SFC: We want to supply the 5G network with hydrogen
From the curiosity corner to a beacon of hope: hydrogen pioneer Peter Podesser, CEO SFC Energy, in conversation.
Bernd Vasari, Wiener Zeitung article, July 30, 2020, Economy.
The unquestioning obedience has evaporated. The battery as a serum for green energy no longer works. Because it only solves the problems at the end product, but not at the source. The new hope is hydrogen. He is now expected to lead the longed-for climate change. Companies like the listed SFC Energy AG are beneficiaries of this development. CEO Peter Podesser in an interview with the “Wiener Zeitung” about the long years of waiting, the role of the EU Commission and hydrogen as a green technology of the future.
Wiener Zeitung: Mr. Podesser, we are increasingly agreed in society that oil as a fuel has an expiry date. In mobility, most manufacturers are relying on batteries. But it is not as green as some people make it out to be, for example when we think of the lithium mines in the Congo. The production of hydrogen is equally problematic: 90 percent of hydrogen is produced with natural gas. What would have to happen for energy to become green?
Peter Podesser: Everyone has understood that a clean energy transition is necessary. To achieve this, the share of renewable sources, i.e. wind, sun and water, must increase significantly. However, these are weather dependent. There are months in which more wind blows, there are months in which the sun shines more often. Electricity produced during this period must therefore be made storable, transportable and available on a decentralised basis. Hydrogen and fuel cell technology are ideally suited for this purpose.
Wiener Zeitung: Why is hydrogen still produced from natural gas and not from renewable energies?
Peter Podesser: In this case, we still have a long way to go. We need to build production capacity, optimize technology and adapt infrastructure. Except for a few small series, the fuel cell has not even made it into the car, but is still in the laboratory. Our strategy has always been to get them out of the lab and into applications, even outside of mobility solutions. The German government’s national hydrogen strategy with nine billion euros is also a positive impulse in this respect.
Wiener Zeitung: The coronavirus has revealed our weaknesses. Many people have been made aware of how to deal with nature. Could that speed up the process?
Peter Podesser: Yes, today we are thinking about how we can generate energy more cleanly. My daughter told me at school that her father was involved with fuel cells. They’re cleaner and greener than anything else, she said. My sons wouldn’t have thought of that ten years ago. Environmental protection wasn’t such a big issue then. With our company, we have been working for 15 years to bring the issue to the political level. So far with manageable success. Now it is a social priority to make the energy supply CO2-neutral.
Wiener Zeitung: Digitalization will increase the demand for energy. How much green energy can be produced? This can only be solved if we think about alternatives. We have been in the curiosity corner with hydrogen and fuel cell technology for the past 15 years. Now the perception is different. Clean power supply for the future 5G mobile networks and thus also for autonomous driving is in demand. For this we no longer need a mast every two to three kilometres, but about every 900 metres. Their emergency power supply will then probably no longer be provided by diesel generators, but by fuel cells. We are ready: We want to power the 5G network with hydrogen fuel cells.
Wiener Zeitung: SFC Energy has many customers in the caravanning and sailing sector. These customers are willing to pay a higher price to have an on-board fuel cell quietly keep the battery charged. But how could it become cheaper for the masses?
Peter Podesser: Of course, if we want to become climate neutral, more people have to be able to afford it. We need higher volumes to reduce costs. Initiatives by individual countries and, above all, by the European Commission are now giving the issue a different dimension. We now have the opportunity and the time to bring hydrogen to the market, first as a bridging technology and later as an affordable form of energy. The direction is right, it’s going towards commercialization and it’s becoming affordable as a result. At the moment, though, it has to be worth something to you.
Wiener Zeitung: Batteries are increasingly criticized because they contain a large number of rare raw materials that are no longer used at the end of their life cycle. Is the fuel cell recyclable?
Peter Podesser: You can send any cell back to us, it is 95 percent recycled. Since there are hardly any moving parts, wear is very low and the service life is long. At the end of the service life, which is about 10,000 hours, we return the membranes and recycle the platinum via heat treatment. I wouldn’t badmouth the battery though.
Wiener Zeitung: What do you think?
Peter Podesser: The fuel cell and the battery are a symbiotic couple. The battery is outstanding in power density. When hybridized with the fuel cell, the result is a quiet, emission-free battery charging station that significantly reduces the need for battery cells.
Wiener Zeitung: What are your next goals?
Peter Podesser: Most fuel cell companies have disappeared from the market in recent years. We are one of the few European survivors. The current trend points in the opposite direction and is no longer reversible. We want to use the momentum and bring hydrogen and fuel cell technology to a wider audience.
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