Change of Directions - Hydrogen Newsletter 08.03.2023
In this week's newsletter, we will bring news from the car industry, and we have news from the proposed hydrogen pipeline that will connect the whole EU and from the Middle East.
Welcome to Change of Directions,
There is no doubt that hydrogen will play a major role in the energy market. It will give nations more energy independence, which is crucial for the change to renewable energies. State and private investors are pouring money into hydrogen research, and a new startup scene, dedicated to developing new hydrogen technologies, is flourishing.
One of the most interesting new companies is Quantron from Germany. They have developed a heavy truck, which has a range of over 1,500 km (932 miles). This range is very close to the 2,000 km (1,247 miles) of a diesel powered truck and far superior to the 500 km (310 miles) a modern e-truck can deliver. Providing this range means a lot for logistics companies, who want to scale down the downtime of each truck as much as possible. Take a look at their website. https://www.quantron.net/en/
Toyota has built a car with an internal combustion engine (ICE). However, this engine does not use the usual fuel – it uses hydrogen. The idea is not new. BMW worked on an engine like this, but stopped the development a couple of years ago. Now Toyota seems to be convinced that a hydrogen-powered engine can secure the future of cars. Ziyad Qureshi, author of the website “Topspeed” names the 10 benefits a hydrogen ICE can bring to the market. https://www.topspeed.com/how-toyotas-hydrogen-combustion-engine-could-revolutionize-performance/?h21fd#more-power-with-toyota-39-s-hydrogen-engine
Hydrogen has found its way into agriculture technologies. The German tractor manufacturer Fendt – one of the oldest and most successful tractor companies – has shown their first prototype of a hydrogen-powered tractor. Using hydrogen at farms makes sense. Farms can produce their own hydrogen with wind turbines and have storage solutions. The hydrogen can be used to produce electricity and, of course, to power the tractors for the work on the farm. https://www.greencarcongress.com/2023/03/20230306-fendt.html
Toyota and Hyundai went first, but BMW got also convinced. Hydrogen is a viable solution for the future of mobility. But instead of looking to the consumer, BMW has a more B2B focused approach. The argument is that the huge car fleets of companies are better off with hydrogen. Piet Andries from “FleetEurope” explains why hydrogen makes sense for fleet managers in his excellent article. One hint: downtime of the vehicles. https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/interviews/hydrogen-end-game-fleets-where-it-starts-says-head-bmw-hydrogen-jurgen-gundler
The first new hydrogen pipeline in Europe will be ready by 2030. Originally built by Portugal, Spain and France, Germany will now join the three countries and finance the 2.6 billion euro project. The pipeline will connect the southern parts of Europe with France and Germany. In a later stage, it will also be connected to a northern corridor that will include Norway and Sweden. https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/hydrogen-pipeline-h2med/8557006/
Oil producing countries are facing a new challenge. While the demand for cheap oil is still rising, the future will be different. Countries like Saudi Arabia have long started to develop new strategies to secure future income streams. Now the UAE, the second largest economy after Saudi Arabia, will launch a hydrogen strategy. John Benny from the “National News” explains what the UAE is planning. https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2023/03/01/uae-to-launch-national-hydrogen-strategy-in-april-official-says/?h2fd
Last but not least: there is a new way to store hydrogen: powder. A startup from Israel found a way to create a hydrogen powder that still has the same energy density as liquefied hydrogen, or hydrogen in gas form. However, this powder is much easier to transport, especially on the last mile. The company behind the technology is called Electriq and uses a new technology to pulverize hydrogen and extract the energy out of it. And they have found their first client. https://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/electriq-powder-plant/8557504/
That was it for this week. Thank you for subscribing to the Change Of Directions newsletter! If you have any questions or if you want to share an interesting link, feel free to contact us: contact@changeofdirections.com