Pre-normative research on resistance to mechanical impact of composite overwrapped pressure vessels
Hydrogen is expected to be a highly valuable energy carrier for the 21st century as it should participate in answering main societal and economical concerns. However, in order to enable its extensive use as an energy vector, it is of primary importance to ensure its societal acceptance and thus its safety in use. To this aim, hydrogen storage and transportation must be secured. In particular today, the knowledge on composite overwrapped pressure vessels’ (COPV) behaviour when submitted to mechanical impacts is limited and existing standards are not well-appropriate to composite materials.
The main objective of HYPACTOR is thus to provide recommendations for Regulation Codes and Standards (RCS) regarding the qualification of new designs of COPV and the procedures for periodic inspection in service of COPV subjected to mechanical impacts.
To this aim, experimental work will be combined with feedback from experience in order to:
- Understand and characterize the relationship between the impact, the damage and the loss of performance of COPV at short term and after further pressure loads in service;
- Develop models to predict at least short term residual performance of the impacted COPV;
- Assess relevant (non-destructive) inspection procedures and define pass-fail criteria for COPV in service subjected to mechanical impacts.
Different applications will be considered: stationary application, transportable cylinders, bundles and tube trailers.
The HYPACTOR project brings together partners with complementary expertise: experts in testing processes for compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH2) storage in full composite vessels (CEA, WRUT), a gas company operating CGH2 technologies (AIR LIQUIDE), a pressure vessel supplier (HEXAGON), experts in characterization, particularly non-destructive testing (ISA, WRUT) and experts in modelling (NTNU), leading actors in international RCS development (HEX, AL, ISA, CEA), and an expert in European R&D collaborative project management (ALMA).
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Developing a European Framework for the generation of guarantees of origin for green hydrogen
The development of hydrogen as an energy carrier will be dependent upon the capacity of the market to offer low-carbon or carbon-free hydrogen to end-users and consumers. However, the production of green hydrogen and its consumption will most likely be unbundled in order to optimize its transportation and distribution, while enabling cost adequate pricing for green hydrogen. This implies that a robust system of Guarantee of Origin for green hydrogen will be needed, in order for final customers to buy low-carbon hydrogen in full transparency. The objectives of the CertifHy project are to assess the necessary market and regulatory conditions, develop the complete design and initiate a unique European framework for green hydrogen guarantees of origin. The project will be carried out in consultation with a broad range of relevant stakeholders from all over Europe, including hydrogen producers, traders and customers. Ultimately the CertifHy guarantee of origin scheme will facilitate the penetration of green hydrogen throughout Europe.
External links:
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Solid Oxide Cell and Stack Testing, Safety and Quality Assurance
The main objective of the present project proposal is to develop uniform and industry wide test procedures for SOC cell/stack assembly. The proposal builds on experiences gained in the FCTESTNET, FCTESQA series of projects taking up the methodology developed there. This project proposal will address new application fields which are based on the operation of the SOFC cell/stack assembly in the fuel cell and in the electrolysis mode. The project partners have long-term experience in the development, testing and harmonization of solid oxide cells/stacks. The project will have a clear structure based on an initial definition phase, the development of generic test modules which will be validated by experimental validation phases. The review of the test procedures will result in modified test modules leading to a subsequent second validation loop. At the end of the project, the final test modules will be confirmed by round robin tests. Moreover, the project will address safety aspects, liaise with standardization organizations and establish contact with industrial practice. This collaborative project will essentially help to accelerate the development and the market penetration of hydrogen and fuel cell (H2&FC) energy systems in Europe.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Hydrogen Acceptance in the Transition Phase
There is increasing realisation amongst policy makers and industry that public acceptance is a key issue to deploy and extend H2 technologies and infrastructures in Europe. The development of H2 technologies involve small-scale applications as well as large-scale infrastructures that are influenced by the acceptance of the public, stakeholders, communities and potential customers / users. Previous research on social acceptance investigated the general levels of public understanding of HFC technologies in specific countries, but there is limited systematic evidence on the acceptance of FCH technologies throughout Europe. The overall purpose of HYACINTH is to gain deeper understanding of social acceptance of H2 technologies across Europe and to develop a communication / management toolbox for ongoing or future activities introducing H2 into mobility, stationary and power supply systems.
Social acceptance of FCH technologies will be investigated via survey research with representative panels (7.000 European citizens) and semi structured interviews with 455 stakeholders in 10 countries. The design of the data gathering instruments will build upon methodological and conceptual developments in the research of new technologies social acceptance. The toolbox will provide the necessary information and understanding of the state of awareness and acceptance of HFC technologies by the public and by stakeholders. It will further provide the necessary tools to understand and manage expectations of future HFC projects and products in the transition phase, to identify regional challenges and to determine effective policy support measures
Results from the research on the social acceptance across Europe and the toolbox will support projects in setting up under through consideration of the acceptance processes influenced by their activities; i.e. identifying regions of supportive acceptance, barriers, challenges, communication strategies and other means to manage acceptance processes.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Improving the Knowledge in Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology for Technicians and Workers
KnowHY aims to provide the FC&H2 sector with a training offer for technicians and workers featuring quality in contents, accessibility in format and language, practicality for the targeted audience, ease of scalability and update, and at competitive costs which make the training offer economically sustainable after project completion. Thanks to this project both OEMs as well as professionals can rely on third parties to provide a sound and effective first training, covering the understanding of the technology, safety and regulatory aspects and the practical theoretical as well as hands on contents.
The Consortium consists of partners from European countries covering 7 of the most usual languages, as English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. Most of the partners combine a large experience in FC&H2 technologies and training or education, whereas FSV features an exceptional experience in developing e-learning training contents and courses.
The targeted audience technicians, workers and professionals in general with a practical knowledge in installation, maintenance and operation of hydrogen and fuel cell applications. Customized courses and modules will target individual applications as residential CHP, FCEV, HRS, distributed generation, or back-up systems, adapted from country to country and form sector to sector but preserving homogeneity.
KnowHy will take into consideration the findings of previous projects as HyProfessionals, TrainHy and H2-training.
The following actions are planned:
- Developing an online tool for accessing to the training contents via web.
- Developing specific courses adapted to the different applications addressed and translating them in the required languages. There will be different levels of knowledge.
- Carrying out practical seminars in existing facilities, such as demo projects, or labs adapted to the training.
- Dissemination among FCH-JU stakeholders, OEMS, education authorities, and the potential users.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Development of Guidance Manual for LCA Application to Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technologies
The project aims to develop a Guidance manual for LCA of FC and H2 based systems, training material and courses. The MANUAL will offer a step by step guidance, following the LCA Handbook procedure, together with specific examples, targeting LCA practitioners in industry and researcher. FC and H2 are technologies with a broad range of functions, applications and input processes thus we will adopt a flexible and modular approach, adapting the modularity of the ISO 14025. Proposed approach consists of 5 steps:
- Definition of product category groups for FC and H2 to allow a broader comparability among the different technologies, guaranteeing high accuracy.
- Development of common rules (PCR type documents) for product category, based on Consortium experience and on FC and H2 LCA studies. PCR will prescribe how to perform LCA study: life cycle stages, system boundaries, parameters to be covered, relevant impact categories, cut-off rules, allocation rules etc. Methodological issues will be defined on the basis of ILCD Handbook that identifies 4 decision contexts which require different Life Cycle Inventory modelling frameworks and LCI method approaches to be applied. Specific rules will also be defined to deal with the multifunctional processes (very relevant in the FC and H technologies)
- Consensus process on PCRs. Relevant stakeholders, with particular attention to the intended target audience, will be invited in workshops and discussion forum
- Development of the MANUAL, by the execution of full case studies to be used for illustrative purpose. It includes a step by step guided procedure on Goal and Scope definition, LCI, data collection and documentation for ILCD Data Network, Impact Assessment, Interpretation and Review, strictly adhering to the ILCD Handbook.
- Development of training material and courses on PCRs and MANUAL.
The approach allows technology developer producing information modules of its own product and making it available in the Data Network
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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SUpport to SAfety ANalysis of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies
The support action addresses the topic SP1-JTI-FCH.2012.5.2 “CFD model evaluation protocol for safety analysis of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies”. SUSANA will critically review the state-of-the-art in physical and mathematical modelling of phenomena and scenarios relevant to hydrogen safety, i.e. releases and dispersion, ignitions and fires, deflagrations and detonations, etc.; compile a guide to best practices in use of CFD for safety analysis of FCH systems and infrastructure; update verification and validation procedures; generate database of verification problems; develop model validation database; perform benchmarking; and finally create the CFD model Evaluation Protocol built on these documents and project activities. A website will provide public access to all project outcomes. The protocol will facilitate use of CFD as a cost-effective contemporary tool for inherently safer design of FCH systems and facilities in Europe. It will be developed for all stakeholders directly involved in use of CFD and those who perform the evaluation of CFD safety analysis done by others, including but not limited to safety engineers and technology developers, regulators and public safety officials involved in permitting process, etc. The consortium is composed of key players in the field of modelling and numerical simulations relevant to hydrogen safety science and engineering from research institutions, academia and industry. The expert group is a powerful project instrument with open membership to maximise the outreach of the project outcomes and involve stakeholders in the protocol use at as early stages as possible. Experts will be invited to participate in online forum, benchmarking, attend events organised by the project. Dissemination activities will include workshops and seminars with invitation of CFD users and representatives of permitting authorities through different channels, including IA HySafe, IEA HIA Task 31, EHA, national and international projects, etc.
External links:
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Development of H2 Safety Expert Groups and due diligence tools for public awareness and trust in hydrogen technologies and applications
Although many predictions for the hydrogen economy in the last decade have proven optimistic, the maturity of it is now increasingly evident by the substantial investments in R&D, demonstration and industrialisation made by public and private institutions in Europe. The USA and Japan are leading the hydrogen based energy infrastructure, becoming a mainstream solution for society’s need to transition to clean, renewable and widely available energy sources. To ensure that non-technical barriers to the deployment of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen (FCH) technologies are properly addressed, the H2TRUST project has been created by a team of highly experienced and qualified industry and academic experts with the following objectives:
- Assess industry efforts to assure FCH technology is safe and that there is an adequate regulation, hazard awareness, incident readiness and ability to respond to public concerns.
- Hazard and risk assessment in the FCH industry in each of the main application areas (H2 Production, Storage and Distribution, Mobility and Vehicles, Non-vehicles and residential power generation).
- Systematically map safety issues and assess how they are addressed.
- Compile information demonstrating safety due diligence and best practices.
- Seek input from previous, on-going and upcoming Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) demonstrations and pre-normative and training projects and from similar international activities.
- Make recommendations for further safety efforts by FCH community.
- Develop communications network to manage public reaction to incidents and give documented responses.
- Disseminate the results so as to create a long lasting culture of safety practices in the industry and a legacy of tools and knowledge serving to reinforce best practices and assure public confidence.
H2TRUST is a response to the FCH JU call for proposals in their Annual Implementation Plan of 2012, page 101(Topic SP1-JTI-FCH.2012.5.5: Assessment of safety issues related to fuel cells and hydrogen applications).
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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European Hydrogen Emergency Response training programme for First Responders
The HyResponse project will establish the World’s first comprehensive training programme for first responders, i.e. a European Hydrogen Safety Training Platform (EHSTP), to facilitate safer deployment of FCH systems and infrastructure. The EHSTP will provide first responders with the unique hi-tech training facilities, the original training materials based on a curriculum to be developed by professionals in the field of fire and hydrogen safety science and engineering that form the consortium. The core training programme is threefold: educational training, including the state-of-the-art knowledge in hydrogen safety, operational training on mock-up real scale hydrogen and fuel cell installations, and innovative virtual reality training reproducing in detail an entire accident scenario, including influence of first responder’s intervention. First responders will acquire professional knowledge and skills to contribute to FCH permitting process as approving authority. Contemporary engineering tools to assess accident scene status and facilitate decision making will be developed. Three pilot training sessions will be organised during the project. The Emergency Response Guide, explaining details of intervention strategy and tactics, will be developed and included into the pilot training sessions to receive attendees’ feedback. The Advisory and Consultative Panel will be established to engage as much as possible European stakeholders and provide highest outreach of the project results. The Panel membership will be open to first responders, site operators, representatives and hydrogen industry and car manufacturers throughout Europe. A website will stay active for training of new comers after the end of the project. EHSTP will train first responders to deal with all safety aspects for a range of hydrogen applications, including passenger vehicles, buses, forklifts, refuelling stations, backup power, stationary fuel cells for combined production of heat and power, etc.
External links:
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Modelling the thermo-mechanical behaviour of high pressure vessel in composite materials when exposed to fire conditions
Hydrogen is expected to be highly valuable energy carrier for the 21st century as it should participate in answering main societal and economical concerns. To exploit its benefits at large scale, further research and technological developments are required. In particular, the storage of hydrogen must be secured. Even if burst in service of pressure vessels in composite material is very unlikely, when exposed to a fire, they present safety challenges imposing to correctly size their means of protection.
The main objective of FireComp project is thus to better characterize the conditions that need to be achieved to avoid burst. To this aim, experimental work will be done in order to improve the understanding of heat transfer mechanisms and the loss of strength of composite high-pressure vessels in fire conditions. We will then model the thermo-mechanical behaviour of these vessels.
Different applications will be considered: automotive application, stationary application, transportable cylinders, bundles and tube trailers. A risk analysis will be conducted for each application leading to the definition of optimised safety strategies.
The main outputs of the project will be recommendations for Regulation Codes and Standards regarding the qualification of high-pressure composite storage and sizing of its protections.
The FireComp project brings together partners from diverse expertise: a GCH (Gaseous Compressed Hydrogen) technology integrator as a coordinator (AIR LIQUIDE), a pressure vessel supplier (HEXAGON), a leading actor in international Standards, Codes and Regulations development (HSL), experts in industrial risks (INERIS), experts in thermal radiation and mechanical behaviour of the composite (CNRS (Pprime & LEMTA), LMS Samtech), experts in thermal degradation and combustion of composites, numerical simulation (Edinburgh University and LMS Samtech) and an expert in European R&D collaborative project management (ALMA).
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Cost-effective and reliable hydrogen sensors for facilitating the safe use of hydrogen
This project is related to the effective deployment and availability of reliable hydrogen sensors, primarily but not exclusively for use in applications using hydrogen as an alternative fuel.
The objective is to support and unite stakeholders including sensor manufactures/developers, sensor end-users, certification bodies and independent sensor evaluators having the aim to avoid any hazardous events which could hinder the implementation of hydrogen as an alternative fuel by ensuring the availability and optimum use of low-cost and reliable hydrogen sensors. In doing so a European knowledge hub covering hydrogen sensing technologies, state of the art commercial products, near term applications and correct use of hydrogen sensors will be created.
An output from this virtual knowledge hub will be state-of-the-art guidelines on how to select and properly use the best hydrogen sensor for a particular application. In addition the consortium will identify barriers (including those of a market, technical, manufacture-related and regulatory nature) which may hinder the commercialisation and wide spread of hydrogen sensors. Suggestions to overcome these barriers will be formulated in addition to recommendations for integration into ongoing or new RCS activities to be implemented at national and global levels. With the knowledge of these barriers it is expected that sensor manufacturers will be better equipped to design, manufacture and commercialise improved sensors at a lower cost, which are tailored to suit end-user requirements. As a result end-users will benefit from a broader range of effective products to choose from for specific applications.
A novel aspect of this project will be co-ordination and joint activities with a US consortium led by the US Department of Energy (National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory) whereby the output will be leveraged by the interaction and knowledge transfer between the European and US consortia.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Assessment of the potential, the actors and relevant business cases for large scale and seasonal storage of renewable electricity by hydrogen underground storage in Europe
In the 4th call of the European FCH JU (AIP 2011) a project has been called to map out the relevance of hydrogen underground storage. The focus being on seasonal energy storage at large scale, the potential, application profile, impact of and schedule to implement this concept may differ across Europe. In recent studies a clear profile for various large-scale storage concepts / technologies has been elaborated for Germany, and here specifically the northern regions, with involvement of the public sector and industry.
Utilizing this knowledge, also actors in other regions have started to assess the individual geographic hydrogen underground storage potential in their respective region such as in Spain and the UK and show interest to commercially deploy this concept.
Expected results
The idea behind the project is to establish a European initiative supporting the deployment of hydrogen energy storage in underground storage caverns at large scale, benchmark their storage potential in relation to the energy market and competing storage technologies, and to identify and assess application areas, stakeholders, safety, regulatory framework and public acceptance.
The general concept of the project foresees case studies for five representative European regions benchmarking against the results from ongoing German industry projects. Each of these case studies will consider the competitiveness of hydrogen storage against other large scale energy storage concepts, the geologic potential for hydrogen storage in the region, and how to embed the hydrogen energy storage in the energy market. The perspective of the cases studies is potential business cases for each region and the development of an Implementation Plan at European scale.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Development of PEM Fuel Cell Stack Reference Test Procedures for Industry
In this project proposal, industry wide harmonized test procedures for PEFC stacks shall be developed and validated. The proposal builds on experiences gained in the FCTESTNET, FCSTEQA series of projects taking up the methodology developed there and expanding it to the test of PEFC stacks. Furthermore, experiences of individual consortium members have long time experience in international standardization. Performance / functional, durability and safety outputs for vehicle propulsion, stationary and portable applications shall be addressed.
Generic test modules addressing the effects of outputs to the variation of a single test parameter shall be defined and experimentally validated on a stack level. From these building blocks, selected application oriented test programs shall be derived and validated as well. A two phase approach is pursued starting with an initial selection and definition phase followed by experimental validation. Subsequently, a review is carried out followed by a second validation phase.
The consortium mainly consists of experienced research organizations, all working in close contact with and providing testing services to industry. The test modules and test programs are expected to be methodologically sound and independent. Contact to industrial practice will be established by the implementation of an industrial advisory group consisting of selected key stakeholders along the value chain of the fuel cell industry. The consortium will liaise with international standardization activities and contribute to the improvement of existing standards by pre-normative research and – if deemed necessary – initiate new work item proposals on performance and endurance testing of PEFC stacks.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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TEchnology MONitoring and Assessment
TEMONAS is an advanced TEchnology MONitoring and ASsessment tool combining state-of-the-art methodology and IT-implementation.
The objective of the TEMONAS is to provide an integrated TEMONAS tool specifically tailored for the needs of the FCH JU program progress evaluation. TEMONAS will take the many existing technology monitoring and assessment frameworks a step further in providing a transparent methodology allowing a targeted, objectivised comparison and evaluation of project results and technology achievements. This tool enables the continuous assessment of FCH JU progress versus its objectives and in respect to incumbent or competing new technology as well as current market and policy developments.
The main functionalities of the tool are:
• Data Input/Management
• TMA Report outputs
• Technology Assessment
• Technology Monitoring
The project will complete the methodologies for these functionalities and also perform their implementation in a comprehensive IT tool. Input data, stored in standardised formats and passing quality validation, will be used for benchmarking and multi-criteria evaluation as well as processed towards Technology and Commercial Readiness Levels (TRL-CRL). Finally the fully reproducible results are summarised in a partial automatically generated report, containing executive portfolios, as base for a fact based decision process of FCH JU.
External links:
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Preparing socio and economic evaluations of future H2 lighthouse projects
Economic predictions indicate that many national economies are falling into financially difficult times. When this occurs, there is tendency to refocus priories and funds and less emphasis is placed on projects promoting environmental well-being. Prepar-H2 is unique because the partners draw upon five ongoing nationally funded demonstration H2 projects and updating 5th-6th EC framework projects in addition to the national projects, creating many benefits at a very low cost. The thrust behind Prepar-H2 is driven by a study-matrix composed for the Hy-Approval and HyFLEET:CUTE which revealed that social studies carried out in context with hydrogen demonstrations often lacked substantiation and consisted of preset and repetitive questionnaires than revealing dialogues. Often technical and demonstration projects, like some of the national projects referenced here, use vast resources for hardware while neglecting the human interface and cultural variations of both public and private perceptions as well as economic aspects. Integrating lessons learned from these H2 projects, Prepar-H2 will upgrade the social matrix through progressive interviews from a cross-disciplinary approach by involving all stakeholders throughout the entire duration of the project. Applying the same method and having accessibility to others who are involved with other alternative fuels, Prepar-H2 will simultaneously provide an economic comparison between H2, other alternative fuels and conventional fossil fuel. The final outcome will be a systematic social and economic data sets providing grounds for accompanying measures in future hydrogen lighthouse projects. More importantly, findings from Prepar-H2 will not only be applicable to future lighthouse projects but also have the flexibility to be applied to other H2 projects thereby successfully promoting H2 in societies through a thorough social and economic understanding of all stakeholders’ perceptions, attitudes and actions.
External links:
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Identification, Preparation and Dissemination of Hydrogen Safety Facts to Regulators and Public Safety Officials
HyFacts aims to develop training material for Regulators and Public Safety Officials, which are responsible persons and work for entities, having to position themselves in the increasing number of upcoming installation of hydrogen-related technologies. The training material will focus on the fundamental aspects of hydrogen safety and on the safety approaches and criteria developed in standards and according to which hydrogen systems are engineered for the safe use of hydrogen under all circumstances.
Hydrogen (H2) and its related technologies are relatively new to institutions which are dealing with issues like building regulations, local regulations, public safety and permission of technical installations. Most of the staff of these institutions does not have the necessary knowledge to judge on safety aspects based on real facts but tend to take decisions on the basis of either obsolete or incomplete knowledge or refuse to take any decision at all. This situation leads to heavy delay of decisions or to technically unreasonable, costly and sometimes also very ineffective safety measures to obtain the approval for a hydrogen installation or the allowance to install or operate hydrogen related technologies.
Significant efforts will be devoted to identifying and prioritizing the audiences that would need to be trained to facilitate the commercialization of hydrogen and its related technologies. A vision and road-map for the establishment of permanent training activities for the targeted audiences by recognized institutions, along with the proposal specific initiatives will be an important outcome of the project.
A large amount of new data on the behaviour of hydrogen has been developed during the last years (e.g. HySafe). These are now being applied for the design of new products and applications.
It is therefore very important that the persons in charge of ensuring public safety be trained on these new safety approaches.
External links:
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Building Training Programmes for Young Professionals in the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Field
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen remain new topics to European professionals’ training agenda(s), despite considerable progress in the integration of these subjects into, for instance, university curricula. Especially those professions with less of a basic materials and process engineering orientation will suffer from a lack of information during their academic or vocational training courses (i.e. manufacturing, component & systems design, etc.). This fact constitutes a major problem for the up-starting European companies in fuel cell and hydrogen business, since the availability of candidates with a FC&H background is low and the basic training of employees has to be provided internally.
The project contributes to tackling this training deficit by devising a system of vocational education and training (VET) for post-graduate engineers and scientists, either at a PhD level of education or already employed by a company. Based on an evaluation of current activities, including the many summer schools and short courses already being offered in Europe, a curriculum concept will be developed that offers a system of courses and distance teaching that can be attended in parallel to other studies or professional work. Elements of this concept are to be tested and evaluated. Two groupings of stakeholders (academic institutions as cooperation partners and industry as end user) will be involved in order to gain broad acceptance of the programme developed across the variety of European education systems.
External links:
CORDIS link, Project’s website
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Development of educational programmes and training initiatives related to hydrogen technologies and fuel cells in Europe
Today’s technicians and students are the next generation of potential fuel cell users and designers, and education now is a critical step towards the widespread acceptance and implementation of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the near future.
Development of training initiatives for technical professionals will be started aiming to secure the required mid- and long-term availability of human resources for hydrogen technologies.
The future initiatives have to be carried out for various educational levels and including industry, SMEs, educational institutions and Authorities. Coordination and cooperation are key factors to fulfil the objective: develop a well-trained work-force which will support the technological development.
Contact with other educational programs like Leonardo will be sought.
External links:
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GUIDANCE DOCUMENT FOR PERFORMING LCAs ON HYDROGEN AND FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGIES
The overall goal of the call “SP1-JTI-FCH.2009.5.5 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)” is to develop a specific guidance document for application to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and related training material with courses for practitioners in industry and research. This is to be based on and in line with the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook, co-developed by the European Commission's JRC-IES.
Our concept for this guidance document relates back to an international standardized procedure: the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) System (ISO 14025), providing consistent information using common program and product category rules (PCR). HyGuide will be similar to a PCR.
To further improve acceptance and applicability, a strong and active involvement of all relevant stakeholders is foreseen.
To ensure compatibility with related tools in policy and industry context, the HyGuide will be prepared in line with the ILCD Handbook, in advice by the EC JRC-IES' “European Platform on LCA”.
The HyGuide will equally be coordinated with the consortium of the JTI call “Technology Monitoring and Assessment”.
The balanced, multidisciplinary project consortium features specifically experienced research, consultancy and industry partners and the EC: PE INT, USTUTT, KIT-G, the JRC-IE and the European Hydrogen Association (EHA). The EHA's key role is to involve industry members and support dissemination of the results to a broad audience (supporting action).
The expected outcomes of HyGuide include:
• A PCR-type guidance document - based on the ILCD handbook - that is scientifically sound, industry accepted and quality assured (reviewed),
• LCA study reporting templates, tailor-made to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies,
• Broad dissemination among LCA practitioners and industry, and
• A website, as a central information point and as a fully integrated component of the ILCD Data Network, with public and restricted access areas.
External links: