active battery temperature management.

The battery should outlive the life of a BEV according to the experts (eg national grid https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/journey-to-net-zero-stories/what-happens-old-electric-car-batteries). Lexus for example warranty the battery of the UX300e for 8 years or 100k miles and with regular checks will extend this to 10 years or 600k miles (https://www.lexus.co.uk/electric-cars/how-all-electric-works). They're not gonna do that if they expect to have to pay out on most cars within a few years. Most ICE cars will have needed a new engine by 600k miles and the owner will have spent an awful lot of money on servicing and repairs to the engine and ancilliaries. In 2.5years my BEV has needed brake check and cabin filters costing about £70.

Perfect for people changing cars every other year, if they can get reasonable price for the old; here they cannot. You are in this forum and know that cars more than 20 years are still loved. Doubt that many EV cars will be loved when 10 years.

And with functioning temperature regulation, I did mean well-functioning. Not just there for marketing purpose. Plus, the 10 years warranty you mention is valid, the 600k miles not so much. The more than 20 years old Lexus here in forum have not been used as taxis so 600k miles is only to show that a brushless electro motor last close to forever and will only need new bearings if anything.

So, after 10 years you are supposed to have saved enough on service etc. to be able to buy a new car as the old is no longer worth much as new batteries are not going to be available at reasonable price. Then maybe use the car to install fuel-cells in it; as if the car is well built it should last longer than 10 years.

£70 spent is excellent for 2½ years. Service with Lexus/Toyota is far more expensive for our car. But then again that model is able to last far more than 10 years. Some already are in this forum.

Still, all above mean very little in my mind. What I feel is terrible is damaging the health of people digging for materials because they are poor and doing it without protection, polluting and destroying the planet, searching for precious materials to batteries that have a rather limited life. And that hoping new materials will be found to make more batteries, as the ones used now are not sufficient, will digging for them be destroying more of the planet, we are supposed to deliver to our children at least as good as we received it.

Especially when knowing that water can be transformed to fuel, that after use will be water in endless circle. No matter if the H2 is used pure for fuel-cells or mixed with maybe CO2 as synthetic fuel, that can be used in existing combustion engines.

[Las Palmas]

Ballard Power Systems reaches new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle milestone

 

By TAMI HOOD                       https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/author/tami-2-2-2/

 

The company has announced that its H2 equipment has now powered vehicles over 150 million kilometers.

Ballard Power Systems has announced that its proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell systems have now powered vehicles in commercial heavy- and medium-duty motive tasks across a total distance of over 150 million kilometers (about 93.2 million miles).

This new milestone for the company also represents an industry-leading total for this H2 application.

The total distance travelled by vehicles powered by the PEM hydrogen fuel cell systems from Ballard is about the equivalent to circling Earth’s equator more than 3,700 times. In order to arrive at that milestone, Ballard’s equipment was installed into more than 3,800 buses and trucks. This allowed them to travel in about 15 countries worldwide for zero-emission mobility applications.

“We achieve this industry milestone at a time when we are seeing growing customer interest in the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells in our key mobility verticals of bus, truck, rail, and marine, as well as off-highway and stationary power applications,” explained MacEwen.

[Las Palmas]

What can be done with diesel trucks, can be done with other diesel cars!!!

 

 

 

Conversions from diesel to hydrogen trucks are drawing interest

 

 By JOHN MAX                       https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/author/john-2-2-2/

 

 

• Retrofitting existing vehicles to run on H2 allows fleet owners to reduce emissions and maintain current assets, saving money and reducing waste.
• Researchers from the University of New South Wales have developed a system that converts up to 90% of diesel operations, with an efficiency boost of 26%.
• This system does not require high-purity hydrogen fuel, as it uses a stratification technique to form pockets of higher and lower H2 concentrations, reducing nitrous oxide emissions.

Retrofitting systems allow vehicles and fleet owners to run existing engines on H2.

As good as it might sound to replace an entire fleet of diesel vehicles with hydrogen trucks in order to dramatically reduce a carbon footprint, most companies simply wouldn’t be able to afford that kind of investment all at once. This is particularly true when they already have vehicles that are still running just fine.

Conversions allow existing vehicles to run mainly on H2 instead of polluting diesel fuel.

That said, just because a company isn’t ready to replace its entire fleet, it doesn’t mean that hydrogen trucks are out of the question.  Existing large fleets can continue to be used – not only saving money, but also reducing unnecessary waste – while drastically shrinking their greenhouse gas emissions by using conversions from diesel to H2.

For instance, researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have prototyped and tested a retrofit system capable of converting diesel engines to run on 90 percent H2. This greatly reduces both the carbon dioxide and the nitrous oxide emissions from the vehicle’s operations while simultaneously providing a 26 percent efficiency boost.

This conversion does mean that the vehicle will need to continue to use diesel fuel for 10 percent of its operation. Therefore, it isn’t a fully green conversion.  Still, what it provides is a way for businesses to slash the majority of their greenhouse gas emissions without trashing assets that can still remain useful for a long time. In this sense, the reduced waste offsets a considerable amount of the remaining emissions from the vehicle’s operations.

 

No Fuel Cells Needed!!!

This system, like most retrofits converting diesel to hydrogen trucks and cars, does not involve the use of fuel cells, but is instead adds H2 injection directly into the cylinder. It also adds independent injection timing control for both the H2 and diesel systems. In the case of the system developed by the UNSW team, it also doesn’t require the hydrogen fuel to be high purity due to a stratification technique that forms pockets of higher and lower concentrations of H2. In this way, the nitrous oxide emissions are substantially reduced when compared to the operation of a diesel vehicle.

 

 

[Mr Vlad]

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/e-fuel/

More good news.

[Malc1]

the big Q must now be  ............  Could a Lexus Ls600 be ( simply ) converted to Hydrogen power ?

Save my waiting too long for my Ls700 to come off the production line 

Malc

[Mr Vlad]

I've read a couple of items stating that converting petrol and diesel cars to run on hydrogen is very possible and relatively easy. It can only be a good thing and economical.

[Las Palmas]

2 hours ago, Malc1 said:

the big Q must now be  ............  Could a Lexus Ls600 be ( simply ) converted to Hydrogen power ?

Save my waiting too long for my Ls700 to come off the production line 

Malc

Short answer - Yes. But without understanding the ( simply ) the answer is not perfect. Car need injection modified and possibly a few other components besides the tank.

Toyota made the conversion on an old Corolla model and said only valves needed to be replaced, so how much different in components the Ls600 is from a Corolla I do not know except there will be more valves if they need to be changed.  😇

[Las Palmas]

1 hour ago, Mr Vlad said:

I've read a couple of items stating that converting petrol and diesel cars to run on hydrogen is very possible and relatively easy. It can only be a good thing and economical.

A very good thing indeed. All combustion engines from cars and trucks etc. would make an awful lot of landfills. I mentioned long time ago that it would be more or less as easy as to convert engines from conventional fuel to LPG and was informed by smarter and more knowledgably forum members that such is close to impossible. Those who know nothing, no matter if they are scientists or not - shout loud in order to convince that they are smart.

[Las Palmas]

Here Are some very old news:

 

Hydrogen Fuel

 

The ****EL rotary has a lot of drawbacks as a gasoline engine, but they become benefits when you switch to hydrogen fuel, as Mazda did with a limited-production RX-8.

 

By Bob Sorokanich  Dec 26, 2018  https://www.roadandtrack.com/author/3028/bob-sorokanich/

The ****EL rotary engine is an engineer's dream. Smaller, lighter and simpler than any piston engine, the spinning-triangle design can crank out major power from a tiny package with a minimum of moving parts.

Related Story - How Rotary Engines Work, And Why They're Dead Now

 

 

 

But there are major drawbacks. A ****EL engine doesn't burn fuel nearly as cleanly or efficiently as a piston engine. That leads to dirty emissions—a problem that's compounded by the way the engine burns its lubricating oil. The technical challenges of the rotary engine eventually LED every major automaker except Mazda to abandon the design. Even now, Mazda doesn't currently build a rotary-powered vehicle, but we've been assured time and time again that this will change, and soon.

Related Story - Here's How Hydrogen Engines Actually Work

 

 

 

 

Here's the interesting thing: Most of the ****EL's drawbacks turn into advantages with one simple change. All you have to do is swap fuels, from gasoline to hydrogen.

Beloved YouTube nerd Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained is here to describe for us exactly what happens inside a ****EL engine that's running on hydrogen, his second recent video exploring hydrogen as a potential automotive fuel source. It turns out, this engine design is pretty much ideal for burning hydrogen. Mazda even built and sold a vehicle that took advantage of this, a dual-fuel RX-8 that could switch on the fly from gasoline to hydrogen and back. (It was sold only briefly, and only in Japan.)

Fenske uses an incredibly cool 3D-printed cutaway engine to explain exactly why the rotary is so good at burning hydrogen, and how future vehicles might take advantage of this benefit. Check out the full video here.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

And to learn more about the awesome ****EL model Fenske's using, check out this video from a few weeks back going into all the detail of the build.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Bob Sorokanich is Deputy Editor of Road & Track Magazine.

[dutchie01]

On 4/7/2023 at 4:03 PM, Mr Vlad said:

You're post is quite interesting Chris. You have a tesla and it suits you well. I think it's stretching it a bit saying the batteries will last 600k miles. But yes batteries will last longer than what folk think. Tesla owners are fortunate to have a great charging infrastructure and its a credit to Mr Musk. Electric is Not the answer to climate this n that. Hydrogen will play a much bigger part and the way things are going it'll be sooner rather than later.

WOW that ferry looks great. Liquid Hydrogen now that's another great way forward. 

The future is looking bright. Hydrogen, synthetic fuels, yes batteries, hey and who knows smokeless coal power!

Short scan on www.autoscout24.nl  shows a lot of high mileage Teslas for sale. If you search European wide you will see model S es with up to 600.000km. These are 10 year old cars with lifetime free charging. 

[Las Palmas]

8 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Short scan on www.autoscout24.nl  shows a lot of high mileage Teslas for sale. If you search European wide you will see model S es with up to 600.000km. These are 10 year old cars with lifetime free charging. 

Do you know for sure how much range they have left? Free charging is great, but if range is going down, not really funny unless car is to be used only short range.

[Mr Vlad]

That's interesting Bernard that there are tesla's in Europe with approx 373k miles (600k km). Going off a programme I watched where a 4 or 5 year old tesla model S with 100k miles only lost about 5% of its Battery capability. Now I'm no scientist or tekky but to me batteries lose capability either linearly or exponentially. I think batteries lose more as time goes by.

But still I would've buy a BEV new second hand or third hand even tho it makes sense for me to. I'm waiting for synthetic fuel 👍

[dutchie01]

7 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

Do you know for sure how much range they have left? Free charging is great, but if range is going down, not really funny unless car is to be used only short range.

You can have it tested would always do this before buying a used bev. Interesting in this is that we do not really know about longevity aspects of the batteries apart from statements of the manufacturer that as we know can be a lot of marketing. There is just no history we can fall back on so it is a wait and see situation about degradation and so on.  There is a model S with 604k km and the add states Battery degradation 25% and real km range 300km. Could be true i don't know. What i do know is these cars are highly sough after due to the free charging for life so totally free motoring. Explains the asking price i guess at 22.000 Euro.

 

 

 

 

[Las Palmas]

3 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

 free charging for life so totally free motoring. Explains the asking price i guess at 22.000 Euro.

One charger on the island explain why I have only seen 2 or 3 Tesla cars on the roads.

[Mr Vlad]

Eh up Bernard. I very much doubt the free charging fir life that tesla gave owners some years back is still on. Something is telling me that from a YouTube video from a dedicated used tesla dealer that the guy stated that the free charging had stopped. That it use to be transferred to the next owner but tesla stopped that. I'm sure I'm not far off the mark. I think tho that owners from new who still have that car and it qualified for free charging for life do still have free charging for life.

[Las Palmas]

Teslas owners in Tenerife and the other 6 islands will have to take the ferry to Gran Canaria to get a free charge.

If you have bought a Tesla and live on the islands maybe therse are more like what you would feel like:

 

[dutchie01]

Or you charge at home with free power from your solarpanels. Sun and blue skies all year round and no high mileage on an island?

[Las Palmas]

1 hour ago, dutchie01 said:

Or you charge at home with free power from your solarpanels. Sun and blue skies all year round and no high mileage on an island?

Not many kilometres around the island (225 on main roads) but a lot of up and down. Top 2000 m above sea level, best vegetable and artisanal cheese market around 1000 m up. No need for heating the car, but often comfortable to cool it down. Charge home and never go visit the other islands?

[dutchie01]

3 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

Not many kilometres around the island (225 on main roads) but a lot of up and down. Top 2000 m above sea level, best vegetable and artisanal cheese market around 1000 m up. No need for heating the car, but often comfortable to cool it down. Charge home and never go visit the other islands?

So, not a bad charging infrastructure in the Canaries but just Nothing? 

Shows that different parts of the world embrace electric vehicles with different speeds. Overhere all news is about the latest newest BEV, 2025/2030/2035 and so on. In thesame time i just read an article that in 2035 some 50% of all new cars sold will still be ICE. I am confused?

[Las Palmas]

Not nothing. What do you mean. 1 for Tesla cars on 7 islands.

Most malls have charging places for EV's and some of them seems to function. Some do not; have seen an EV owner trying to find out how to connect without luck. We went in, did shopping; when coming out again he was still trying to connect the car to charger. Maybe the poor guy's car was out of power.

Did you say 50% will "still"  be EV cars in 2035. Only 1 in 7 new cars worldwide are EV.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/ev-car-sales-energy-environment-gas/