This year HySafe was again an exhibitor at the Hannover Fair as part of the Group Exhibit “Hydrogen + Fuel Cells + Batteries” from April 7 to 11. This Group Exhibit was a jubilee – it was the 20^th time. What had started in 1995 with a dozen exhibitors from one country on less than 150 m² has grown to a major event with 150 exhibitors from 25 countries on 5000 m².

HySafe was an exhibitor togehter with EHA, the European Hydrogen Association. The demand for information was high, only rather little of the information papers which had been brought to the fair had to be taken back again.

HySafe also had a slot during the Technical Forum which provides opportunity to discuss matters of interest in some depth. The topic of HySafe this year was underground storage of hydrogen – a matter which becomes more and more important with respect to the necessity to store large amounts of renewable electricity in order to bridge the gap between offer and demand. Is this safe? Watch and listen here:

Presentation on YouTube

In order to celebrate the new start of the EHEC (European Hydrogen Energy Conference) in Sevilla from March 12 to 14 properly in its own way HySafe held a safety workshop there on March 11. Speakers from Spain, France, and Germany discussed general and specific safety matters associated with the use of hydrogen as energy carrier.

The participants appreciated the event, and HySafe hopes that it serves to support the development of hydrogen energy in Spain.

Please find a few photos and impressions of the recent ICHS here:

http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ichs-2013-5th-international-conference-hydrogen-safety

on a website of the EU Joint Research Centre.

The 5th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS) was closed today in Brussels after three successful days.

The more than 200 participants, who had been offered almost 100 submitted papers plus plenary presentations, apparently had the same feeling. On the morning of the last day the activities were put into a historical perspective in a plenary session. Speakers from China, Japan, EU, California, and the USA made clear how enormous the progress is which has been made – and that there is still a long way to go.

During the closing session the participants and all other interested parties were invited to Japan for the 6th ICHS 2015. Details about location and date will be announced shortly, as promised by Aki Maruta from Technova, representative of the local organizers.

Andrei Tchouvelev, HySafe president, and Marco Carcassi, responsible for the scientific content of the event, promised that the 2015 conference would be even better than the one in Brussels. An ambitious goal, after this year’s success. But let us wait and see. We look forward to meeting you in Japan in 2015.

Today the second day of the 5th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS) in Brussels offered a full program of information to the participants. Among the topics were sensorics, improved standardization, and explosion effects in confined spaces.

A new feature which had never been included in this conference before was a webinar in the afternoon. This made it possible for interested parties in particular in North America and in Europe to follow at least a part of the conference.

The organizers are very satisfied with the conference at this time. Both financially and scientifically it is a success.

The annual general assembly of the members of HySafe was held today in Brussels. The most important decision was the re-election of the present executive committee of the board, comprising A. Tchouvelev (president), T. Jordan (vice-president), B. Weinberger (secretary), and I. Azkarate (treasurer).

Apart from this the assembly heard the report about the activities of last year and about the budget. Both were approved. So were the plans for next year.

The assembly was especially delighted to hear that the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety had achieved its objectives both in financial terms and also considering the quality and quantity of scientific papers. The excellent cooperation with the European Commission and its authorities, which is a characteristic feature of this year’s conference, will be continued.

The 5th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS) was opened today in Brussels. The conference is supported by the European Union and the FCH JU, which was clearly felt during the opening ceremony. Not only is the conference held in the Charlemagne building in Brussels, the conference centre of the Commission, but the gala diner for the participants at the closing of the event on September 11 will be sponsored by the FCH JU and held at the Berlaymont building, the official seat of the Commission.

HySafe president Andrei Tchouvelev opened the session with the words: “We talk about hydrogen safety not because some think hydrogen is not so safe. To the contrary, we talk about hydrogen safety because we want to keep it safe. And for the next 3 days we will share how we can do it successfully.”

The first morning of the conference was chaired by D. Ristori, Director General Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Statements were given by representatives of the EU General directions for enterprise, transport, energy, and JRC as well as of the FCH JU. Also represented in the list of the opening speakers were representatives of the hydrogen and fuel cell programs of Japan, USA, China, Lithuania, and Germany and the European Hydrogen Association.

Participants look forward to three days packed with information and the possibility to communicate and to exchange ideas and informations.

The final program of the 5^th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS 5) is now available. You can download it here:

Program

Check it and find out that not only scientists and engineers will find a lot of valuable contributions. Important people from politics and economy will illustrate the future of the hydrogen economy from various countries. Representatives of the EU will discuss the impact of the Horizon 2020 program in the safe market introduction and use of hydrogen. Follow debates on the state of the art on what to do for the introduction of hydrogen. Roundtables on activities all of the European and international standardization bodies (ISO, etc.) will be provided.

A sustainable energy future is not possible without hydrogen and fuel cells as elements of it. But they will never be part of the system if they can not be demonstrated to be safe for the consumer. So hydrogen safety is a key aspect for the transition of our energy system.

See you in Brussels from September 9-11!

HySafe is now an official partner of the Hydrogen Implementation Agreement (HIA) of the International Energy Agence (IEA). The IEA Committee on Energy Research and Technology approved the agreement on sponsorship from the association to the project. HySafe will now participate actively in the latter.

The HIA is one of the most important partnerships worldwide. The HIA envisions a hydrogen future on a clean sustainable energy supply that plays a key role in all sectors of the global economy with a 30+ year operating history, 23 members (including the EU), and significant accomplishments to it’s credit, the HIA is the premier global resource for technical expertise in hydrogen R&D.

HySafe is now a member of the European Hydrogen Association (EHA), the European top level association for the advancement of hydrogen technology. This was decided during the Annual Meeting of the EHA members held on June 28 in Brussels.

Most European national hydrogen associations are members of EHA which was founded in 2000 and represents the field mainly towards the institutions of the European Union. HySafe expects to enter a wide field of activity for the benefit of hydrogen safety both on the European level as well as together with the national associations and the industry members of EHA.