EFCF2015 – Bringing Fuel Cells & Hydrogen, as Part of our Energy Future, Closer to Deployment

Fuel cells, as an efficient energy conversion technology, and hydrogen, as a clean energy carrier, have great potential to contribute to addressing the energy, environmental and economic challenges that are facing the world. Hydrogen fuel cells allow renewable energy technology to be applied to transport as well as facilitate distributed power generation while helping to cope with the variable power and intermittent nature of renewable energies, such as solar and wind power. Efforts are underway to transform the transport and energy systems. In the transport sector, fuel cell and hydrogen (FCH) technologies are most advanced in propulsion of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), most notably passenger vehicles and buses. Significant progress has been made in recent years to address technical issues such as start-up, driving range and refuelling times. A reliability of 98% has been achieved with FCEVs and so are now on the verge of market introduction, however costs must be reduced, lifetimes increased and of course the hydrogen infrastructure, i.e., setting up the network of hydrogen refuelling stations has yet to be established. Non-road applications of FCH are primarily in the form of auxiliary power units (APU) for aviation, maritime, rail and the off-road sectors. The levels of maturity are generally lower than for road propulsion, with further developments necessary. In the energy sector, FCH technologies are used in a wide range of applications and show great promise in the integration of intermittent renewable energy sources into the overall energy system. However, the key technologies of electrolysis, large-scale storage and the injection of hydrogen into the grid require further development. Hydrogen production with a low carbon footprint from other resources, including solar, wind, biogas and waste streams are generally at a low level of maturity. Further development and demonstration of the different methods for hydrogen production is still required. Fuel cells for combined heat and power (CHP), power only, stationary industrial, commercial, residential and small applications are relatively mature and, like FCH for transport, are on the verge of commercialization. Hydrogen storage, handling and distribution are critical to its widespread use. Since 1994 the European Fuel Cell Forum has served as a venue for promotion of FCH technologies allowing all those involved in this field to meet, discuss, share and spread new ideas. The main theme of the 5th European PEFC & H2 Forum 2015, held 30 June – July 3, 2015 in Lucerne, was “Bringing Hydrogen Fuel Cells & Hydrogen, as part of our energy future, closer to deployment”. The focus of the conference was on polymer electrolyte fuel cells, as well as the production and storage of hydrogen. However, other fuels and fuel cell types were represented, such as alkaline, pure alcohol, formic acid and microbial fuel cells. The topics ranged from materials to systems, as well as FC&H demonstrations. Addressing issues of science, engineering, applications, market possibilities and future trends, the 5th European PEFC & H2 Forum 2015 provided an opportunity for a beneficial conversation between researchers, engineers and manufacturers, between hardware developers and potential users, and between academia and industry. The technical program comprised of current results, challenges, trends and innovations in the above given fields. This consecutive special issue consists of a selection of papers presented at the 5th European PEFC & H2 Forum 2015, covering various aspects of FCH technology, science, engineering, manufacturing and applications. University of Split, Croatia