Start-up business, Cella Energy has been crowned the Shell Springboard Award winners 2011 for its work developing a new method of storing hydrogen which could allow the fuel to replace petrol at a fraction of the cost of its fossil fuel counterpart.
Oxfordshire-based Cella uses nano-technology to store hydrogen safely in tiny microbeads (as small as a grain of sand) which can then be released as a fuel to power cars, lorries, ships or planes.
Storing hydrogen in this way means that it can be safely transported in microbead form. The beads allow the fuel to be stored as a liquid without the need for very low temperatures. Currently storing hydrogen aboard a car either requires extremely low temperatures to compress it as a liquid or requires a very large storage tanks to hold it as a gas-neither methods are cheap or efficient.
The new method makes using hydrogen lower cost, safer and best of all-its compatible with traditional combustion engines. It is thought that the new method could allow hydrogen to retail for as little as 19 pence per litre before tax (compared to £1.28 for a litre of petrol, of which 48 pence is for the petrol, 59p is fuel duty and 21 pence is VAT).
The fuel could be used as an additive to conventional fuels to reduce carbon emissions, or on its own to make hydrogen gas with water as the only emission.
Cella Energy received their award at a ceremony held at the Royal Society of Science in London. Their invention impressed a panel of judges which included leading climate change expert Lord Oxburgh, UK Low Carbon Business Advisor Professor Julia King and Greenpeace Chief Scientist Doug Parr.
James Smith, Chairman of Shell UK, said: “Over the last six years, Shell Springboard has supported over fifty small businesses that have new ideas for products and services to tackle climate change. They have received no-strings-attached financial awards totalling £2 million. It’s great to these businesses still coming through even in these tough times. Congratulations and best wishes for success to Cella Energy.”
Vphase plc was named as the Shell Springboard runner up 2011 for its product which lowers and regulates household voltage. It manages the voltage coming into people’s homes, to ensure most electrical appliances use less electricity, lowering carbon emissions. This reduction of domestic voltage can lead to a decrease in household electricity bills of between six to 12 per cent.
Other finalists included Ashwoods Automotive Ltd, which has designed a product that regulates and lengthens the lifespan of electric car batteries, which can cost up to £50,000 each.
