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Hydrogen vehicle

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Sequel, a fuel cell-powered vehicle from General Motors

A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle, such as an automobile, aircraft, or any other kind of vehicle that uses hydrogen as its primary source of power for locomotion. These vehicles generally use the hydrogen in one of two methods: electrochemical conversion in a fuel-cell or combustion :

• In combustion, the hydrogen is burned in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional gasoline cars.

• In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is reacted with oxygen to produce water and electricity, the latter of which is used to power electric motors.

The molecular hydrogen needed as an on-board fuel for hydrogen vehicles can be obtained through various thermochemical methods utilizing natural gas, coal (by a process known as coal gasification), liquefied petroleum gas, biomass (biomass gasification), by a process called thermolysis, or as a microbial waste product called biohydrogen or Biological hydrogen production. Hydrogen can also be produced from water by electrolysis. If the electricity used for the electrolysis is produced using renewable energy or nuclear power, the production of the hydrogen would (in principle) result in no net carbon dioxide emissions.

Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source, so the energy the car uses would ultimately need to be provided by a conventional power plant. A suggested benefit of large-scale deployment of hydrogen vehicles is that it could lead to decreased emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone precursors. [1] The pollution generated at the point of use in the vehicle would be greatly reduced compared to conventional automobile engines. Further, the conversion of fossil fuels would be moved from the vehicle, as in today's automobiles, to centralized power plants in which the byproducts of combustion or gasification can be better controlled than at the tailpipe. However, there are both technical and economic challenges to implementing wide-scale use of hydrogen vehicles. The timeframe in which such challenges may be overcome is likely to be at least several decades, as is the case with other advanced vehicles, such as gasoline electric hybrids, that are proposed to replace conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles. [2] [3]

At a panel of scientists, engineers and industry experts that the National Academy of Sciences assembled in April 2007 to review the president's $1.2 billion "hydrogen initiative," panelists, including JoAnn Milliken, the director of the Hydrogen Program in Bush's Energy Department, and K.G. Duleep agreed that President Bush's hydrogen car goals are slipping away because "there are quicker, cleaner, safer and cheaper ways to reduce the tail-pipe emissions from cars and trucks that pollute the air and contribute to global warming."[4] According to physicist and former U.S. Department of Energy official Joseph Romm, "A hydrogen car is one of the least efficient, most expensive ways to reduce greenhouse gases." Asked when hydrogen cars will be broadly available, Romm replied: "Not in our lifetime, and very possibly never."[4] General Motors disagrees with that sentiment and has announced that it will start hydrogen vehicle production in 2010. However, GM's chief engineer on the fuel cell project, Mohsen Shabana, said hydrogen infra-structure would not be in place by then, and he noted that GM had produced only two test units of the Sequel (pictured above) so far.[5] Nevertheless, GM has announced that it plans to introduce more than 100 hydrogen powered Chevrolet Equinox cars into the U.S. market beginning with the third quarter of 2007.[6]

[pic]Research and prototypes

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Hydrogen powered Ford Focus

Hydrogen does not come as a pre-existing source of energy like fossil fuels, but rather as a carrier, much like a battery. It can be made from both renewable and non-renewable energy sources. A potential advantage of hydrogen is that it could be produced and consumed continuously, using solar, water, wind and nuclear power for electrolysis. Currently, however, hydrogen vehicles utilizing hydrogen produced using hydrocarbons, produce more pollution than vehicles consuming gasoline, diesel, or methane in a modern internal combustion engine, and far more than plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.[3] This is because, although hydrogen fuel cells generate less CO2 than conventional internal combustion engines, production of the hydrogen creates additional emissions.[7] While methods of hydrogen production that do not use fossil fuel would be more sustainable,[8] currently such production is not economically feasible, and diversion of renewable energy (which represents only 2% of energy generated) to the production of hydrogen for transportation applications is inadvisable.[3]

The recorded number of hydrogen-powered public vehicles in the United States was 200 as of April 2007, mostly in California,[9] and a significant amount of research is underway to try to make the technology viable. The common internal combustion engine, usually fueled with gasoline (petrol) or diesel liquids, can be converted to run on gaseous hydrogen. However, the more energy efficient use of hydrogen involves the use of fuel cells and electric motors. Hydrogen reacts with oxygen inside the fuel cells, which produces electricity to power the motors. One primary area of research is hydrogen storage, to try to increase the range of hydrogen vehicles, while reducing the weight, energy consumption, and complexity of the storage systems. Two primary methods of storage are metal hydrides and compression.

High-speed cars, buses, submarines, airplanes and rockets already can run on hydrogen, in various forms at great expense. NASA uses hydrogen to launch Space Shuttles into space. There is even a working toy model car that runs on solar power, using a reversible fuel cell to store energy in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. It can then convert the fuel back into water to release the solar energy.[10]

Hydrogen fuel cell difficulties

For more details on this topic, see Fuel cell.

While fuel cells themselves are potentially highly energy efficient, and working prototypes were made by Roger E. Billings in the 1960s, at least four technical obstacles and other political considerations exist regarding the development and use of a fuel cell-powered hydrogen car.

Low volumetric energy

Hydrogen has a very low volumetric energy density at ambient conditions, equal to about one-third that of methane. Even when the fuel is stored as a liquid in a cryogenic tank or in a pressurized tank, the volumetric energy density (megajoules per liter) is small relative to that of gasoline. Because of the energy required to compress or liquefy the hydrogen gas, the supply chain for hydrogen has lower well-to-tank efficiency compared to gasoline. Some research has been done into using special crystalline materials to store hydrogen at greater densities and at lower pressures.

Instead of storing molecular hydrogen on-board, some have suggested that using hydrogen reformers to extract the hydrogen from more traditional fuels including methane, gasoline, and ethanol, or using reformed gasoline or ethanol to power fuel cells.[citation needed] However, using gasoline for this purpose would promote continued dependence on fossil fuels.

Fuel cell cost

Currently, hydrogen fuel cells are costly to produce and fragile. Scientists are studying how to produce inexpensive fuel cells that are robust enough to survive the bumps and vibrations that all automobiles experience. Also, many designs require rare substances such as platinum as a catalyst in order to work properly. Such a catalyst can also become contaminated by impurities in the hydrogen supply. In the past few years, however, a nickel-tin catalyst has been under development which may lower the cost of cells.[11] Fuel cells are generally priced in USD/kW, and data is scarce regarding costs. Producer Ballard is virtually alone in publishing such data. Their 2005 figure was $73 USD/kW (based on high volume manufacturing estimates), which they said was on track to achieve the U.S. DoE's 2010 goal of $30 USD/kW. This would achieve closer parity with internal combustion engines for automotive applications, allowing a 100 kW fuel cell to be produced for $3000. 100 kW is about 134 hp.[12]

Freezing conditions

Freezing conditions are a major consideration because fuel cells produce water and utilize moist air with varying water content. Most fuel cell designs are fragile and can't survive in such environments at startup but since heat is a byproduct of the fuel cell process, the major concern is startup capability. Ballard announced that it has already hit the U.S. DoE's 2010 target for cold weather starting which was 50% power achieved in 30 seconds at -20 °C[13].

Hydrogen production cost

Molecular hydrogen can be derived chemically from a feed stock such as methanol but can also be produced from water. Current technologies utilize between 25 to 50 percent of the higher heating value to produce hydrogen and deliver it to the vehicle tank.[14] Electrolysis, currently the most inefficient method of producing hydrogen, uses 65 percent to 112 percent of the higher heating value on a well-to-tank basis, owing to the comparatively inefficient conversion of fuels to electric power, [15] a thermodynamic hurdle also faced by so-called plug-in hydrid vehicles, which draw significant energy from the electricity grid to charge the batteries. Environmental consequences of the production of hydrogen from fossil energy resources would include the emission of greenhouse gases, a consequence that would also proceed from the on-board reforming of methanol into hydrogen. Studies comparing the environmental consequences of hydrogen production and use in fuel cell vehicles to the refining of petroleum and combustion in convetional automobile engines find a net reduction of ozone and greenhouse gases in favor of hydrogen.[1] Development of renewable sources faces barriers, and although the amount of energy produced from renewable sources is increasing, as a percentage of worldwide energy production, renewables decreased from 8.15% in 2000 to 7.64% of total energy production in 2004 due to the rapid increase in coal and natural gas production.[16] However, in some countries, hydrogen is being produced using renewable sources. For example, Iceland is using geothermal power to produce hydrogen,[17] and Denmark is using wind.[18]

The conversion of feed stock to produce hydrogen has inherent losses of energy that make hydrogen less advantageous as an energy carrier. Additionally, there are economic and energy penalties associated with packaging, distribution, storage and transfer of hydrogen. Hydrogen fuel cells are theoretically (without auxiliary devices to run the fuel cell) more efficient than internal combustion engines, achieving efficiencies of 50-60%, making up much of what is lost in producing hydrogen, and produce only water out the tailpipe, mostly in the form of water vapor.

Hydrogen infrastructure

In order to distribute hydrogen to cars, the current gasoline fueling system would need to be replaced, or at least significantly supplemented with hydrogen fuel stations. Hydrogen stations are being built in various places around the world.[19] Private and state initiatives like California's "California Hydrogen Highway" are already starting the infrastructure transition in advance of any manufacturers mass producing hydrogen cars.[20] Replacement of the existing extensive gasoline fuel station infrastructure would cost a half trillion U.S. dollars in the United States alone.[21]

Service life

Although service life is coupled to cost, fuel cells have to be compared to existing machines with a service life in excess of 5000 hours. As of today, however, no medium or low temperature fuel cells have been tested for more than two thousand hours.[22]

Political considerations

Most all of today's hydrogen is produced using fossil energy resources.[23] While some advocate hydrogen produced from non-fossil resources, there could be public resistance or technological barriers to the implementation of such methods. For example, the United States Department of Energy currently supports research and development aimed at producing hydrogen utilizing heat from generation IV reactors. Such nuclear power plants could be configured to cogenerate hydrogen and electricity. Hydrogen produced in this fashion would still incur the costs associated with transportation and compression or liquefaction assuming direct (molecular) hydrogen is the on-board fuel. Recently, alternative methods of creating hydrogen directly from sunlight and water through a metallic catalyst have been announced. This may eventually provide an economical, direct conversion of solar energy into hydrogen, a very clean solution for hydrogen production.[24]

Some in Washington advocate schemes[25] other than hydrogen vehicles to replace the petroleum-based internal combustion engine vehicles. Plug-in hydrids, for example, would augment today's hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles with greater battery capacity to enable increased use of the vehicle's electric traction motor and reduced reliance on the combustion engine. The batteries would be charged via the electric grid when the vehicle is parked. Electric power transmission is about 95 percent efficient and the infrastructure is already in place (though substantial grid expansion would be needed if a sizeable fleet of plug-in hybrids were to be deployed.) Tackling the current drawbacks of electric cars or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is believed by some to be easier than developing a whole new hydrogen infrastructure that mimics the obsolete model of oil distribution. Thermodynamically, a plug-in hybrid transportation system would face the same thermodynamic hurdles as would a system of hydrogen vehicles relying on electrolysis for its molecular hydrogen. The current electric grid, which is dominated by fossil energy resources in the United States, has a fuel-to-power efficiency of roughly 40 percent. Both the plug-in hybrids and the electrolytic hydrogen system would be subject to these comparative inefficiencies.

United States President George W. Bush was optimistic that these problems could be overcome with research. In his 2003 State of the Union address, he announced the[26] which complements the President's existing FreedomCAR initiative for safe and cheap hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Critics charge that focus on the use of the hydrogen car is a dangerous detour from more readily available solutions to reducing the use of fossil fuels in vehicles.

As a 2007 article in Technology Review argued,

In the context of the overall energy economy, a car like the BMW Hydrogen 7 would probably produce far more carbon dioxide emissions than gasoline-powered cars available today. And changing this calculation would take multiple breakthroughs--which study after study has predicted will take decades, if they arrive at all. In fact, the Hydrogen 7 and its hydrogen-fuel-cell cousins are, in many ways, simply flashy distractions produced by automakers who should be taking stronger immediate action to reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions of their cars.[3]

Alternatives

A 2006 article, "Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction", in Scientific American (April 2006), co-authored by Joseph J. Romm and Prof. Andrew A. Frank, argues that hybrid cars that can be plugged into the electric grid (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), rather than hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, will soon become standard in the automobile industry.[27] To achieve lower emission goals, the power grid re-charging these vehicles will need to contribute significantly less emissions and wean themselves from fossil fuels for energy conversion.

Battery electric vehicles, such as the General Motors EV1 typically have four times the efficiency of hydrogen vehicles,[28] when the cost of producing hydrogen is included, and are gaining popularity, particularly with the introduction of new models like the Tesla.[29]

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Hydrogen internal combustion

Hydrogen internal combustion engine cars are different from hydrogen fuel cell cars. The hydrogen internal combustion car is a slightly modified version of the traditional gasoline internal combustion engine car. These hydrogen engines burn fuel in the same manner that gasoline engines do. As in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the volume of the vehicle that the tank occupies is significant. Research is underway to increase the amount of hydrogen that can be stored onboard, be it through high pressure hydrogen, cryogenic liquid hydrogen, or metal hydrides.

In 1807, François Isaac de Rivaz built the first hydrogen-fueled internal combustion vehicle. However, the design was very unsuccessful. It is estimated that more than a thousand hydrogen-powered vehicles were produced in Germany before the end of the World War II prompted by the acute shortage of oil.[verification needed]

BMW's CleanEnergy internal combustion hydrogen car has more power and is faster than hydrogen fuel cell electric cars. A BMW hydrogen car (BMW H2R) broke the speed record for hydrogen cars at 186 mi/h (300 km/h), and BMW has an even newer Hydrogen 7 model. Mazda has developed Wankel engines to burn hydrogen. The Wankel engine uses a rotary principle of operation, so the hydrogen burns in a different part of the engine from the intake. This reduces intake backfiring, a risk with hydrogen-fueled piston engines. However the major car companies like DaimlerChrysler and General Motors Corp, are investing in the more efficient hydrogen fuel cells instead [30]. Ford Motor Company is investing in both fuel cell and hydrogen internal combustion engine research. Because of the large heat exchanger necessary for fuel cells and their limited load change and cold start capability, they are certainly first choice as range extender for battery electric vehicles. The Wall Street Journal, reviewing BMW's new internal combustion hydrogen vehicle concluded: A more efficient route for car makers would be to focus on high-mileage gasoline-powered vehicles. They are far simpler and less sexy than hydrogen cars... but for now they stack up as the cleaner option.[31]

Outside of specialty and small-scale uses, the primary target for the widespread application of fuel cells (hydrogen, zinc, other) is the transportation sector; however, to be economically and environmentally feasible, any fuel cell based engine would need to be more efficient from wellhead-to-wheel, than what currently exists.

Automobile and bus makers

Many companies are currently researching the feasibility of building hydrogen cars. Funding has come from both private and government sources. In addition to the BMW and Mazda examples cited above, many automobile manufacturers have begun developing cars. These include:

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Hyundai Tucson FCEV in the background (on the left) and Toyota Highlander FCHV in the foreground (on the right) during UC Davis's Picnic Day activities

• BMW — The BMW Hydrogen 7 is powered by a dual-fuel Internal Combustion Engine and with an Auxiliary power based on UTC Power fuel cell technology. The BMW H2R speed record car is also powered by an ICE. Both models use Liquid Hydrogen as fuel.

• DaimlerChrysler — F-Cell, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle based on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

• Ford Motor – Focus FCV, a hydrogen fuel cell modification of the Ford Focus, and E-350 buses, which began being leased in late 2006.

• General Motors — multiple models of fuel cell vehicles[32] including the Hy-wire and the HydroGen3

• Honda – currently experimenting with a variety of alternative fuels and fuel cells with experimental vehicles based on the Honda EV Plus, most notable the Honda FCX, powered by a front-mounted 80 kW AC electric motor, with 20 kW pancake motors providing supplemental power to the rear wheels. Electrical energy is provided by a 100 kW hydrogen fuel cell, with regenerative braking energy stored in ultracapacitors. Production versions of the FCX are expected to arrive in 2009.

• Hyundai — Tucson FCEV, based on UTC Power fuel cell technology

• Mazda - RX-8, with a dual-fuel (hydrogen or gasoline) rotary-engine [33]

• Nissan — X-TRAIL FCV, based on UTC Power fuel cell technology.

• Morgan Motor Company – LIFEcar, a performance-oriented hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with the aid of several other British companies

• Toyota – The Toyota Highlander FCHV and FCHV-BUS[34] are currently under development and in active testing.

• Volkswagen also has hydrogen fuel cell cars in development.

A few bus companies are also conducting hydrogen fuel cell research. These include:

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Mercedes-Benz (DaimlerChrysler) Citaro fuel-cell bus in Aldwych, London, on 19 October 2005

• DaimlerChrysler, with thirty-six experimental units powered by Ballard Power Systems fuel cells completing a successful three-year trial, in eleven cities, in January 2007.[35][36]

• Thor Industries (the largest maker of buses in the U.S.), based on UTC Power fuel cell technology

• Irisbus, based on UTC Power fuel cell technology

• Fuel Cell Bus Club

Supporting these automobile and bus manufacturers are fuel cell and hydrogen engine research and manufacturing companies. The largest of these is UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation, currently in joint development with Hyundai, Nissan, and BMW, among other auto companies. Another major supplier is Ballard Power Systems. The Hydrogen Engine Center is a supplier of hydrogen-fueled engines.

Most, but not all, of these vehicles are currently only available in demonstration models and cost a large amount of money to make and run. They are not yet ready for general public use and are unlikely to be as feasible as plug in biodiesel hybrids.

There are, however, fuel cell powered buses currently active or in production, such as a fleet of Thor buses with UTC Power fuel cells in California, operated by SunLine Transit Agency.[37] Perth, Australia is also participating in the trial with three fuel cell powered buses now operating between Perth and the port city of Fremantle. The trial is to be extended to other Australian cities over the next three years.

Mazda leased two dual-fuel RX-8s to commercial customers in Japan in early 2006, becoming the first manufacturer to put a hydrogen vehicle in customer hands. Ford began leasing E-350 shuttle buses in late 2006. BMW also plans to release its first publicly available hydrogen vehicle in 2008, as does Honda.

Since the turn of the millennium, filling stations offering hydrogen have been opening worldwide.[38] However, this does not begin to replace the existing extensive gasoline fuel station infrastructure, which would cost a half trillion U.S. dollars in the United States alone.[39]

Many companies such as Boeing and Smartfish are pursuing hydrogen as fuel for planes. Unmanned hydrogen planes have been tested and Boeing is currently planning a manned flight for 2008.

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|Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars |

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|By Ed "Redwood" Ring |

|December 4, 2000 |

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|View Readers Comments about Fuel Cells |

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|In the western corner of West Sacramento, in a promontory of light industrial buildings that runs along the south frontage |

|of Interstate 80, is the home of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. They are a depot for most of the hydrogen fuel cell |

|powered cars in North America. In a new building on Industrial Boulevard, are spaces for auto makers and other partners |

|from all over the world. When we visited last week, in front of the building the flags of eight nations snapped in the |

|Pacific breeze, and across the street the vast floodplains of the Sacramento Delta stretched away to the south. |

|Although the facility opened up on November 1st, most of the suites are still vacant. Only Daimler-Chrysler and Honda |

|actually have cars and crews on site. According to Linda Ortiz, the office manager, the California Fuel Cell Partnership |

|has eighteen partners, they are auto manufacturers, energy and fuel providers fuel cell companies and governmental |

|agencies. |

|There are eight suites for auto manufacturers, two of them occupied already by Daimler-Chrysler and Honda, as well as |

|vacant ones for Volkswagon, Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota, and General Motors. Cars delivered here will be demonstrated |

|from this site and will be open to the public. The cars won't stay there all the time, they'll be moved around on a regular|

|basis to go to shows and events around the US and around the world. |

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|The Electric Car: |

|Development of Battery, |

|Hybrid, & Fuel Cell Cars |

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|So where are these cars? We headed into the back of the property, where the bays for the auto makers faced onto a back lot |

|that looked out onto the freeway. On our way, we ran into the Chief Engineer for Honda, Shiro Matsuo, standing in the |

|parking lot behind the building, watching for incoming cars while his team tested a fuel cell car. The car was doing laps |

|across the length of the back lot. |

|We asked him what the car was doing, going in circles around the lot, and his answer indicates the cars are still very much|

|in a development stage, "This fuel cell is not very good at lower temperatures, so we do not want to start the fuel cell |

|system on a public road." The car in question, Honda's V-3, is one of the most advanced hydrogen fuel cell cars in the |

|world, but it can not run on the open road before being warmed up for at least 5 minutes. So much for a quick start. |

|Honda's other models of fuel cell cars are the V-1, which uses a metal hydride fuel tank, and the V-2, which runs on |

|methanol using a reforming device to convert the methanol to hydrogen. The systems on these cars are so big, particularly |

|the reformer on the methanol car, that both versions are only able to have two seats. Matsuo mentioned that California is |

|building another depot, probably in the Bay Area, that will house new cars that use reformer technologies, such as Honda's |

|V-2. |

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|Shiro Matsuo |

|Chief Engineer, Honda |

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|From a technological standpoint, methanol cars are further from being ready for the road than hydrogen cars because of the |

|weight added by the reforming system. But there are technical obstacles to be overcome before hydrogen cars will be seen on|

|the roads. In addition to the problem of slow warm-up, hydrogen fuel cell cars have a short range. Honda's V-3 only has a |

|range of 110 miles, a defect which can only be partially offset by designing a larger hydrogen tank into the car, since a |

|bigger tank adds weight and takes up more space. A higher efficiency vehicle is still in development and won't be ready for|

|another year. Moreover, progress is incremental, so next year's model will not be a breakthrough, just an improvement. |

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|Fuel From Water: |

|Energy Independence |

|With Hydrogen |

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|When asked about diesel cars, Matsuo had definite opinions, since it turned out he had a background in diesel engineering. |

|His comments were interesting: "The efficiency of the diesel engine is very good, but the bad point is that it can't get |

|rid of some of the pollutant material, especially the particulate matter. The newest carburators produce precise high |

|pressure injection into the cylinder which greatly increases combustion." |

|Like others we talked with that day, Matsuo's comments reflected a perception that the U.S. market, and California in |

|particular, is more committed to zero-emissions than the rest of the world. When asked how close the new diesel cars have |

|come to complying with ultra-low emissions standards, Matsuo wasn't sure. He said "there are new catalysers being developed|

|to absorb more particulate matter, it's getting better year by year." |

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|Hydrogen Fuel Station |

|West Sacramento |

|California USA |

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|Toxins from methanol leak into the soil from bad tanks and accidental spills, particles from diesels foul the air, even |

|methanol reformers emit some pollution, about 20% of what a typical gasoline automobile produces. Nothing is perfect, |

|except hydrogen, which can be made from electricity and water and can be produced in limitless quantities using nothing |

|more than solar energy and water. If hydrogen burns, it leaves no trace in the air, except for a bit of water vapor. |

|This pristine appeal to environmentalists, combined with the fact that fuel cells really aren't technologically ready to |

|power a car on any fuel but hydrogen, is why California built this facility before any others and why the major auto makers|

|of the world are trying to make sure they keep their foot in the door. Opposite the back parking lot, just in front of the |

|wire fence that separated us from the whizzing eastbound traffic on I-80, was a giant hydrogen fuel station. Hydrogen is |

|stored under great pressure, 3600 and 5000 PSI in the big tanks, 7000 PSI in the smaller distribution tanks. |

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|Powering the Future: |

|The Ballard Fuel Cell |

|And The Race To |

|Change the World |

| |

|Hydrogen may be ecologically and technologically the logical fuel right now for fuel cell cars, but there is no consumer |

|distribution system in place. While methanol, a liquid, can be piped, trucked and stored in the existing network for |

|gasoline with minor conversion costs, hydrogen will require an entire new fuel distribution infrastructure. Partly for this|

|reason, fuel cell vehicles even in California, where government subsidies and regulations are the most favorable to fuel |

|cell development in the world, fuel cell vehicles are not expected to be on the road in significant numbers until 2004. |

|Even by that time, most of them will be in commercial and government fleet use, where they will have a hydrogen station on |

|site. Don't expect to see hydrogen stations on the freeway off ramps for the next several years, if ever. |

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|Hydrogen Storage Tank |

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|But hydrogen retains its appeal, and the prospect of gas stations that require no fuel deliveries, just solar electricity |

|and water to convert to hydrogen to recharge their storage tanks, is a seductive vision. On vehicles that can be refueled |

|often or have low range requirements, setting up a fleet that would run on fuel produced in limitless quantities at an |

|on-site station will probably be a competitive economic investment within five years or sooner. Fleets of buses, which can |

|tolerate a bulky power system, will probably be one of the first places hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be strongly |

|competitive. As Matsuo said, "in the long run, fuel cell vehicles will gain a percentage of the market but I don't know if |

|they will ever dominate." |

|What will be the next generation car? Diesels, hybrids, or ultra-efficient & ultra-clean gasoline or methanol powered cars |

|using combustion engines? The answer is all of the above. Will one type dominate? The correct answer to that question will |

|make a lot of people rich, but it's probably safe to bet it will not be fuel cell vehicles that dominate. What about |

|hydrogen combustion engines, since they burn so clean? |

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|Fuel Cell Systems |

|Explained |

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|We talked with Richard Tuso, an Electrical Technician at Daimler-Chrysler. He reiterated that the fuel cell vehicle is |

|preferred because it "does a molecular conversion of hydrogen to electricity which causes zero emissions to the |

|atmosphere." He noted that methanol vehicles use a reformer which catalyses the methanol to separate the hydrocarbon from |

|the hydrogen, but the reformer puts out emissions that are still at about 20% of an internal combustion engine. Richard |

|acknowledged that "Methanol is easier for the fuel infrastructure, but where we're heading for in the long run is zero |

|emissions, not low emissions." |

|When asked about the possible dangers of distributing and stockpiling huge amounts of hydrogen, which is highly pressurized|

|and explosive, Tuso downplayed the dangers. Most of the supposed problems with hydrogen are based on a public perception |

|that it is much more dangerous that it really is. "The perception is evident when you take into account the precautions we |

|take here," said Tuso. "The fueling station we built here cost five times what a comparable station cost in Germany. We |

|have hydrogen alarms and air ventilation systems that are constantly running." |

|In reality, said Tuso, "The only real problem is the pressure that's involved, and that's not a problem with proper tanking|

|systems." He showed us pictures of cars that had been dropped from 45', then from 90', and in all these test cases the |

|hydrogen tank did not explode, in spite of being under pressure. Moreover, he said, "the tanks are designed to blow up, not|

|out. If, for example, that tank back there exploded," said Tuso, referring to the hydrogen station in the lot behind the |

|building, "90% of the debris would fall within the fence around it." |

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|The Hydrogen Economy |

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|The danger from accidental hydrogen fires was even less of a problem, according to Tuso, because "Hydrogen is a very clean |

|fuel, it would ignite easier than gasoline, but the likelihood of it igniting is still slim. If it did ignite, the flame |

|doesn't put out much heat. Gasoline fires usually consume the whole car." He cited tests where hydrogen gas tanks were |

|exploded and ignited, and invariably the flame went upwards and didn't burn very hot. The back windows, for example, would |

|not typically be damaged in a hydrogen tank fire, whereas in a gasoline tank fire, the back windows usually melt. |

|Notwithstanding the cost of building an entire fuel infrastructure for hydrogen, the biggest problem hydrogen fuel has may |

|end up being a public perception that it is too dangerous to handle. "People here think of the Hindenberg and Hydrogen |

|bombs," said Tuso, "Some people think we have a hydrogen bomb back here." |

|We left that day not sure whether or not we'd found the car of the future. Hydrogen fuel cell powered cars will be part of |

|the market, but they probably won't sit in everyone's garages, owning the car market the way gasoline powered cars do |

|today. Hybrids have better range and overall performance, and they're already cheap to manufacture. Expect to see more of |

|them in the near future. What will emerge in the long run is anybody's guess. Outside the U.S., cleaner burning cars using |

|conventional fuels such as diesel and gasoline will probably stay on top of the market. How clean can they get? How clean |

|is clean enough? Stay tuned. |

|California Fuel Cell Partnership |

|3300 Industrial Blvd., Suite 1000, |

|West Sacramento, CA 95691. |

|916-371-2453. |

|Email the Editor about this Article |

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|[pic] |

This pristine appeal to environmentalists, combined with the fact that fuel cells really aren't technologically ready to power a car on any fuel but hydrogen, is why California built this facility before any others and why the major auto makers of the world are trying to make sure they keep their foot in the door. Opposite the back parking lot, just in front of the wire fence that separated us from the whizzing eastbound traffic on I-80, was a giant hydrogen fuel station. Hydrogen is stored under great pressure, 3600 and 5000 PSI in the big tanks, 7000 PSI in the smaller distribution tanks.

|Knowledge: The Best |

|Alternative Energy! |

|Click & Buy Books |

|(Amazon Affiliate) |

|[pic] |

|Powering the Future: |

|The Ballard Fuel Cell |

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|Change the World |

Hydrogen may be ecologically and technologically the logical fuel right now for fuel cell cars, but there is no consumer distribution system in place. While methanol, a liquid, can be piped, trucked and stored in the existing network for gasoline with minor conversion costs, hydrogen will require an entire new fuel distribution infrastructure. Partly for this reason, fuel cell vehicles even in California, where government subsidies and regulations are the most favorable to fuel cell development in the world, fuel cell vehicles are not expected to be on the road in significant numbers until 2004. Even by that time, most of them will be in commercial and government fleet use, where they will have a hydrogen station on site. Don't expect to see hydrogen stations on the freeway off ramps for the next several years, if ever.

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|Hydrogen Storage Tank |

But hydrogen retains its appeal, and the prospect of gas stations that require no fuel deliveries, just solar electricity and water to convert to hydrogen to recharge their storage tanks, is a seductive vision. On vehicles that can be refueled often or have low range requirements, setting up a fleet that would run on fuel produced in limitless quantities at an on-site station will probably be a competitive economic investment within five years or sooner. Fleets of buses, which can tolerate a bulky power system, will probably be one of the first places hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be strongly competitive. As Matsuo said, "in the long run, fuel cell vehicles will gain a percentage of the market but I don't know if they will ever dominate."

What will be the next generation car? Diesels, hybrids, or ultra-efficient & ultra-clean gasoline or methanol powered cars using combustion engines? The answer is all of the above. Will one type dominate? The correct answer to that question will make a lot of people rich, but it's probably safe to bet it will not be fuel cell vehicles that dominate. What about hydrogen combustion engines, since they burn so clean?

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We talked with Richard Tuso, an Electrical Technician at Daimler-Chrysler. He reiterated that the fuel cell vehicle is preferred because it "does a molecular conversion of hydrogen to electricity which causes zero emissions to the atmosphere." He noted that methanol vehicles use a reformer which catalyses the methanol to separate the hydrocarbon from the hydrogen, but the reformer puts out emissions that are still at about 20% of an internal combustion engine. Richard acknowledged that "Methanol is easier for the fuel infrastructure, but where we're heading for in the long run is zero emissions, not low emissions."

When asked about the possible dangers of distributing and stockpiling huge amounts of hydrogen, which is highly pressurized and explosive, Tuso downplayed the dangers. Most of the supposed problems with hydrogen are based on a public perception that it is much more dangerous that it really is. "The perception is evident when you take into account the precautions we take here," said Tuso. "The fueling station we built here cost five times what a comparable station cost in Germany. We have hydrogen alarms and air ventilation systems that are constantly running."

In reality, said Tuso, "The only real problem is the pressure that's involved, and that's not a problem with proper tanking systems." He showed us pictures of cars that had been dropped from 45', then from 90', and in all these test cases the hydrogen tank did not explode, in spite of being under pressure. Moreover, he said, "the tanks are designed to blow up, not out. If, for example, that tank back there exploded," said Tuso, referring to the hydrogen station in the lot behind the building, "90% of the debris would fall within the fence around it."

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The danger from accidental hydrogen fires was even less of a problem, according to Tuso, because "Hydrogen is a very clean fuel, it would ignite easier than gasoline, but the likelihood of it igniting is still slim. If it did ignite, the flame doesn't put out much heat. Gasoline fires usually consume the whole car." He cited tests where hydrogen gas tanks were exploded and ignited, and invariably the flame went upwards and didn't burn very hot. The back windows, for example, would not typically be damaged in a hydrogen tank fire, whereas in a gasoline tank fire, the back windows usually melt.

Notwithstanding the cost of building an entire fuel infrastructure for hydrogen, the biggest problem hydrogen fuel has may end up being a public perception that it is too dangerous to handle. "People here think of the Hindenberg and Hydrogen bombs," said Tuso, "Some people think we have a hydrogen bomb back here."

We left that day not sure whether or not we'd found the car of the future. Hydrogen fuel cell powered cars will be part of the market, but they probably won't sit in everyone's garages, owning the car market the way gasoline powered cars do today. Hybrids have better range and overall performance, and they're already cheap to manufacture. Expect to see more of them in the near future. What will emerge in the long run is anybody's guess. Outside the U.S., cleaner burning cars using conventional fuels such as diesel and gasoline will probably stay on top of the market. How clean can they get? How clean is clean enough? Stay tuned.

California Fuel Cell Partnership

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916-371-2453.

Hydrogen's Dirty Secret

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News: President Bush promises that fuel-cell cars will be free of pollution. But if he has his way, the cars of tomorrow will run on hydrogen made from fossil fuels.

[pic]By Barry C. Lynn

May/June 2003 Issue

When President Bush unveiled his plans for a hydrogen-powered car in his State of the Union address in January, he proposed $1.2 billion in spending to develop a revolutionary automobile that will be "pollution-free." The new vehicle, he declared, will rely on "a simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen" to power a car "producing only water, not exhaust fumes." Within 20 years, the president vowed, fuel-cell cars will "make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of oil."

By launching an ambitious program to develop what he calls the "Freedom Car," Bush seemed determined to realize the kind of future that hydrogen-car supporters have envisioned for years. Using existing technology, hydrogen can be easily and cleanly extracted from water. Electricity generated by solar panels and wind turbines is used to split the water's hydrogen atoms from its oxygen atoms. The hydrogen is then recombined with oxygen in fuel cells, where it releases electrons that drive an electric motor in a car. What Bush didn't reveal in his nationwide address, however, is that his administration has been working quietly to ensure that the system used to produce hydrogen will be as fossil fuel-dependent -- and potentially as dirty -- as the one that fuels today's SUVs. According to the administration's National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, drafted last year in concert with the energy industry, up to 90 percent of all hydrogen will be refined from oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels -- in a process using energy generated by burning oil, coal, and natural gas. The remaining 10 percent will be cracked from water using nuclear energy.

Such a system, experts say, would effectively eliminate most of the benefits offered by hydrogen. Although the fuel-cell cars themselves may emit nothing but water vapor, the process of producing the fuel cells from hydrocarbons will continue America's dependence on fossil fuels and leave behind carbon dioxide, the primary cause of global warming.

Mike Nicklas, chair of the American Solar Energy Society, was one of 224 energy experts invited by the Department of Energy to develop the government's Roadmap last spring. The sessions, environmentalists quickly discovered, were dominated by representatives from the oil, coal, and nuclear industries. "All the emphasis was on how the process would benefit traditional energy industries," recalls Nicklas, who sat on a committee chaired by an executive from ChevronTexaco. "The whole meeting had been staged to get a particular result, which was a plan to extract hydrogen from fossil fuels and not from renewables." The plan does not call for a single ounce of hydrogen to come from power generated by the sun or the wind, concluding that such technologies "need further development for hydrogen production to be more cost competitive."

But instead of investing in developing those sources, the budget that Bush submitted to Congress pays scant attention to renewable methods of producing hydrogen. More than half of all hydrogen funding is earmarked for automakers and the energy industry. Under the president's plan, more than $22 million of hydrogen research for 2004 will be devoted to coal, nuclear power, and natural gas, compared with $17 million for renewable sources. Overall funding for renewable research and energy conservation, meanwhile, will be slashed by more than $86 million. "Cutting R&D for renewable sources and replacing them with fossil and nuclear doesn't make for a sustainable approach," says Jason Mark, director of the clean vehicles program for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The oil and chemical industries already produce 9 million tons of hydrogen each year, most of it from natural gas, and transport it through hundreds of miles of pipelines to fuel the space shuttle and to remove sulfur from petroleum refineries. The administration's plan lays the groundwork to expand that infrastructure -- guaranteeing that oil and gas companies will profit from any transition to hydrogen. Lauren Segal, general manager of hydrogen development for BP, puts it succinctly: "We view hydrogen as a way to really grow our natural-gas business."

To protect its fuel franchise, the energy industry has moved swiftly in recent years to shape government policy toward hydrogen. In 1999, oil companies and automakers began attending the meetings of an obscure group called the National Hydrogen Association. Founded in 1989 by scientists from government labs and universities, the association was a haven for many of the small companies -- fuel-cell designers, electrolyzer makers -- that were dabbling in hydrogen power. The group promoted the use of hydrogen but was careful not to take any position on who would make the fuel or how.

All that changed once the energy industry got involved. "All of a sudden Shell joined our board, and then the interest grew very quickly," says Karen Miller, the association's vice president. "Our chair last year was from BP; this year our chair is from ChevronTexaco." The companies quickly began to use the association as a platform to lobby for more federal funding for research, and to push the government to emphasize fossil fuels in the national energy plan for hydrogen. Along with the big automakers, energy companies also formed a consortium called the International Hydrogen Infrastructure Group to monitor federal officials charged with developing fuel cells. "Basically," says Neil Rossmeissl, a hydrogen standards expert at the Department of Energy, "what they do is look over our shoulder at doe to make sure we are doing what they think is the right thing."

As hydrogen gained momentum, the oil companies rushed to buy up interests in technology companies developing ways to refine and store the new fuel. Texaco has invested $82 million in a firm called Energy Conversion Devices, and Shell now owns half of Hydrogen Source. BP, Chevron-Texaco, ExxonMobil, Ford, and General Electric have also locked up the services of many of America's top energy scientists, devoting more than $270 million to hydrogen research at MIT, Princeton, and Stanford.

Such funding will help ensure that oil and gas producers continue to profit even if automakers manage to put millions of fuel-cell cars on the road. "The major energy companies have several hundred billions of dollars, at the least, invested in their businesses, and there is a real interest in keeping and utilizing that infrastructure in the future," says Frank Ingriselli, former president of Texaco Technology Ventures. "And these companies certainly have the balance sheets and wherewithal to make it happen."

The stakes in the current battle over hydrogen are high. Devoting the bulk of federal research funding to making hydrogen from fossil fuels rather than water will enable oil and gas companies to provide lower-priced hydrogen. That, in turn, means that pipelines built to transport hydrogen will stretch to, say, a BP gas field in Canada, rather than an independent wind farm in North Dakota. Even if the rest of the world switches to hydrogen manufactured from water, says Nicklas, "Americans may end up dependent on fossil fuels for generations."

The administration's plans to manufacture hydrogen from fossil fuels could also contribute to global warming by leaving behind carbon dioxide. Oil and coal companies insist they will be able to "sequester" the carbon permanently by pumping it deep into the ocean or underground. But the doe calls such approaches "very high risk," and no one knows how much that would cost, how much other environmental disruption that might cause, or whether that would actually work. "Which path we take will have a huge effect one way or the other on the total amount of carbon pumped into the atmosphere over the next century," says James MacKenzie, a physicist with the World Resources Institute.

Even if industry manages to safely contain the carbon left behind, the Bush administration's plan to extract hydrogen from fossil fuels will wind up wasting energy. John Heywood, director of MIT's Sloan Automotive Lab, says a system that extracts hydrogen from oil and natural gas and stores it in fuel cells would actually be no more energy efficient than America's present gasoline- based system.

"If the hydrogen does not come from renewable sources," Heywood says, "then it is simply not worth doing, environmentally or economically."

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Although they are not expected to reach the mass market before 2010, fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) may someday revolutionize on-road transportation.

This emerging technology has the potential to significantly reduce energy use and harmful emissions, as well as our dependence on foreign oil. FCVs will have other benefits as well.

A Radical Departure

FCVs represent a radical departure from vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines. Like battery-electric vehicles, FCVs are propelled by electric motors. But while battery electric vehicles use electricity from an external source (and store it in a battery), FCVs create their own electricity. Fuel cells onboard the vehicle create electricity through a chemical process using hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air.

FCVs can be fueled with pure hydrogen gas stored onboard in high-pressure tanks. They also can be fueled with hydrogen-rich fuels; such as methanol, natural gas, or even gasoline; but these fuels must first be converted into hydrogen gas by an onboard device called a "reformer."

FCVs fueled with pure hydrogen emit no pollutants; only water and heat; while those using hydrogen-rich fuels and a reformer produce only small amounts of air pollutants. In addition, FCVs can be twice as efficient as similarly sized conventional vehicles and may also incorporate other advanced technologies to increase efficiency.

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Meeting Challenges Together

Before FCVs make it to your local auto dealer, significant research and development is required to reduce cost and improve performance. We must also find effective and efficient ways to produce and store hydrogen and other fuels.

Automakers, fuel cell developers, component suppliers, government agencies, and others are working hard to accelerate the introduction of FCVs. Partnerships such as the DOE-led FreedomCAR initiative and the California Fuel Cell Partnership have been formed to encourage private companies and government agencies to work together to move these vehicles toward commercialization.

FreedomCAR

FreedomCAR is a new cooperative research effort between the DOE and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler) formed to promote research into advanced automotive technologies, such as FCVs, that may dramatically reduce oil consumption and environmental impacts. FreedomCAR's goal is the development of cars and trucks that are:

• Cheaper to operate

• Pollution-free

• Competitively priced

• Free from imported oil

California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP)

The California Fuel Cell Partnership is a collaboration of auto companies, fuel providers, fuel cell technology companies, and government agencies demonstrating fuel cell electric vehicles in California under day-to-day driving conditions. The goals of the partnership are to test and demonstrate the viability of FCVs and related technology under real-world conditions, move them toward commercialization, and increase public awareness. The Partnership expects to place about 60 FCVs and fuel cell buses on the road by 2003.

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