EMEA News
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Could Serve as Bunker Fuel for Ships
A renewable energy project in Scotland to produce hydrogen fuel for ships is using electrolysis technology to store the fuel.
The project is based in Orkney, an island off the north Scottish coast, which has surplus energy from its wind and tidal power resources, the Financial Time reports.
Electrolysis works by splitting water into its component parts -- hydrogen and oxygen -- with an electric current.
"The resulting hydrogen is stored as compressed gas to be used at a later date in fuel cells which reverse the electrolysis process to produce electricity," according to the report.
One use of the stored power is for ships docked in Kirkwall, Orkney's capital.
The project has a number of partners including Scotrenewables, Orkney Council and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), which is based on the island.
"We're trying to take energy out of the sea and use it for things like transport and heat," Neil Kermode, EMEC's managing director, was quoted as saying.
However, hydrogen as a source of renewable energy lags behind other forms in terms of investment. The article points out that electric vehicles have reached 3 million sales globally while fuel cell vehicles have managed only a few thousand sales.
And, in an echo of the argument for and against the use of with liquified natural gas for ships, the lack of fuelling infrastructure is seen as a constraint on its development.
But if electric vehicles end up being the dominant mode for passenger vehicles, "the greater energy density of hydrogen will make fuel cells a better option for heavier transportation, such as trucks, ships and trains", according to the report.
Trials of a hydrogen-powered train developed by Alstom of France started in Germany last year.
