Corporate News
Munich, 3 March 2016 - The technology company The Linde Group will support this year’s Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) as a global partner by supplying participating fuel cell-powered vehicles with hydrogen (H2). 2016 will be the sixth consecutive year of Linde’s involvement in the event series. SEM is a unique competition that challenges students around the world to design, build and drive the most energy-efficient car.
Linde will step up its game by not only managing the hydrogen logistics and providing technical support and advice to the teams who use hydrogen fuel cells for their competition vehicles. The company will also showcase some of its latest developments in zero-emission hydrogen mobility.
“We are proud to be the event’s exclusive hydrogen partner by once again supplying ready-to-install cylinders free of charge to the fuel cell teams,” said Markus Bachmeier, Head of Hydrogen Solutions at Linde. “We are convinced that hydrogen as an energy carrier has the potential to fundamentally secure our future energy supply and make it more environmentally friendly. We look forward to meeting these highly qualified students from around the world who share our vision to offer them our technical assistance and to exchange ideas.”
With three annual events in Asia, the Americas and Europe, student teams take to the track to see who goes farthest on the least amount of fuel. A total of 53 race teams have registered in the fuel cell category at the 2016 events, scheduled for 3-6 March in Manila, Philippines, 22-24 April in Detroit, USA, and 30 June–3 July as part of “Make the Future London”, held at the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The London event will feature Linde’s innovative hydrogen-powered e-bike. It was developed by Linde engineers to demonstrate the dual advantage of hydrogen mobility – a long range and a short refuelling window of just a few minutes. The compact fuel cell that replaces the battery usually found on e-bikes supports assisted pedalling over a range in excess of 100 kilometres with only 34 grams of hydrogen on board. Linde plans to produce the H2 bike only as a limited prototype series.
Shell Eco-marathon Europe participants and visitors to “Make the Future London” will also be able to get first-hand impressions of Linde's mobile "traiLH2™-gas" refuelling unit. It features a compact version of Linde’s state-of-the-art compression technology on a 14-metre trailer, enabling the supply of up to 240 kilograms of hydrogen even in places where a stationary infrastructure has yet to be developed
Shell and Linde have been co-operating in the build-up of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for many years. Joint projects include Shell’s first hydrogen station in Germany, which has the capacity to fill up to 250 fuel cell vehicles per day. The station at Sachsendamm in Berlin is one of the most productive in the world.
As the world’s largest manufacturer of hydrogen plants, Linde covers the entire technology spectrum required to successfully use hydrogen as an energy carrier – from generation to refuelling. So far, Linde has equipped over 100 fuelling stations in 15 countries with innovative hydrogen refuelling technology. Furthermore, Linde is exploring new ways of producing renewable, zero-carbon hydrogen, using wind, for example.
About The Linde Group
In the 2014 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 17.047 bn, making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term, profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information about The Linde Group, go to www.linde.com.