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Innovative Compression Technology for Efficient Hydrogen Vehicles

Steinbeis experts join EU COSMHYC project

Aside from battery-driven electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles are an important building block of climate protection, especially if the hydrogen that is required can be produced with a zero carbon footprint. Current compression technology based on hydraulic accumulation is expensive and consumes large amounts of electricity, and this is detrimental to the efficiency of hydrogen vehicles. The European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) in Karlsruhe has joined forces with S2i and three other partners from Germany, France, and Denmark to work on new solutions.

Development is being funded by the European Commission through an EU project called COSMHYC as part of a Horizon 2020 initiative called Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH2 JU). FCH2 JU is a public-private partnership aimed at supporting research and development in the field of fuel cell and hydrogen technology in Europe in order to accelerate the introduction of hydrogen technology. The goal of the COSMHYC project is to improve the availability of hydrogen stations and, on a broader level, to find solutions for improving the efficiency of hydrogen production hand in hand with reductions in investment outlays and operating costs. To do this, a prototype will be developed, built, and tested under real conditions. At each stage of the project, the commercial viability of the technology will be assessed to ensure that the technology that is developed will contribute to the competitiveness of hydrogen as a fuel source for transportation purposes. S2i will support the EIFER initiative through project management and will also be responsible for communication, as well as sharing and exploiting the results of the project. The experts from Steinbeis also provided support with applications submitted to the EU.

Contact

Dr. Marie-Eve Reinert
Steinbeis 2i GmbH (Stuttgart)