Linde to be exclusive supplier for 2015 Shell Eco-marathon

MURRAY HILL and NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J., March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Linde North America will be the sole supplier of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicle entrants at this year's Shell Eco-marathon, one of the world's most challenging series of student innovation competitions for energy-efficient cars. Linde also plans to use the opportunity to spend time with the young engineers to spark their interest in Linde and clean energy as a career opportunity.

Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2015 will be held at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, April 10-12. This is the fifth consecutive year Linde will be supplying hydrogen to entrants in Shell Eco-marathon as the exclusive supplier for this event.

Shell Eco-marathon is a unique competition that challenges students around the world to design, build and drive the most energy-efficient car. The annual event is held in Asia, the Americas and Europe, and sees student teams take to the track to see who travels farthest on the least amount of fuel in different energy source categories. Internal combustion entries include gasoline, diesel, liquid fuel made from natural gas (GTL), ethanol and compressed natural gas (CNG). In the electric category, vehicles are powered by hydrogen fuel cells and lithium-based batteries.

The Detroit event will bring over 100 teams of college and high school students from across the Americas to demonstrate their ultra energy efficient vehicles. Linde will be supporting all the hydrogen fuel cell teams with ready-to-install hydrogen gas cylinders for their cars.

Mike Beckman, vice president Hydrogen Fueling, said, "While Linde is very excited to be the sole hydrogen supplier to the Americas fuel cell entrants, we are equally excited to have the opportunity to spend time with all of the Shell Eco-marathon entrants to discuss Linde's clean energy activities – a sort of recruiting endeavor. " Linde will have two booths at the event. One, a "pit stop" where Linde experts will inspect the fuel cell vehicles and offer technical suggestions; the other will be an information booth where Linde engineers will be on hand to provide the contestants with technical information on fuel cell applications as well as a broad array of Linde alternative energy technologies."

Linde has pioneered the deployment of hydrogen as an industrial gas for over one hundred years across a varied and widespread range of applications. As the world's largest manufacturer of hydrogen plants, Linde covers the entire technology spectrum from generation and liquefaction through transportation and storage solutions to fueling of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

"Linde's global capabilities are one of the reasons Shell chose us as its exclusive worldwide hydrogen supplier," said Brent Schultz, Linde applications engineer. "Shell needed a solid and technically capable global partner for all of its Eco-marathon events around the world."

"Shell Eco-marathon provides high school and college students a unique platform to design, build and drive the world's most energy-efficient car," said Norman Koch, Technical Director Shell Eco-marathon. "We are very pleased to partner with Linde for the fifth consecutive year supporting this competition and these students to develop energy efficient mobility solutions for the future."

"Linde will be working with the teams whose vehicles will require hydrogen and will be providing valuable technical support and advice to the student teams from North and South America," Beckman said. "While Linde hydrogen fueling systems involve sophisticated technology, the filling operation is designed to be relatively simple. This simplicity is a critical aspect to the success of hydrogen as a fuel."

Linde has equipped over 90 fueling stations in 15 countries with innovative hydrogen refueling technology, supporting fuel cell cars, buses, forklifts and other uses. Linde is currently operating the world's largest fuel cell bus station along with the largest hydrogen fueling station for forklifts in the world.

Fuel Cell Facts*

• The first fuel cell was the "gas battery" made in 1839 by Sir William Grove.
• Unlike batteries, fuel cells provide consistent power output.
• Fuel cells are quiet because they have no moving parts.
• The three products of the fuel cell reaction between hydrogen and oxygen are water vapor, heat and electricity.
• NASA uses fuel cells for powering the electrical systems in their space shuttles.
• Astronauts drink the by-product of water from fuel cells on NASA Spacecrafts.
• Fuel cells do not involve combustion, making them environmentally friendly. 
• The first hydrogen fuel cell car was the 1966 GM Electrovan.

*According to the Fuel Cell H₂ Research Lab

Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group. In the 2014 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of USD 17.9 bn (EUR 17.047 bn), making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

Under the "Clean Technology by Linde" label, the company offers a wide range of products and technologies that help to render renewable energy sources financially viable, and significantly slow down the depletion of fossil resources or reduce the level of CO₂ emitted. This ranges from specialty gases for solar module manufacturing, industrial-scale CO₂ separation and application technologies to alternative fuels and energy carriers such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.

For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com

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SOURCE Linde North America, Inc.

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