What are we doing?
We aim to deliver a market-oriented, end-user focused programme, which has the potential to accelerate access to new markets for fuel cell products, saving carbon whilst generating economic value for the UK.
Why?
Although fuel cells are already emerging in specific markets, they are currently too expensive for widespread commercial applications, such as road vehicles and co-generation of heat and power. A reduction in the whole fuel cell system cost of at least a third, at mass-manufacture volumes, could unlock a global polymer fuel cell market worth over £180bn by 2050. The UK market alone could be worth $19bn, with corresponding savings of 7MtCO2e a year. Our analysis indicates that UK research has strong capabilities in the area, and with the support of the Department of Energy and Climate Change we aim to invest several million pounds in the Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge to achieve this cost breakthrough.
How are we doing this?
We ran a ntionwide competition to select the most promising breakthroughs that could meet the demanding objectives of the Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge – including potential system cost savings (at mass-production scale) of over a third. There were fourteen proposals in all, of which three were found to meet the competition criteria and provide a credible route to the $37/kW target:
- the first project with ITM power, began in november 2010. ITM Power has already made breakthroughs leading to the highest ever published hydrogen-air polymer fuel cell power density;
- The second project, with ACAL Energy, is developing ACAL Energy’s novel liquid cathode technology for automotive applications and began in March 2011; and
- The third project involving Imperial College London and University College London began in July 2011 and is developing a novel, low-cost stack design.
Fuel cell end-users and customers interested in the technologies, products and companies supported through the Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge are also welcome to contact us throughout the process.
Any other questions?
Please email your enquiries to: directed.research@carbontrust.co.uk.