BOC trial uses LPG to generate electricity with Ceres fuel cells
October 5, 2004: BOC, the global industrial gases giant, has entered an agreement to run development trials on fuel cell technology that generates electricity from LPG.
The fuel cell has been developed by Ceres Power, a Sussex based company spun out of Imperial College, London, over three years ago.
Under the agreement, the two companies will over the next 6-18 months assess how LPG works with Ceres fuel cells. The wafer-thin cells produce electricity and usable heat when gas is run across one surface and air across the other.
Unlike most other fuel cells, the technology developed by Ceres Power does not need hydrogen as a feed gas, although it can use it. It means that LPG could be used to produce clean, silent power in a wide range of applications.
Ceres Power Chief Executive Peter Bance said: “This is a milestone agreement with BOC because it represents an important step towards commercial application of our technology. It will help ensure our products are tailored towards the needs of end users.”
BOC Global Director Hydrogen Energy, John Carolin added: “The potential markets we have identified represent significant growth opportunities for our businesses around the world.”
The Ceres team has spent more than 12 years developing and proving its revolutionary technology ahead of the pre-commercial trials now underway with BOC.
The BOC Group, with over two million customers in more than 50 countries, is one of the world’s largest gases companies.
For further information contact:
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Peter Bance, Chief Executive, Ceres Power Ltd: |
+44 (0) 1293 400 404 |
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Allan Piper: First City Financial Public Relations: |
+44 (0) 20 7436 7486 |
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Gary Williams, BOC Group: |
+44 (0) 1483 244 515 |
About Ceres Power
Ceres Power was recently described by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair as a “world leader”. The company received major recognition when it became the 2003 winner of the prestigious Carbon Trust Low Carbon Innovation Award.
Ceres is targeting a range of global applications including residential power units, back-up generators, telecoms base stations, construction sites and other off-grid locations. Their revolutionary technology critically uses low cost materials and existing mass production techniques.
Since 2001, Ceres Power has raised around £10 million in two rounds of private-equity funding from backers including The Carbon Trust, funds managed by Fleming Family and Partners, RAB, Nikko, and Chicago Environmental, among others.
About the BOC Group
BOC has a solid track record of bringing hydrogen production and supply solutions to its customers. BOC is a member of Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership, the private venture capital firm that invests in early-stage fuel cell and hydrogen companies, and also is a direct investor in companies working to develop fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies. Last year, BOC announced that it would participate in the Compressed Hydrogen Infrastructure Program (CH2IP), a hydrogen fuelling demonstration in Surrey, British Columbia aimed at developing the infrastructure necessary to support the use of hydrogen fuel in vehicles.
BOC is working with BP to supply hydrogen for a fleet of fuel cell buses which begun operational field trials around London in January 2004 and in Perth, Australia, earlier this month. The trials are part of a global project into hydrogen fuel cell technology aimed at developing an environmentally 'clean' public transport system.
In 2004, BOC sponsored a world record attempt to travel a distance equal to London to Vancouver on the equivalent of one gallon of petrol by using a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle. The record attempt by 'The BOC Gh2ost' – built by Scottish fuel cell company, Sigen, powered by a silent and pollution free hydrogen fuel cell - took place at the Eco-Marathon Challenge in Scotland.
BOC ran two stationary hydrogen fuel cell trials at its Wolverhampton and Holbrook sites in the UK in 2003, and earlier this year worked with Orange and FDT Solutions to install a 5kW hydrogen fuel cell to provide standby power to a mobile telecom system near Huntly, Aberdeen.