South Africa Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technologies

摘要

The government of South Africa through the Department of Science and Technology in 2007 initiated the Hydrogen South Africa program to develop local hydrogen and fuel cell technologies based on platinum catalyst. The motivation behind funding the program is platinum benenciation in order to promote and facilitate the use of platinum in new emerging technologies. Through the HySA program, other government department funding initiatives and industry participation, severalPEM fuel cell based demonstration system have been developed and successfully demonstrated in the mining industry, mobility applications, commercial building power, material handling equipment and rural electrification of communities, schools and clinics. Commercial activities include establishment of two South African fuel cell components manufacturers, establishment of a special economic zone for platinum beneficiation, the development of a South African fuel cell stacks, as well as development of expertise in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Investigation into the export of hydrogen produced from local renewaole resources as well as a research facility for concentrated solar derived fuels is underway.