Editorial for the XII-SMH International Congress special issue

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 8 ( 2 0 1 3 ) 1 2 5 1 7 e1 2 5 1 8

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Editorial

Editorial for the XII-SMH International Congress special issue

Today’s world energy scenario faces enormous challenges for our societies such as increasing environmental problems, limited fossil resources and the geopolitical dependence on crude oil. All over the world, hydrogen energy technologies are playing an important role in the portfolio for a future energy economy. This is particularly true for the transport sector which is marked nowadays by an extreme dependency on oil. Cost-effective hydrogen production is needed together with zero or near-zero CO2 emissions, while fuel cells, with their high electrical efficiencies and clean exhaust energy conversion, have the potential to produce outstanding solutions for the present ecological and economical energy challenges. Furthermore, hydrogen from renewables (wind, solar, tidal, etc.) has become a key issue in the present and future R&D in the field. Within Mexico, R&D efforts related to hydrogen technologies are leaded by the members of the Mexican Hydrogen Society (SMH), which belong to the most prestigious academic and research institutions all over Mexico such as: UNAM, CINVESTAV, IPN and CIMAV among many. The SMH is an organization founded in 1999 by an enthusiastic group of researchers, academics and entrepreneurs with the aim of promoting research, development, human resource training and safety standard regulations for the use of hydrogen as a clean energy vector. In addition, the SMH serves as a linkage between the Mexican scientific community, industry and government for the promotion and dissemination of hydrogen technologies. Since its foundation, the society has organized twelve national and international conferences, with the participation of national and international experts, seven national courses on hydrogen technologies, four discussion forums aiming the hydrogen insertion into the Mexican energy sector and many other activities such as workshops and symposia. Additionally, since 2003 the SMH is a member of the Partnership for Advancing the Transition to Hydrogen (PATH), an international organization composed of a coalition of hydrogen associations from various countries of the world, which seeks the international cooperation in advancing the transition to a hydrogen economy. This special issue of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy contains select papers presented at the 9th International Symposium on New Materials and Nano-Materials for

Electrochemical Systems and The XII International Congress of the Mexican Hydrogen Society held in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico on July 8e13, 2012 and organized by the SMH. The conference was structured to provide a forum for scientists, engineers, (bachelors and graduate) students and entrepreneurs working in these fields to discuss their latest findings on: energy storage devices, fuel cells, microbial fuel cells, photo electrochemical cells, hydrogen production and storage, electrochemical super capacitors and systems integration. Plenary lectures were delivered by Prof. Nicolas AlonsoVante from University of Poitiers (France), Prof. Perla B. Balbuena from Texas A&M University (USA), Prof. Bruce Parkinson from University of Wyoming (USA), Prof. Krishnan Rajeshwar from University of Texas At Arlington (USA), Prof. James J. Spivey from Louisiana State University (USA) and Entrepreneur William Whittenberger from EcoLake Enterprises, LLC, Ohio, (USA). Furthermore, this joint meeting included 62 oral presentations and short communications. The technical poster session included 73 papers presented by bachelors, master and doctorate students. Papers presented in this special issue reflect the diversity of scientific and technological subject matter, including:








Pt Alternate Nano-electrocatalysts for PEMFC Novel materials for PEM electrolyzers Bio-hydrogen production and microbial-fuel cells Hydrogen hybrid power systems Novel water splitting photocatalysts Chemical looping hydrogen production Thermodynamic modeling in renewable hydrogen production.

Finally, we wish to extend our thanks and appreciation to the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologı´a (National Council for Science and Technology of Mexico, CONACyT) for their financial support to make possible the XII International Congress of the SMH, to all of the authors for their contributions and to the reviewers for their timely reviews and helpful comments and suggestions. We are also grateful for the support

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i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 8 ( 2 0 1 3 ) 1 2 5 1 7 e1 2 5 1 8

and encouragement of the journal editor, associate editor, journal manager and staff in publishing the present issue.

Tel.: þ52 6144394815; fax: þ52 6144391130. E-mail address: [email protected]

Alejandro Lo´pez Ortiz Departamento de Materiales Nanoestructurados, Centro de Investigacio´n en Materiales Avanzados S. C. (CIMAV), Miguel de Cervantes 120, Chihuahua, Chih. 31190, Mexico

0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright ª 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.08.050