Volvo (truck) hydrogen fuel cell

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Patrick_R

Patrick_R

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It’s moving ahead very rapidly within Volvo Brian.
Along with this tech, Volvo in association with Daimler group are rolling out the biggest electrical charging network in the world purely for truck charging.
They (and a lot of others) have set a goal for complete carbon neutral, and zero Diesel engines by 2050. It will probably take that long to run that network out.
Big call to say no Diesel engine production, let alone put a date to it.

The first trucks have started rolling off the production line (in Sweden) with fully recycled, carbon neutral steel late last year.

We have a number of demo plug in electric trucks running around Australia, but unfortunately we don’t have any smaller trucks. Our opposition is ahead with this.
 

Michel

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Very impressive...
Thanks for sharing
 

sean sherry

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Gents,
A little video you may find interesting.
Interesting Patrick, but I now believe that Hydrogen is the long term future. Twiggy is on the right track for this Country with abundant Solar energy to produce.
Toyota now have expressed doubts about pure Electric Vehicles. Batteries very expensive.. heavy and the disposal a massive problem. Not to mention the raw materials required for manufacture. Where is all the massive Electricity needed to come from ? In large low population Countries, like Australia, the cost of re-charging facilities would be prohibitive.
For me Hybrids are a suitable stop-Gap as Toyota has demonstrated.... Oil will be with us in our life time and beyond. Not forgetting the likes of the new crop of 3 Cylinder Turbo Charged Engines with ample performance and 5Lts per 100Ks petrol consumption selling in the low 20s $$s . Who will pay twice that for an Electric Car ??? The Hip Pocket always decides.
 
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Styria

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I am a real stickler for Global Warming and Global emissions - for me, the solution is to replace petrol with water in the 6.9s fuel tank and off I go to the Wild West. On another tack - sorry to be somewhat flippant about the whole thing, i.e. Global Warming etc. etc. - my stock answer is always that I cast my mind back to the summer of 1957/1958 when the temperature, in Austria of all places, exceeded forty degrees every day for a fortnight. Sorry, but that's my simple mind for you. Even this week - the undergraduates that be at the weather bureau predicted lots of rain - well, from where I have been over the last three days, I've not seen a drop of it - just beautiful sunshine. Regards Styria
 

sean sherry

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Don't write off the ICE just yet.... Friend has just bought a new version Mitsubishi 4 wheel Drive Hybrid in N.Z. for $45K. A big Plus is that the battery can also be charged overnight, via a std. three Pin Plug
Good for about 45Ks on EV Mode. Has 7 Air Bags .. adaptive Cruise ... etc.....More advanced than my 3 year old Toyota Camry though the Hybrid System probably bought in from Toyota. Others have.
Few People travel more than 45ks to work == no petrol......
 
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Gents,
Further more to new tech to reduce global warming etc, I think you may find the following of interest.

Woolworths Group is trialling an innovative new ‘e-axle trailer’ which uses kinetic energy from its own axle and wheels to generate electricity.

In an Australian first, it has been deployed in Queensland and is being trialled by Woolworths’ supply chain and logistics arm, Primary Connect

The electricity generated through the axle feeds a battery, which can run the refrigeration system and reduce the diesel consumption.

According to Woolworths, the trailer significantly reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate emissions through the removal of both diesel generators and 200L fuel tanks.

Trailers throughout the Primary Connect fleet normally consume two litres of fuel per hour, with each trailer refrigeration system being used for an average of eight hours per day. Given the minimum life of a trailer is 10 years, the new e-axle trailer would save over 5000 litres of fuel, equating to 13.2 tonnes of CO2 over that period.

The new trailer was created in partnership with Carrier Transicold (fridge and battery solution), SAF Holland (e-axle) and MaxiTRANS (trailer manufacturer).

Ben Newton, Primary Connect’s general manager strategy and partnerships says he’s pleased company has had the opportunity to put the first e-axle trailer on the road in Australia.

“At Woolworths, we want to build a better tomorrow for generations to come, and this is an important step in our path towards reducing emissions in our road transport operations,” he said.

Phillip Farrugia, Primary Connect’s national fleet manager added, “The trial not only helps reduce emissions, but also runs more quietly, meaning less disruption through residential community areas.

“We’ll keep a close eye on the impact of this technology on our emissions profile and look at its potential for broader deployment across the fleet.”

Stephen Elford, Carrier Transicold Australia-New Zealand’s managing director commented, “When it comes to innovation, our ultimate goal is to develop solutions that matter for people and the planet, a value we share with Woolworths Group’s Primary Connect.

“We believe the Vector eCool represents the future of refrigerated trailer technology. This fully electric trailer refrigeration unit operates autonomously without the need for a diesel engine.

“It’s one of the most exciting new products we have ever brought to market and we are delighted to have partnered with Woolworths Group to deliver the first unit of its kind in Australia.”

If proved successful, Woolworths Group and Primary Connect hope to scale the new technology across its fleet of over 800 refrigerated trailers.

The e-axle trailer is one of a number of sustainability initiatives across the group, that aims to support the delivery of a 63 per cent reduction in Scope 1 emissions by 2030.

7E5BA949-4628-4A81-911C-056DDC0A04A5.jpegE686430C-5022-4D37-A9DE-642E0F6DC529.jpeg
 

c107

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I'm assuming that the energy generating axle adds some load to the rig, but that additional load is less than the 2l per hour quoted in the article.
I guess there must be a battery too, for when the trailer is waiting for a period of time not generating power.

Still, its a very interesting idea and great innovation.
 
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Quite revolutionary to be honest Bryce.
The fridge or freezer unit is the big white and black unit on the front.

200L of fuel, it’s tank, brackets lines etc I would guess would be around 300kg.
The manufacture tells me the combined weight of the generator, the Li battery and it’s wiring add up to 450kg.
So a weight penalty (which equates to less payload) is roughly 150kg at most.

Most trailers would not be fully loaded to its legal GVM (Gross vehicle Mass) so I can’t really see any loss of payload resulting.

It will be good to see it in real life tests.

I’ve even heard of some of these reefer trailers fitting the whole roof with solar panels as well to keep the fridge batteries charged.

Typically when trailers of refrigerated loads are between destinations, they are plugged in to the yard power supply. Refrigerated containers do the same thing.

A whole lot of possibilities here.

Containers when removed from trucks bulk plug in like this.
35FD9C13-CE7C-40FB-9C3F-E57E4C5AD2FB.jpeg

Trailers when parked typically plug in as well to save the on board fuel
C849BA1A-A689-42D6-9988-922D09297069.jpeg
 

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The big question is what can be done with ships & aircraft? I can see hydrogen fuel cells on a very large scale being fitting within a ship, however aircraft pose a more difficult challenge. And I’d imagine the aviation industry is responsible for a substantial amount of air pollution.
 
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Great question Mark.

The main polluter on earth at present is shipping.
The global shipping (not including Naval vessels) fleet age on average is over 25 years old.

They typically burn low grade fuel oil (which is so thick it needs to be heated to use) and is extremely high in sulphur and other un refined impurities. This fuel oil is made from the waste of the petrol and diesel refining process.

The southern NSW port of Eden, has been enjoying much needed tourism due to some cruise ships stopping there, but they are talking about halting this from happening (at the high cost of local business) due to a very thick, and low hanging cloud of diesel smoke from the docked ships.
They will soon be getting new docking facilities to accomodate these new, bigger clean ships.
I’ve seen it, and it isn’t pleasant at all. It sits like a thick winters fog in their harbour, and can’t escape easily due to the valley it resides in.

A lot of new ships being made now are running the SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) using diesel exhaust fluid or sometimes called AdBlue, using a specific type of Catalytic converter, like we have in most modern domestic vehicles, but on a larger scale.

Miami, the worlds largest cruise ship terminal, has quadrupled port charges for “un clean” ships, but actually pay shipping companies with “clean ships” to dock at their ports.

This is a huge turn around, however it has taken over 15 years to get on the global warming band wagon, considering this tech has been around in one form or another for over 100 years.

Rolls-Royce is the only company I know of that has been experimenting with electric driven aircraft.
They are also in constant development of their range of Trent turbo fan jet engines to be extremely fuel efficient and quiet.
Their new Ultra Fan, is the largest jet engine ever made, and is also their most fuel efficient.
This will allow 4 engine aircraft to be powered by 2.
The Trent allowed the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be the first aircraft to travel non stop to London as it is so efficient.

They also have a range of Trent, running on bio fuel. These tests are also very encouraging.
Size comparison of the Rolls-Royce Ultra Fan.
87DD1B47-CDA6-445F-8CDD-615119202AA2.jpeg2BD37B8C-7198-44FB-9B80-A95604FE084D.jpeg

This is the Rolls-Royce electric test aircraft.
Does it look similar to a very beautiful WW2 fighter?
DE096E0F-7DF2-4F8A-8B9A-3F6926593594.jpegA119C6BD-07A7-4F73-9A5E-14AAD35FE593.jpeg
 
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Patrick_R

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This is a very interesting subject.
Everyone is trying hard to get to zero emissions.

It will be good to see what the next level will be.
 

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