Manfred Stefener

Dr Manfred Stefener is managing director of Freudenberg e-Power Systems, Munich (Germany). He joined Freudenberg Sealing Technologies Global, Weinheim (Germany) as VP lead center fuel cell systems in 2018. Prior to that, he lead Elcomax/Elcore, Munich (Germany) which he founded in 2006. Dr Stefener completed his PhD on electrode structures for direct methanol fuel cells at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. He is the author of numerous patents and publications in DMFC technology and fuel cells and has received several awards for pioneering the commercialization of fuel cells and for entrepreneurship.

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Presentation

Decarbonizing heavy-duty shipping: fuel cell solutions and renewable methanol circularity

This presentation will provide an overview of the distribution of fuels in current ship building. Using the Pa-X-ell2 research project for reference, it proposes that pure hydrogen as an energy storage solution is not viable for most maritime segments looking at volumetric energy density and fuel handling as key criteria, and argues instead for a renewable methanol circular economy with on-board fuel reformation.