World

While a Japanese team developed a series of Er(Ho)Co2-based magnetic cooling alloys for hydrogen cooling, a US research team used a “simple” acid treatment to increase flow of hydrogen atoms within protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (PCECs). Hydrogen-fuelled mobility registered significant developments: the first hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft was piloted between two major airports in Germany, and a 75-passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay braces for operations in June.

The clean power numbers published annually by the International Renewable Energy Agency provide a snapshot of the global solar market and, this year, a lot of figures were unchanged from the previous dataset, especially in the off-grid segment.

The US-based Silver Institute’s “World Silver Survey 2022” report shows that the price of the metal will fall slightly this year, despite the global economic impact of the war in Ukraine.

Salzgitter has claimed a record efficiency level for its EU-funded GrInHy2.0 hydrogen project, which is based on solid oxide electrolysis cell tech. The high-temperature electrolyzer uses waste heat from the company’s steel production processes.

In other news, further Covid-19 lockdowns in China continue to negatively impact the EV battery supply chain and broader industry, Porsche is testing V2G capabilities, and Israeli startup Electreon announces extension of its wireless dynamic EV charging project in Sweden.

In other news, Airbus and Kawasaki Heavy Industries plan to work together to prepare a hydrogen-fueled ecosystem, while Storgrundet Offshore and Lhyfe want to build a 600 MW hydrogen production plant in Sweden. Furthermore, Canada-based First Hydrogen has identified four industrial sites in the United Kingdom and is advancing discussions with landowners to secure land rights to develop green hydrogen production projects.

Everfuel has signed a deal to build a hydrogen refueling station in Germany, while the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative has accelerated its own program to produce 20.6 million tons of renewable, low-carbon European hydrogen. Separately, the UK government published its hydrogen investor roadmap to 2030.

In other news, GM and Honda are jointly developing affordable EVs, the Biden administration holds an EV industry meeting, and Mercedes-Benz Energy agrees to supply EV batteries to BatteryLoop for its scalable, circular energy storage products.

Scientists in Canada fabricated a perovskite solar cell based on an inverted structure that achieved 23.9% efficiency, and maintained 92% of its initial performance after 500 hours of accelerated aging tests. By carefully controlling the thickness of the perovskite layer, the group was also able to gain control of “quantum mechanics” properties such as the movement of electrons within the layer and the wavelengths of light absorbed.

A think tank analysis suggests that if solar power keeps up its growth pace, along with wind, then the global power sector will meet its carbon reduction targets to keep world temperatures in check.