Anglesey Hydrogen Can Bridge UK’s Energy Gap Says Economics Expert
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the University of Bangor web site.
This is the sub title.
Anglesey can become a UK leader in hydrogen energy technology, cleaning up the transport sector and creating high quality jobs across North Wales, according to a leading Welsh economic expert.
The University of Bangor is a respected university, that goes back to the nineteenth century.
But for Liverpool giving me an unconditional offer, as Bangor was one of the universities on my UCCA form, I could have studied in the North-West corner of Wales.
After a resume of where we are with hydrogen in the world, Dr. Edward Jones of Bangor University outlines how North West Wales can be turned into a hydrogen hub, to join similar hubs at Deeside in Flintshire and at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.
This is a paragraph of the article.
Dr Jones believes hydrogen could also hold the key to powering transport in future through a Welsh invention from the 19th century (the hydrogen fuel cell was developed in Swansea by William Grove in 1842).
William Grove was an interesting lawyer and scientist.
Dr. Jones would appear to be very much in favour of using hydrogen to take Wales forward to being zero-carbon in 2050.
I have written a few posts about the transformation of Anglesey and North West Wales, as Wales moves towards this goal. I also have some other thoughts of my own.
Holyhead Hydrogen Hub
This is happening and I wrote about it in Holyhead Hydrogen Hub Planned For Wales.
High Speed Two To Holyhead
I believe this could be a way to create a zero-carbon route between London and Dublin in under five hours and I wrote about it in Could High Speed Two Serve Holyhead?.
- London and Holyhead in a battery-equipped High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train should be under three hours.
- A single High Speed Two Classic-Compatible train would run between London and Holyhead, with a passenger capacity of around five hundred. It would probably split and join with another service at Crewe.
- Discontinuous electrification would be provided along the North Wales Coast Line.
- The trains could call at Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange, Chester, Crewe, Llandudno Junction and Bangor.
A High Speed catamaran would speed passengers between Holyhead and Dublin in under two hours.
Hydrogen-Powered Catamarans From Holyhead
The dynamics of a diesel-powered high speed catamaran are well-proven, with some large craft transporting passengers and vehicles on sea crossings all over the world.
Type “hydrogen-powered high speed catamaran” into Google and you get several hits to research and development projects, but no-one appears to have taken a large high speed craft and converted it to hydrogen.
But I do believe that someone somewhere is developing a hydrogen-powered catamaran with something like the following specification.
- 200 passengers
- 100-mile range
- 60 knot operating speed.
The HSC Francisco is a high speed craft that plies between Buenos Aires and Montevideo carrying over a thousand passengers and a hundred cars at 58 knots. It is powered by gas-turbine engines running on liquified natural gas.
I believe I’m not asking for the impossible.
Anglesey Airport As A Zero-Carbon Airport
Anglesey Airport uses part of RAF Valley and has hosted services to Cardiff.
This Google Map shows the runways of RAF Valley.
Note.
- The longest runway 14/32 is over two thousand metres long.
- Rhosneigr station in the South East corner of the map.
- The facilities of Anglesey Airport to the North-East of the runways.
The railway forms the border of the airport, as this second Google map shows.
The railway is straight as it passes the Airport and there would be space for a two-hundred metre bi-directional step-free platform for passengers for the Airport.
Airbus are proposing a hydrogen-powered ZEROe Turbofan.
If you think it looks familiar, I believe that Airbus are proposing to develop the aircraft out of the current Airbus A320neo.
- The capacity will be up to 200 passengers.
- The range will be up to 2000 miles.
- Dublin and Anglesey Airports are just 71.5 miles apart.
- The cruising speed of Mach 0.78 would be irrelevant on this route, as it would probably fly a route to minimise noise.
The plane would probably be able to do several trips between Anglesey and Dublin without refuelling.
As the Port of Holyhead is developing a hydrogen infrastructure, I suspect that to provide hydrogen refuelling at Anglesey Airport would be possible.
I believe that by combining hydrogen-powered aircraft with battery-electric trains, some difficult sea crossings can be made carbon-free.
I believe that Anglesey Airport could be key to a zero-carbon London and Ireland service.
- Airbus are also proposing a 100-seat ZEROe Turboprop.
- Belfast, Cork, Derry and Shannon would also be in range.
Flights could also continue to and from Cardiff.
Reopening The Anglesey Central Railway
This has been proposed as a Beeching Reversal project.
I wrote about it in Reopening The Anglesey Central Railway.
It could be reopened as a zero-carbon railway.
Conclusion
There is a lot of scope to use hydrogen in North West Wales and Anglesey.
Linde Commits To Green Hydrogen For Trucks And Becomes H2Accelerate Member
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
- Linde have already installed more than two hundred hydrogen filling stations around the world.
- Now, it appears they intend to install a lot more.
Could this give a big stimulus to more hydrogen trucks, buses and other road vehicles?
It should probably be noted that Linde are a shareholder in ITM Power and have ordered several large electrolysers from the Sheffield company.
Panasonic Launches 5 kW Type Pure Hydrogen Fuel Cell Generator
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Panasonic.
This is the first paragraph.
Panasonic Corporation today announced that it has developed a pure hydrogen fuel cell generator, which generates power through chemical reaction with high-purity hydrogen and oxygen in the air. The generator will be launched on October 1, 2021 for commercial use in Japan.
Features include.
- 5 kW basic unit scalable as needed.
- A hot water unit can be added to use the waste heat.
- Ability to run during a power outage.
- Remote operation.
I can envisage a log of uses for a useful generator like this and I will be interested to see how equipment like this is used in the future.
But there will be many generators in all sizes from many different manufacturers that will be released in the next few years to fulfil a lot of different applications.
We will also see lots of innovative ways to distribute hydrogen to various agricultural, industrial and office locations.
On-Train Hydrogen Storage Development Agreement
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
Alstom and automotive technology company Plastic Omnium have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on ‘high-end’ hydrogen storage systems for on-train applications, with a dedicated team established to manage the technical and commercial development of ‘innovative and competitive’ equipment.
This sounds like hydrogen tanks will be efficiently designed and produced for trains and locomotives.
The designs for these important areas will probably lead to better hydrogen tanks for any application that needs one.
UK’s Tevva Uses Submarine Tech To Power Electric Trucks
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times of Israel.
The article is from April 2017 and starts with this paragraph.
Startup founded by Asher Bennett, brother of Israel’s education minister, aims to provide digital, emission-free vehicles.
This paragraph gives details of the man behind the company and their first sales.
Meanwhile, one UK company — Tevva Motors — has already got its first orders for repowering the trucks of delivery giants UPS, DHL and Switzerland’s Kuehne+Nagel with its components, including the batteries and motor, according to Tevva’s 48-year-old Israeli founder Asher Bennett. Bennett is the older brother of former entrepreneur turned right-wing politician Naftali Bennett, who is Israel’s education minister.
Since the article was written, Naftali Bennett has become Israel’s Prime Minister.
This paragraph explains how the trucks work.
The trucks Tevva repowers as well as those the company is planning to build from scratch next year at its new facility in Chelmsford are fully digital. “Every piece of information on our trucks is on the cloud,” Bennett said. The software and algorithms developed by the company automatically calculate the most efficient use of the battery and instruct the range extender when to kick in, without any input from the driver.
We’re already starting to see trains using similar techniques.
But as a time-expired Control Engineer, I would go a similar route.
It is a fascinating article, that deserves a full read.
Tevva Presents 7.5 Tonne Truck With Range Extender
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Electrive.
This is the first paragraph.
The English company Tevva has presented a 7.5-tonne truck that is supposed to have a range of up to 250 kilometres in electric drive mode and a range of up to 500 kilometres with the FC range extender activated. Production of the Tevva truck is scheduled to start in July 2022.
I like the concept, as it appears to give a reasonable range.
- The design team behind the truck have a good pedigree.
- The trucks are of a size to handle a useful load.
- Larger trucks will be produced later.
- The trucks will be built in a factory in the London Freeport.
I think we’ll see a lot more larger battery-electric vehicles with hydrogen range extenders.
Cummins Accelerates Work On Hydrogen-Fueled Internal Combustion Engines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on CSR Wire.
This is the first paragraph.
Global power leader Cummins Inc. is accelerating its work on internal combustion engines fueled by low-carbon hydrogen.
Cummins aren’t the only company going this route, as JCB have also developed a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine.
In some ways it makes sense, as in a truck, railway locomotive or specialist machine, the conversion of the current diesel version to a hydrogen one could be easier.
From my experience of selling software to Cummins, they see themselves as specialists in providing customised diesel engines for anybody who wants them.
So could they supply customised hydrogen engines which are a direct replacement for a diesel engine?
It could be a very profitable market for Cummins, good for the environment and a quick way to decarbonise a lot of applications.
Wrightbus Presents Electric & Fuel Cell Single-Decker Buses
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on Electrive.
This is the first paragraph.
The Northern Irish bus manufacturer Wrightbus is introducing a new single-deck bus with battery and fuel cell propulsion. The new models of the GB Kite series in the Hydroliner FCEV and Electroliner BEV variants can each accommodate up to 90 passengers and are scheduled to go into series production in 2022.
This means that Wrightbus now have single and double-deck zero emission buses with both battery and fuel cell propulsion.
These are my thoughts.
High Commonality
There may be four different buses, but they have a surprising amount in common.
In this press release on the Wrightbus web site, which is entitled Wrightbus To Showcase Two New Zero-Emission Buses, there is this paragraph.
Both buses share an 86% parts commonality with their Double Deck sisters which delivers significant benefits to operators in terms of reducing complexity and costs for fleet maintenance.
Vehicle manufacturers have been looking for high commonality for many decades and it is amazing that Wrightbus have achieved such a figure.
We mustn’t forget the advantages, Wrightbus will get from such commonality in terms of production, product support and the supply of parts and sub assemblies.
Passenger Capacity
The passenger capacity of the four buses are as follows.
- Double-decker – Hydrogen – 86
- Double-decker – Battery – 95
- Single-decker – Hydrogen – 90
- Single-decker – Battery – 90
Note.
- These figures come from the Wrightbus web site.
- The site says that the figures for the single-decker buses depend on bus length and specification.
Does the similar capacity of all the buses give operators more flexibility?
Range
The range of the four buses are as follows.
- Double-decker – Hydrogen – 350 miles
- Double-decker – Battery – 200 miles
- Single-decker – Hydrogen – 640 miles
- Single-decker – Battery – 300 miles
Note.
- These figures come from the Wrightbus web site or the press release for the new single-deck buses.
- These ranges are claimed by Wrightbus as best-in-class.
- But surely the range of 640 miles for a single-deck zero-carbon hydrogen bus opens up some interesting and unusual routes.
- Single-deck buses appear to have a longer range than their double-deck sisters.
There is also a degree of battery size flexibility in the battery-electric buses to suit an operator’s routes.
Single-deck battery-electric buses are available with these battery sizes and charging times.
- 340kWh – 2 ½ hours @ 150kW
- 454kWh – 3 hours @ 150kW
- 567kWh – 3 ½ hours @ 150kW
And these are the figures for the double-deck battery-electric buses.
- 340kWh – 2 ½ hours @ 150kW
- 454kWh – 3 hours @ 150kW
Note.
- Both single- and double-deck buses can use the two smaller batteries.
- I would assume that they are similar and it’s all part of the commonality.
- Both buses can also be fitted with a pantograph to charge the batteries, when the routes present an opportunity.
Could the largest battery be fitted to the double-deck bus? Perhaps at some point, but I suspect, that currently, a weight limitation applies.
The Fuel Cell
This sentence from the Electrive article, describes the fuel cell system of the hydrogen bus.
The fuel cell solo bus model is very similar in design. Instead of the pure BEV drive, the GB Kite Hydroliner FCEV has a Ballard FCmove fuel cell with 70 kW or 100 kW and a small supplementary battery with 30 or 45 kWh on board.
It appears, there is flexibility in the power.
Forsee Batteries From France
This paragraph from the Electrive article, talks about the batteries.
Incidentally, Forsee Power is acting as the supplier of the batteries for the BEV buses. The Bamford Group, new parent of Wrightbus, had extended the partnership with the French battery manufacturer in October 2020 with a new contract for several hundred battery systems per year. Forsee Power announced the introduction of extra-thin battery modules earlier this year and directly named Wrightbus as the launch customer for the modules of the new Slim series. Whether these batteries are now already being installed in the two Electroliners is not specified. However, the high storage capacity of the 567-kWh top battery leads us to assume this, at least for the solo bus model.
Forsee’s slimline batteries seem a major advance in the powering of vehicles like buses.
It certainly looks like extra-thin is beautiful, where batteries are concerned.
Conclusion
This is a formidable line-up of four zero-carbon buses, that can be tailored to an operator’s needs.
When linked tom Jo Bamford’s company; FUZE, which I wrote about in New Company Established To Help Transition Bus Fleets To Hydrogen, Bamford’s deck of cards look even stronger.
Will Jo Bamford do for the bus industry, what his grandfather did for diggers? I wouldn’t bet against it!
Hydrogen Trains Planned For Apennine Route
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
The trains appear to be part of a project to bring a sustainable economic recovery to an area that has been affected by three earthquakes in recent years and suffered badly from depopulation.
There would appear to be four projects.
Refurbishment Of The Sansepolcro And Sulmona Railway
This 300 km railway will also switch from diesel to hydrogen trains.
- Sansepolcros is a town in the Eastern part of Tuscany, to the South-East of Florence.
- Sulmona is a city that is roughly East of Rome.
- The Northern section of the route is covered in Wikipedia by the entry for the Terni – Perugia – Sansepolcro Railway.
- The Southern section of the route is covered in Wikipedia by the entry for the Terni and Sulmona Ralway.
- There are connections to Rome at Terni and Sulmona.
This railway looks like it could be an interesting route for a railway tourist. In my past experience, Todi and Perugia were certainly worth a visit.
Two Seas Railway
The Railway Gazette article says this about the Two Seas Railway.
This would cross Italy from west to east, connecting Roma’s Fiumicino airport with San Benedetto del Tronto via Rieti, Amatrice and Ascoli Picen.
It has been proposed for a long time and could use hydrogen traction.
Building Back Sustainably
The Railway Gazette article says this about the third and fourth projects.
A third project will assess the potential for diffused green hydrogen manufacturing activity in the region, and a fourth will look at ways to apply new energy and environmental technologies in post-earthquake reconstruction.
It looks to me, that hydrogen will play a large part in restoring this region of Italy.
Conclusion
It sounds a bit like, the Italians are rebuilding their railways like the UK and several other countries are doing.
Vicat And Hynamics Develop Solution For Capturing CO2 And Producing Carbon-Free Methanol
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on World Cement.
This is the first paragraph.
Under a partnership with Hynamics, a subsidiary of energy-provider Groupe EDF that specialises in production of hydrogen, Vicat is developing an integrated solution for capturing CO2 and producing carbon-free methanol.
As cement manufacture is a large emitter of carbon dioxide, this could lead to a worthwhile solution.
But is it another application of Carbon Capture And Use?
The Anonymous Widower 