Council bosses are considering plans to create a “Hydrogen Valley” in Aberdeen. Aberdeen City Council officers are currently exploring the new concept – to combine hydrogen energy with transport and heat – according to recently released council papers. And the report also reveals that, following an upgrade of the hydrogen refuelling station based in Kittybrewster, Toyota is eyeing the city as the first UK location to sell hydrogen cars to the city’s residents. A Hydrogen Valley, or Hub, is being considered as energy provider SGN is working on a proposed Hydrogen 100 project to determine the feasibility to use hydrogen for domestic heating systems. This has led to the consideration of a hydrogen production and refuelling facility to support these initiatives. The report said: “This ‘Hydrogen Valley’ concept, coupling energy and transport, would be fairly unique and has potential to take hydrogen beyond the current scale able to be delivered by the council.” The report also states: “The intention of developing a hydrogen strategy with associated infrastructure projects was in order to create a hydrogen economy in Aberdeen; diversifying the oil and gas sector and ensuring that Aberdeen remains a world-class energy city.” Last year saw a 24% increase in the number of hydrogen vehicles in the city, contributed in part by the successful trials of a refuse lorry and road sweeper, along with 10 hydrogen buses.
Energy Voice 19th April 2019 read more »
Aberdeen Evening Express 19th April 2019 read more »
Fuel cell and hydrogen commercialisation is moving forward rapidly across the world. The UK Government has estimated the potential market for low carbon hydrogen in the UK could be as high as 700TWh/year in 2050, the size of the current gas market. Globally, the Hydrogen Council roadmap presents a 2050 vision where the global annual sales of hydrogen technology and services reach £1.94 trillion and create jobs for 30 million people. The roadmap estimates that global demand for hydrogen could increase tenfold between 2015 and 2050, from 8 EJ to almost 80. In the last several years, global market of stationary fuel cells has been developing rapidly, with an average growth rate of 37%. Currently, more than 100 UK companies, as well as over 35 academic and contract research groups highly active in fuel cells and hydrogen, are contributing to the creation of this promising, global industry.
Gas World 18th April 2019 read more »
