The Popularity of Fuel Cells and its Future

As population throughout the world is increased, the use of energy is also increasing. That way, this energy will continue to decrease and be limited. The only way for people to keep mobile on their daily basis that they have to move to use the alternative energy.

Since discovered by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein in 1838, fuel cells have developed and become one of the alternative energy sources. Chemists from General Electric developed fuel cells for power generation starting in 1955. In 1958, fuel cells for commercial power generation were developed for the first time. The development continues until 2009 is predicted to produce up to 400 KW of electricity output.

Advantages

Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electricity while producing only heat and water as by-products. Thus, a well-designed fuel cell can generate electricity for both commercial and residential electricity needs while providing heat. A variety of fuel cells are available to supply primary power requirements to meet various needs.

People get interested on the use of this energy because it has so many advantages. They are:

• Can generate power immediately when the fluid is flowing. So that the energy wasted can be minimized -In the use of fuel cells, no air pollution is produced at all which reduces global warming

• In the fuel cell, only the fluid that flows in it so that the level of damage to the fuel cell equipment can decrease

• This fuel cell itself can increase its efficiency when used according to the procedure

• The size is much smaller than other power generation tools.

With those advantages how could this not possibly will grow the trend of its utilization in the future. And it’s already starting from now. People begin to be conscious of saving their environment by moving to the renewable energy.

Market Demand Triggers

From an estimated value of USD 263 million in 2020, the global fuel cells market is expected to hit USD 848 million by 2025, rising at a CAGR of 26.4 percent over the forecast period. The market was studied with a particular emphasis on advances in fuel cell technologies such as PEMFC, PAFC, AFC, and MFC. The rise in demand for renewable energy generation in developing regions is to blame for the increase (according www.marketdecipher.com)

It is certain that the zero-emission automotive industry cannot be stopped. Almost all car manufacturers are competing to produce environmentally friendly vehicles. One of them is Hyundai, which is confirmed to cooperate with the US government and invest up to USD 7.4 billion in the United States for the development of environmentally friendly cars. (According to www.reuters.com)

The investment will later be used to build a battery and hydrogen supply center for environmentally friendly vehicles in America and other countries. Hyundai is indeed known to be quite serious about the development of electric vehicles, currently the zero-emission vehicle model is starting to be sold not only in the US market but also in developing countries such as Indonesia. Previously, Hyundai made an investment in America in 2017 which was used to build an electric vehicle production plant.

In addition, this development will also be used for Kia production vehicles which are under the same umbrella with the Hyundai Group. This plan is also driven by the industrial situation in America which is increasingly moving towards emission-free vehicles. However, both Hyundai and Kia continue to see policies and developments in the business situation in America regarding electric vehicles in order to continue this mega project. But keep in mind, this investment is not included in the Apple Car autonomous car development project that was discussed earlier.

In the future, there may not be as many fossil fuel vehicles as there are currently. In fact, Honda is committed to not selling fossil fuel vehicles by 2040. (According www.theverge.com)

Honda has laid out its plans to increase its range of electric vehicle (EV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCV /hydrogen) models in key electrification markets, such as the United States and China. There, electric and hydrogen vehicle ranges will control 40% by 2030. In the next five years, 80% of Honda's vehicles were electric and hydrogen vehicles. Globally, by 2040 Honda will no longer sell fuel cars, instead electrifying vehicles.

By looking at the current trend, it makes the use and the demand of fuel cells increase and it is sure it will make humans to switch to use them. This is also supported by the promotion of the use of electric cars by world figure.

Pope Francis is known as a figure who cares deeply for the environment. In this regard, the Pope will have a new official car powered by electricity starting next year.

It is the car manufacturer from the United States, Fisker, who will provide a new environmentally friendly car for Pope Francis. The special car for the Pope uses the basic Fisker Ocean type, which is then modified according to the Pope's needs. ( Quoted from www.carscoops.com)

The Fisker Ocean certainly has a different appearance compared to other electric cars, because it was designed for the Pope to carry out religious activities and greet his people.

And then, aviation fuel is one of the major sources of emissions in the industry, so it's past time for the industry to change its attention to greener fuel choices The new fuel must be readily available all over the world, as well as being safe, environmentally sustainable, and cost-effective. Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize the aviation industry by replacing existing aviation fuel.

The automotive and space industries have been at the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell technology development for the past two decades. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), for example, have gone through many stages of development to prove their performance, protection, and reliability, and they have the exciting potential of having a longer range, greater carrying capacity, and quicker refueling times than conventional electric vehicles. For years, the space industry has used hydrogen fuel cells to power auxiliary electric systems on board spacecraft. Aeronautical engineers are now considering new ways to power electrical systems on future aircraft using the same technology.

The Challenges

Although the future of fuel cells is promising, but the demand of its availability still meets following challenges

• First, it is because of the material for this fuel cell component, which is still classified as specific, causes the price to increase.

• Can result in reduced efficiency in the fuel cell.

• Reduced performance is a problem with the fuel cell stack.

And from the research of Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi Ehteshami, the aim is to find out how the impact of carbon monoxide absorption into the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack. The method used in achieving the goal is a simulation with the CFD program. The results obtained from the simulation are that the performance will decrease as carbon monoxide is absorbed into the fuel cell. The conclusion is that the decrease in the performance of the fuel cell is proportional to the amount of carbon monoxide absorbed in the fuel cell. (Source: Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi Ehteshami, 2010)

The advantages of fuel cells also come at a high price with the need for intensive research to achieve cheap, environmentally friendly, and renewable power generation. In 2005, the United States budgeted US $ 3.7 billion to research and develop hydrogen and fuel cells. This fuel cell requires an electrocatalyst as anode and cathode which can catalyze the reaction of hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction. Currently the superior electrocatalyst is platinum, a metal which is very expensive and rare in number so that much research has been devoted to finding materials other than platinum metal. The source of hydrogen which comes from water is also a problem that is currently being faced. The high cost of electrocatalytic water to obtain hydrogen is also an obstacle in the current marketing of fuel cells so that they cannot compete with petroleum fuels.

COVID-19 Impact on the market

The COVID-19 crisis, according to the IEA, has had a major effect on the addition of renewable power energy. According to IEA projections, due to the unprecedented COVID-19 global crisis, the number of new renewable power installations is expected to decline in 2020. Since 2000, annual renewable energy capacity addition has been on the decline for the first time in 20 years. In 2020, the net expansion of renewable energy capacity is expected to fall by 13% compared to 2019.

The effect of the outbreak on global supply chains would have an impact on hydrogen-based technologies, which require a well-coordinated supply chain and a large amount of capital to demonstrate. The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted current hydrogen demand from oil refining, steel production, and the chemicals industry, according to the IEA.

Market Competition and Regional Insight

The market is characterized by heated competition among the players. These companies are actively partnering with one another to extend their product portfolio and establish a global presence. Other industry players are also concentrating on organic and inorganic growth strategies to sustain their market share and lead to market growth in the coming years.

Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific accounted for more than 95 percent of global market share in 2019. Manufacturers' extensive research and development programs, combined with ongoing support from government agencies and private entities such as the Department of Energy, Credit Suisse, New Enterprise Associates, and DAG Ventures, have created favorable conditions for the industry's growth.

Due to the growing emphasis on reducing carbon emissions by producing electrical energy and propulsion power using renewable sources such as fuel cells in Asia Pacific, the region is estimated to be the largest market. China is expected to lead the Asia Pacific in fuel cell technology advancements. Countries like China, South Korea, and Japan are expected to experience rapid growth. The key reasons for the market's growth are rising investment in renewable energy and cleaner operating vehicles in these countries.

Here are the list of companies who operate in the global fuel cell market

• Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies (Singapore)

• ElringKlinger (Germany)

• Hydrogenics (Canada)

• SOLIDpower Italia (Italy)

• Ceres Power (UK)

• Ballard Power Systems (Canada)

• AVL (Austria)

• Bosch (Germany)

• Pragma Industries (France)

• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan)

• W. L. Gore & Associates (U.S.)

• Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology (Netherlands)

• Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH (Germany)

• Bloom Energy (U.S.)

• AISIN (Japan)

• Convion (Finland)

• ITM Power (UK)

• Plug Power (U.S.)

• Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC (U.S.)