Global developments in the fuel cell sector, which have begun to move at a far faster pace than expected after decades of build-up, are poised to transform South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGMs) and manufacturing sectors, a well-attended fuel cell conference heard last week.

Speakers at the Nedbank CIB Market Research conference heard global speakers repeat that some of the biggest companies in the world were now inextricably linked to the rapid advance of the fuel-cell-linked hydrogen economy as the main contributor to world demand for climate change mitigation.

As Hydrogen Valleys took off worldwide, South Africa was itself going ahead with its own Platinum Valley, which would have the fuel cell as its main focal point.

The benefit to PGMs demand and the window of opportunity to engage in supply-chain manufacturing would be the inevitable spin-off benefits for South Africa, speakers emphasised.

Expert Professor Dr Ferdinand Panik outlined how fuel cells did not need much more platinum than diesel catalytic converters, which provided high future economies of scale.

The battery, by contrast, was already at the end of its economies of scale as 70% of battery costs were in the raw materials, which did not become cheaper when demand increased.

Hydrogen technology, Panik said, was already a large and attractive pursuit, which, in conjunction with the fuel cell, offered enormous additional growth opportunities.

“Hydrogen is no longer seen as a problem but as an important component of a future regenerative energy world with a high potential for economic growth,” Panik added at the conference covered by Mining Weekly.

Business models for the gradual development of a zero-emissions and carbon-neutral world based on renewable-energy systems from 2020 onwards were already reality.

Storage systems and pipelines currently used by gases other than hydrogen were being earmarked to initially include some hydrogen and eventually become hydrogen pipelines, with the network serving as already funded storage infrastructure.

Some countries, including Chile, were embracing green mining by using solar power to produce hydrogen, which would power mining vehicles and equipment.

Several countries were also taking steps towards, in the long term, exporting hydrogen, the demand for which was expected to rise significantly.

It was, he said, about sustainable emissions-free technology and free choice and, in the automotive field, Toyota was projecting a 90% uptake of fuel cell electric vehicles, compared with a 10% uptake of battery electric vehicles.