2008 EEM doctoral graduate Kristin Deason is having an important impact on the impressive movement towards renewable energy that presently is underway in Germany. Kristin, who is a senior official in the German renewable energy research company Nationale Organisation Wasserstoff und Brennstoffzellentechnologi Gmbh (NOW), has traveled the world over the past year and a half in her role as Manager of International Cooperation for the German company.
One indicator of the dramatic movement towards renewable energy use in Germany is the fact that, since 2010, the nation’s Clean Energy Partnership has doubled its fleet and made major improvements to its refueling infrastructure facilities, including recent openings of additional hydrogen filling stations in Berlin and Hamburg. In the year-long period ending in March 2011, Kristin’s company invested 64.3 million Euros in 41 projects and 81 research grants. That is part of a decade-long investment program being undertaken by NOW of 700 million Euros over the 2007-2016 time frame for hydrogen and fuel cell RD&D.;
Dr. Klaus Bonhoff, Managing Director of NOW, indicated in a recent press conference that “the social acceptance of new technologies is one of the most important building blocks in market preparation. Battery and fuel cell, in transport and energy supply must be accessible to citizens in everyday life.”
An overview of recent advancements in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Germany can be seen in a paper Kristin recently published in The Journal of Fuel Cell Technology, a copy of which can be seen by clinking on the following link: Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Market Preparation Activities in Germany
