HYCHAIN

Hydrogen Challenge

The context

Government authorities and manufacturers alike, well aware of the damage being done to our environment, have undertaken the necessary research to find solutions that will lead to the development of clean, safe and efficient renewable energy.

In it in this context of energy source diversification that programs are being set up to develop the hydrogen powered Fuel Cell. This solution provides a response not only to the problem of energy dependence but also to that of greenhouse gas emissions.

The objective behind the development of the Hychain project

The Hychain project, which brings together the Grenoble conurbation, the Isère department, and the Rhône-Alpes Region (France), and the towns of Bottrop, Gladbeck, Herten and Marl (Ruhr Valley - North Rhine Westphalia Region - Germany), the region of Castilla y León (Spain), and the town of Modena (Italy), consists initially in launching an industrial option in the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell area through the demonstration of fleets of Hydrogen powered vehicles.
Priority will be given to innovative captive fleets which complement the technology currently being used in Europe: buses, wheelchairs for the disabled, commercial vehicles, tricycles and scooters etc.
This project is part of a vision of future energy issues (greenhouse effect, transport systems, diversification), and its purpose is to test and demonstrate the reliability and completeness of the hydrogen option from the different ways in which it can be generated, stored, and distributed to the end applications with the fuel cell (fixed and mobile) with a view to making it acceptable to the general population and on the financial market.

Hydrogen is in this context an energy carrier powering demonstration models, mainly in the fields of transport and stationary applications, linked to Fuel Cell technology as an energy transformer.

The Hychain project will have to be incorporated and developed as part of the 3rd call under the 6th Framework Program for Research and Development (FPRD) of the European Commission.
In this context and beyond, projects involving group and individual demonstration models will be launched in the relevant countries.

The project will be managed by a jointly chaired steering committee combining partner companies and research bodies and with the participation of local authorities.

Contact:

Global project and France coordinator
Philippe PAULMIER (Axane)

Assistant coordinator and manager Spain
Juan de BLAS (Besel)

Coordinator Germany
Andreas ZIOLEK (NRW)

Coordinator Italy
Sergio BECHIS (Air Liquide Italy)