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Introduction special section EFC13
international journal of hydrogen energy 39 (2014) 21523
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he
Editorial
Introduction special section EFC13 The 5th edition of the “European Fuel Cell Technology & Applications Piero Lunghi Conference & Exhibition”, acronym EFC13, was held in Rome, Italy, from 11st to 13th December 2013. Organized by the University of Perugia and the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) under the coordination of Dr. Angelo Moreno (Conference Chairman), and supported by the University of Naples “Parthenope”, the Piero Lunghi Conference is Italy's premier fuel cell event attracting targeted, highvalue visitors from all around the world and, especially, from the most active countries in the sector, including the US, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia, India and China. The aim of EFC conferences is to outline the international state of the art of fuel cells and to provide short, medium and long-term visions on research and development in the field, as well as on market opportunities, global policies and future energy scenarios. Moreover, the event aims at providing a clear picture of the status of fuel cells, consolidating the vision and reframe strategies and objectives and promoting systematic collaboration between industry, research institutions, customers and society. In accordance to the positive past editions' trend, EFC13 has welcomed more than 300 participants from all over the world. Covering the entire spectrum of research, development, demonstration and deployment, 143 lectures and 65 posters were selected for their significance, presenting the latest achievements and updated perspectives in fuel cell technology. Fuel cells are improving unstoppably, not only in terms of efficiency but also in durability and reliability, and are now decidedly edging into the market. EFC13 reflects this development as can be seen from the increased number of reports from real-life applications of fuel cells and fuel cell-based products. This is also evidenced by the increasing research activities on the use of reverse fuel cell-type devices (electrolysers) for producing chemicals, taking advantage of anode and cathode local conditions to enhance specific reactions for the production of compounds like H2, CO, H2O and CH4; this activity being widely represented. The core part of the event has focused on material development, laboratory tests and modeling as well as looking at innovative fuels, fuel processing and system design. Environmental issues specifically addressed in certain fuel cell applications were part of the “decarbonizing society” track. Once again, many new ideas and concepts were offered for
presentation at EFC13, with a special full-day session dedicated to the evolving world of microbial fuel cells. Complementary side-events were held in conjunction with this 5th edition of EFC13: - the International Workshop: “Integrating Numerical and Experimental Approaches for the Design of Next Generation Fuel Cells” on 10th December 2013, organized within the European H2FC project; - the National Event (in Italian); “Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: what opportunities for Italy?” on 13th December 2013; as well as the Microbial Fuel Cells Session on 12th December 2013. In order to combine the compulsory dissemination activities of European projects (e.g. FCH-JU) with the benefits of networking and the leisure of an evening drink, the “project cocktail” session was introduced to allow the presentation of project progress and comparison of results, scheduled after the lectures of the 12th of December. This Special Section of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy is dedicated to the “Piero Lunghi Conference & Exhibition” as it gathers the selected best papers submitted within the 2013 edition itself. The 44 papers published here, coming from 15 countries, are mainly centered on experimental works, including comparison between models and experimental results. Polymer Electrolyte and Solid Oxide fuel cells, that today appear the most suitable for large scale commercialization, are the most targeted technologies both considering materials and components development and characterization, both looking at testing methods and system development. A significant part is dedicated to a novel fuel cell technology, the Microbial Fuel Cell that appears to be a good approach for reducing water depuration costs by extracting energy from wastes. Confident that you will find them interesting and of benefit, we look forward to welcoming all of you at the 6th Edition of the event, which will be held as usual in wintertime (December 2015) but will also bring some exciting novelties. Angelo Basile Gaetano Squadrito Michel Cassir Viviana Cigolotti http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.11.062 0360-3199/Copyright © 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he
Editorial
Introduction special section EFC13 The 5th edition of the “European Fuel Cell Technology & Applications Piero Lunghi Conference & Exhibition”, acronym EFC13, was held in Rome, Italy, from 11st to 13th December 2013. Organized by the University of Perugia and the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) under the coordination of Dr. Angelo Moreno (Conference Chairman), and supported by the University of Naples “Parthenope”, the Piero Lunghi Conference is Italy's premier fuel cell event attracting targeted, highvalue visitors from all around the world and, especially, from the most active countries in the sector, including the US, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia, India and China. The aim of EFC conferences is to outline the international state of the art of fuel cells and to provide short, medium and long-term visions on research and development in the field, as well as on market opportunities, global policies and future energy scenarios. Moreover, the event aims at providing a clear picture of the status of fuel cells, consolidating the vision and reframe strategies and objectives and promoting systematic collaboration between industry, research institutions, customers and society. In accordance to the positive past editions' trend, EFC13 has welcomed more than 300 participants from all over the world. Covering the entire spectrum of research, development, demonstration and deployment, 143 lectures and 65 posters were selected for their significance, presenting the latest achievements and updated perspectives in fuel cell technology. Fuel cells are improving unstoppably, not only in terms of efficiency but also in durability and reliability, and are now decidedly edging into the market. EFC13 reflects this development as can be seen from the increased number of reports from real-life applications of fuel cells and fuel cell-based products. This is also evidenced by the increasing research activities on the use of reverse fuel cell-type devices (electrolysers) for producing chemicals, taking advantage of anode and cathode local conditions to enhance specific reactions for the production of compounds like H2, CO, H2O and CH4; this activity being widely represented. The core part of the event has focused on material development, laboratory tests and modeling as well as looking at innovative fuels, fuel processing and system design. Environmental issues specifically addressed in certain fuel cell applications were part of the “decarbonizing society” track. Once again, many new ideas and concepts were offered for
presentation at EFC13, with a special full-day session dedicated to the evolving world of microbial fuel cells. Complementary side-events were held in conjunction with this 5th edition of EFC13: - the International Workshop: “Integrating Numerical and Experimental Approaches for the Design of Next Generation Fuel Cells” on 10th December 2013, organized within the European H2FC project; - the National Event (in Italian); “Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: what opportunities for Italy?” on 13th December 2013; as well as the Microbial Fuel Cells Session on 12th December 2013. In order to combine the compulsory dissemination activities of European projects (e.g. FCH-JU) with the benefits of networking and the leisure of an evening drink, the “project cocktail” session was introduced to allow the presentation of project progress and comparison of results, scheduled after the lectures of the 12th of December. This Special Section of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy is dedicated to the “Piero Lunghi Conference & Exhibition” as it gathers the selected best papers submitted within the 2013 edition itself. The 44 papers published here, coming from 15 countries, are mainly centered on experimental works, including comparison between models and experimental results. Polymer Electrolyte and Solid Oxide fuel cells, that today appear the most suitable for large scale commercialization, are the most targeted technologies both considering materials and components development and characterization, both looking at testing methods and system development. A significant part is dedicated to a novel fuel cell technology, the Microbial Fuel Cell that appears to be a good approach for reducing water depuration costs by extracting energy from wastes. Confident that you will find them interesting and of benefit, we look forward to welcoming all of you at the 6th Edition of the event, which will be held as usual in wintertime (December 2015) but will also bring some exciting novelties. Angelo Basile Gaetano Squadrito Michel Cassir Viviana Cigolotti http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.11.062 0360-3199/Copyright © 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.