Community
4 December, 2024
Learning about hydrogen power
A GROUP of Timboon P-12 School students learnt about hydrogen as an energy source recently.
Timboon Agriculture Project (TAP) co-ordinator Andrea Vallance said Deakin University education, training and industry co-ordinator for Hycel Loren Tuck spent time with Year 9-10 students.
She said the visit was part of an exploration of sustainability.
“During an engaging presentation, Loren explained that Hycel focuses on research into various hydrogen technologies as it won’t replace all fossil fuels but will work alongside diesel and solar to provide clean energy options as a zero emissions gas,” Mrs Vallance said.
“She compared combustion energy generated from diesel as a finite energy source that is dependent on Middle Eastern supply and electric vehicles that are energised by heavy batteries and have reduced payloads.”
Students were introduced to the potential of modular hydrogen fuel cells which can be used to generate power to fuel B-double trucks with maximum payloads that can pull heavy consignments and travel large distances before refuelling.
“As a tactile way to explore various energy sources, the students-built fuel cell cars that were powered by water, hydrogen, solar panels and fuel cells to discover the principles behind real-scale fuel cell vehicles,” Mrs Vallance said.
“The combination of technologies allowed students to generate hydrogen through water electrolysis and convert it into electricity using a PEM fuel cell and power an electrical circuit by solar panel as they explored the principles behind renewable microgrids.”
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