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HY4: The first four-seat passenger aircraft powered solely by a hydrogen fuel cell battery system. Image: DLR

One example: If there is an oversupply of renewable electricity, industry can produce additional hydrogen, which can be used to power fuel cell vehicles, for example.

These fuel cells convert hydrogen directly into electrical energy and can be used for numerous applications: For the electric drive or on-board power supply of trucks, buses, aircraft, ships, forklift trucks and cars, for combined heat and power plants and for the power supply of off-grid devices. Helmholtz scientists are working on further improving the efficiency, durability and performance of fuel cells. To do this, they use different cell types that are precisely tailored to the respective applications.

Hydrogen can also be used to produce synthetic liquid fuels and base chemicals. Synthetic fuels are obtained from renewable electricity and CO2, but can be used in combustion engines like gasoline or diesel. Other advantages: They are easy to store and are suitable for use in ships, aircraft and trucks, for example, where electric drives are not an option. However, their production has so far been very expensive and complex and requires large amounts of renewable energy. Helmholtz researchers are developing new production processes up to industrial scale.

Con­cep­tu­al study for en­vi­ron­ment-friend­ly flight

Since the beginning of 2020, 45 researchers from 20 DLR institutes have been working together on new technological components for an environmentally friendly commercial aircraft. The overall objective is to make the necessary technologies ready for use in a passenger aircraft with at least 70 seats and a range of 2000 kilometers.

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Fu­el cell propul­sion sys­tem for avi­a­tion

Emission-free flight is a central goal of civil aviation. Emission-free air transport could be achieved in the long term by converting hydrogen into electricity. This would enable the environment-friendly electrification of propulsion systems. The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and MTU Aero Engines are focusing on a fuel cell propulsion system, which they will jointly develop and validate.

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High-Temperature Fuel Cell Achieves Lifetime of More Than 11 Years

Researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich developed a fuel cell and operated it at a temperature of 700 °C for more than 11 years. During its lifetime, this high-temperature fuel cell produced electricity for more than 10.5 years: longer than any other high-temperature fuel cell so far. Demonstrating such a long lifetime is viewed as an important step in the development of high-temperature fuel cells designed for maximum efficiency.

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World's first ocean-go­ing hy­dro­gen pow­ered fu­el-cell fer­ry

The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is involved in the development of the world's first hydrogen fuel cell powered ocean-going ferry for passenger and vehicle transport.

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World's first ocean-going hydrogen powered fuel-cell ferry

The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is involved in the development of the world's first hydrogen fuel cell powered ocean-going ferry for passenger and vehicle transport.

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Hydrogen combustion in gas turbines

In the production of hydrogen by means of electrolysis, electrical energy is converted into chemical energy, i.e. the electricity is used to produce hydrogen. One possible use for this renewably produced hydrogen is to feed it into the natural gas grid. The hydrogen-natural gas mixture could then be burned in conventional gas turbine power plants to generate electricity again.

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Interdisciplinary research into synthetic fuels

Synthetic fuels make it possible to store energy simply, flexibly, efficiently and sustainably. At the same time, they are powerful guarantors of future mobility: as fuels for vehicles, trains and ships, and as fuel for aircraft and rockets. Eleven institutes of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are researching the development and application of synthetic fuels.

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Synthetic fuels

How to enable the energy turnaround in liquid fuels is the focus of the Institute for Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT). The researchers are developing resource- and energy-efficient processes that can be used for the large-scale production of high-quality synthetic fuels and are looking for alternatives for crude oil-based energy sources.

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