The future of fuel cells was discussed today at the All-Russian Conference with international participation “Fuel Cells and Power Plants”.
The Institute of Solid State Physics at the Russian Academy of Science: there are more than 20 labs at the institute, many of them are equipped with powerful modern research technology
Skolkovo Foundation, presented by its Director for Science and Technical Development of the Energy Efficiency cluster, Oleg Pertsovskiy, participated in the sessions of the scientific conference which was conducted in the period of July 1-5 at the Institute of Solid State Physics at the Academy of Science of the Russian Federation in Chernogolovka.
Building of the Institute of Solid State Physics at the Russian Academy of Science in Chernogolovka
Reports of Russian scientists were presented at the conference alongside with reports of their colleagues from Britain and Germany, the participants of joint scientific teams. The main focus at the conference was on the issues connected with solid oxide fuel cells and proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
Presentation of the Director for Scientific and Technical Development of the Energy Efficiency cluster: focus on the role of the Foundation in the innovation support system
According to Oleg Pertsovskiy, at the moment the Energy Efficiency cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation is actively working on the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation with such prominent scientific institutions as the Institute of Solid State Physics who have qualified personnel and required equipment for research.
This electronic system enables research to determine the valency of the elementary particles of solids.
Photo above: sterile premises of the Institute of Solid State Physics – amount of micro specks of dust on a cubic meter is minimal here
Assembly hall of the Institute of Solid State Physics where the conference took place
The topic of the conference corresponds to the foresight of the cluster, and several Foundation residents are already actively working on fuel cells. Among them are “AT Energy”, “Innovation Center Institute of General Physics at RAS” Ltd, “Energy Efficiency” Ltd, “Uralintech Energo” Ltd, “Membrana NC” Ltd, “Innovation Company Mevodena” Ltd and a number of others. The efficiency of fuel cells, of course, will imply great economic savings. This is why the presentation made by Oleg Pertsovskiy about the Foundation and the cluster which, as a matter of fact, was addressed to an audience quite well-informed about the Foundation as there were several cluster experts in the audience, was focused on the issues of commercialization.
The presentation was followed by numerous questions. Scientists were interested in practical aspects of cooperation with the Foundation, selection criteria for residency, the range of provided support, and benefits guaranteed by a Skolkovo resident status.
As O. Perstsovskiy said, the main aim of his presentation was to show the scientists the possibilities of the Foundation, especially at the stage of commercialization and completion of the project. The Director for Scientific and Technical Development of the cluster highlighted in his presentation that the market for fuel cells is very promising, its potential in the nearest future will develop in three main directions: stationary solid oxide fuel cells, and fuel cells for transportation and mobiles.
According to Pertsovskiy, the total volume of SOFC power plants is projected at $ 16 billion by 2017, with an estimated total power in 14GVt.
Pertsovskiy also informed the scientist that the cluster is currently conducting a number of competitions for innovative projects on various topics. Winners will be able to receive a grant as well as support from experts for further development of their projects at Skolkovo. Competition partners are large Russian and foreign companies, who helped choose competition topics and will participate in the selection of winners. Two competition themes fall under the conference topic: highly efficient energy installations based on fuel cells and multi-fuel gasifiers, as well as technologies for producting hydrogen from methane. Scientific teams developing in these areas can send their applications for participation in the competition.
See detailed information on the rules for competition selection: http://community.sk.ru/press/energy_contest.
Science town of Chernogolovka: Institute Avenue, main street of the