The Truth About Hydrogen

Wild promises abound, but can the simplest element in the

universe really power our homes, fuel our cars and reduce
our contribution to global warming? PM crunches the
numbers on the real hydrogen economy.

WHEN ASSESSING THE State of the Union in 2003, President Bush declared it was time to
take a crucial step toward protecting our environment. He announced a $1.2 billion initiative to
begin developing a national hydrogen infrastructure: a coast-to-coast network of facilities that
would produce and distribute the hydrogen for powering hundreds of millions of fuel cell
vehicles. Backed by a national commitment, he said, "our scientists and engineers will overcome
obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child
born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free." With two years to go on the first,
$720 million phase of the plan, PM asks that perennial question of every automotive journey:
Are we almost there?

And the inevitable answer from the front seat: No. Promises of a thriving hydrogen economy
one that supports not only cars and trucks, but cellphones, computers, homes and whole
neighborhoods date back long before this presidency, and the road to fulfilling them stretches
far beyond its horizon.

The Department of Energy projects the nation's consumption of fossil fuels will continue to rise
increasing 34 percent by 2030. When burned, these carbon-based fuels release millions of
tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where the gas traps heat and is believed to contribute
to global warming.

At first glance, hydrogen would seem an ideal substitute for these problematic fuels. Pound for
pound, hydrogen contains almost three times as much energy as natural gas, and when consumed
its only emission is pure, plain water. But unlike oil and gas, hydrogen is not a fuel. It is a way of
storing or transporting energy. You have to make it before you can use it generally by
extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels, or by using electricity to split it from water.

And while oil and gas are easy to transport in pipelines and fuel tanks they pack a lot of
energy into a dense, stable form hydrogen presents a host of technical and economic
challenges. The lightest gas in the universe isn't easy to corral. Skeptics say that hydrogen
promises to be a needlessly expensive solution for applications for which simpler, cheaper and
cleaner alternatives already exist. "You have to step back and ask, 'What is the point?'" says
Joseph Romm, executive director of the Center for Energy & Climate Solutions.

Though advocates promote hydrogen as a panacea for energy needs ranging from consumer
electronics to home power, its real impact will likely occur on the nation's highways. After all,
transportation represents two-thirds of U.S. oil consumption. "We're working on biofuels,
ethanol, biodiesel and other technologies," says David Garmin, assistant secretary of energy, "but
it's only hydrogen, ultimately, over the long term, that can delink light-duty transportation from
petroleum entirely."

The Big Three U.S. automakers, as well as Toyota, Honda, BMW and Nissan, have all been
preparing for that day. Fuel cell vehicles can now travel 300 miles on 17.6 pounds of hydrogen
and achieve speeds of up to 132 mph. But without critical infrastructure, there will be no
hydrogen economy. And the practical employment of hydrogen power involves major hurdles at
every step production, storage, distribution and use. Here's how those challenges stack up.

HURDLE 1: Production
The United States already uses some 10 million tons of hydrogen each year for industrial
purposes, such as making fertilizer and refining petroleum. If hydrogen-powered vehicles are to
become the norm, we'll need at least 10 times more. The challenge will be to produce it in an
efficient and environmentally friendly way.

FOSSIL FUELS: At present, 95 percent of America's hydrogen is produced from natural gas.
Through a process called steam methane reformation, high temperature and pressure break the
hydrocarbon into hydrogen and carbon oxides including carbon dioxide, which is released
into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Over the next 10 or 20 years, fossil fuels most likely
will continue to be the main feedstock for the hydrogen economy. And there's the rub: Using
dirty energy to make clean energy doesn't solve the pollution problem-it just moves it around.
"As a CO2 reducer, hydrogen stinks," Romm says.

Capturing that carbon dioxide and trapping it underground would make the process more
environmentally friendly. In July, General Electric and BP Amoco PLC announced plans to
develop as many as 15 power plants over the next 10 years that will strip hydrogen from natural
gas to generate electricity; the waste carbon dioxide will be pumped into depleted oil and gas
fields. And the Department of Energy is largely funding a 10-year, $950 million project to build
a coal-fed plant that will produce hydrogen to make electricity, and likewise lock away carbon
dioxide to achieve what it bills as "the world's first zero-emissions fossil fuel plant."

Whether carbon dioxide will remain underground in large-scale operations remains to be seen. In
addition, natural gas is a limited resource; the cost of hydrogen would be subject to its price
fluctuations.

ELECTROLYSIS: Most of the remainder of today's hydrogen is made by electrically splitting

water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. This year, a PM Breakthrough Award
went to GE's Richard Bourgeois for designing an electrolyzer that could drastically reduce the
cost of that process. But because fossil fuels generate more than 70 percent of the nation's
electrical power, hydrogen produced from the grid would still be a significant source of
greenhouse gas. If solar, wind or other renewable resources generate the electricity, hydrogen
could be produced without any carbon emissions at all.

NUCLEAR POWER: Next-generation nuclear power plants will reach temperatures high
enough to produce hydrogen as well as electricity, either by adding steam and heat to the
electrolysis process, or by adding heat to a series of chemical reactions that split the hydrogen
from water. Though promising in the lab, this technology won't be proved until the first
Generation IV plants come on line around 2020.

PURE ENERGY: An employee at the Ballard plant in Vancouver, British Columbia, seals the critical component of fuel cells, which convert
hydrogen into electric power.
HYDROGEN IS THE universe's simplest atom: a single electron orbiting a single proton. In a
fuel cell, incoming hydrogen gas is separated by a catalyst at the anode into protons and
electrons. The protons pass directly through a proton exchange membrane (PEM), while
electrons are forced through an external circuit, causing electric current to flow. When the
protons and electrons meet at the cathode, they join with oxygen to form water and heat, which
are released as exhaust.

A single fuel cell produces just over 1 volt, so hundreds are stacked together for typical
applications. PEM fuel cells, used in NASA's Gemini flights in the 1960s, are the design of
choice for fuel cell cars, but other configurations are suited for applications ranging from laptops
to power plants.

Electrolysis is the exact opposite process. Electricity from a power supply splits incoming water
into protons, electrons and oxygen, which is released as a gas. Electrons reunite with protons at
the cathode to produce hydrogen gas.

Other electrolysis designs being developed use solid-oxide membranes instead of PEMs, which
improve efficiency but require operating temperatures of 900 to 1500 F heat that could be
supplied by nuclear reactors.

HURDLE 2: Storage
At room temperature and pressure, hydrogen's density is so low that it contains less than one-
three-hundredth the energy in an equivalent volume of gasoline. In order to fit into a reasonably
sized storage tank, hydrogen has to be somehow squeezed into a denser form.
LIQUEFACTION: Chilled to near absolute zero, hydrogen gas turns into a liquid containing
one-quarter the energy in an equivalent volume of gasoline. The technology is well-proven: For
decades, NASA has used liquid hydrogen to power vehicles such as the space shuttle. The
cooling process requires a lot of energy, though-roughly a third of the amount held in the
hydrogen. Storage tanks are bulky, heavy and expensive.

COMPRESSION: Some hydrogen-powered vehicles use tanks of room-temperature hydrogen

compressed to an astounding 10,000 psi. The Sequel, which GM unveiled in January 2005,
carries 8 kilograms of compressed hydrogen this way-enough to power the vehicle for 300 miles.
Refueling with compressed hydrogen is relatively fast and simple. But even compressed,
hydrogen requires large- volume tanks. They take up four to five times as much space as a gas
tank with an equivalent mileage range. Then again, fuel cell cars can accommodate bigger tanks
because they contain fewer mechanical parts.

SOLID-STATE: Certain compounds can trap hydrogen molecules at room temperature and
pressure, then release them upon demand. So far, the most promising research has been
conducted with a class of materials called metal hydrides. These materials are stable, but heavy:
A 700-pound tank might hold a few hours' fuel. However, exotic compounds now being studied
could provide a breakthrough to make hydrogen storage truly practical. "High-pressure tanks are
a stopgap until we can develop materials that will allow us to do solid-state storage efficiently,"
says Dan O'Connell, a director of GM's hydrogen vehicle program.

HURDLE 3: Distribution
Even in portable form, hydrogen is a tough substance to move from place to place. It can
embrittle steel and other metals, weakening them to the point of fracture.

TRUCKING AND RAIL: Currently, most hydrogen is

transported either in liquid form by tankers or as compressed
gas in cylinders by trailers. Both methods are inefficient.
Trucking compressed hydrogen 150 miles, for instance, burns
diesel equivalent to 11 percent of the energy the hydrogen
stores. It also requires a lot of round trips: A 44-ton vehicle that
can carry enough gasoline to refuel 800 cars could only carry
enough hydrogen to fuel 80 vehicles.

PIPELINES: One way to avoid this endless back-and-forth

would be to send the hydrogen through a pipeline. About 700
CLEAN FUEL: This fueling station in miles of hydrogen pipelines now operate in the States, generally
Burlington, Vt., uses electricity to convert
water into hydrogen for powering fuel cell
near large users such as oil refineries. The longest in the world
cars. It is part of a Department of Energy is a 250-mile line between Belgium and France. Treating
program for testing alternative fuels in colder
climates.
pipelines to protect them from embrittlement and high pressure
makes them expensive up front-about $1 million per mile. But
once built, they are the cheapest way to deliver high volumes of hydrogen.

LOCAL PRODUCTION: Given the difficulty of transporting hydrogen, why not just make it
where you need it? That's what's done at roughly half the 36 hydrogen fueling stations currently
operating in the U.S. Four rely on natural gas; the rest use electrolysis. In 2003, Honda
introduced a Home Energy Station that performs steam reformation right in the owner's garage-
but because natural gas is the feedstock, it still releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

A greenhouse gas-free approach would use on-site wind or solar power to produce hydrogen
through electrolysis. Honda also designed a solar-powered hydrogen refueling station, which has
been operating at the company's California lab since 2001. If the national power supply becomes
more eco-friendly, clean electrolysis could run off the grid.

ON-BOARD PRODUCTION: Several prototype vehicles make their own hydrogen from
stored hydrocarbons, eliminating the question of distribution altogether. The DaimlerChrysler
NECAR 3, for example, produces hydrogen from methanol. Researchers are also experimenting
with more futuristic on-board production technologies, which combine ordinary water with
reagents like boron or aluminum to produce hydrogen, oxygen and a metal oxide residue. These,
however, are still a long way off.

HURDLE 4: Use
Once hydrogen reaches consumers, is there anything they can do with it except drive vehicles?
Home energy generation is one other option. The question is whether hydrogen would be more
practical than current methods. Hydrogen produced by steam reformation or by electrolysis loses
energy when it is converted into electricity. The resulting efficiency is roughly equal to that of
today's power plants which pay a lot less for raw materials. Direct generation of electricity
through wind and solar power will also be more efficient for most stationary applications. That
leaves transportation as the most promising use for hydrogen.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION: The most straight-forward approach is to burn hydrogen in an

adapted model of your garden-variety internal-combustion engine (ICE). Since little
modification is required, these engines are relatively cheap, and 25 percent more efficient than
gasoline-powered engines. BMW built its first hydrogen ICE back in the 1970s, and the concept
still has legs: Ford began production of a hydrogen ICE shuttle bus last July.
 FUEL CELL: First invented in 1839, a fuel cell combines
hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity without any
moving parts. Several different varieties exist, but only the
proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is lightweight and
responsive enough to be practical for vehicle use. Though twice
as efficient as ICEs, PEM fuel cells are hindered by high prices
even in mass production, they would currently cost about
$36,000 each.

Once the technical hurdles are crossed, hydrogen's huge price

tag may still make the technology prohibitive. A recent analysis
by the Department of Energy projected that a supply network
adequate for even 40 percent of the light-duty fleet could cost
more than $500 billion. And that leads to a classic chicken-and-
egg problem: How do you get millions of Americans to buy
hydrogen-powered vehicles before there's an infrastructure in
GREEN BEER: The four 250-kilowatt place to refuel them? And how do you get energy companies to
hydrogen fuel cells at the Sierra Nevada build that infrastructure before there's a potential customer
Brewery in Chico, Calif., run on a combination
of natural gas and methane. They generate base?
enough electricity to power the entire
production plant.
"Companies are not willing to invest if they don't think there's
going to be a market," says Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at
UC Davis. "The government has to be behind it. There has to be leadership."

There's reason to hope the technology will advance even without much government involvement.
Hydrogen fuel cells already replace batteries in niche equipment, such as TV cameras and
forklifts, and provide power at remote locations, such as at cellphone towers. They even power
the police station in New York's Central Park. As these applications continue to develop, they
will force advances in technology that will make hydrogen vehicles more feasible. Even then,
hydrogen might make the most sense for fleet vehicles that don't require widespread
infrastructure for service and refueling.

Ultimately, hydrogen may be just one part of a whole suite of energy alternatives. Any one of
them will involve investing heavily in new infrastructure. Though the price tag will be steep, we
can't afford oil's environmental, economic and political drawbacks any longer.

Where Will the Hydrogen Come From?

President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative calls for replacing fossil fuels used in passenger cars
by 2040. This would require 150 million tons of hydrogen anually. Here's what it would take to
reach that goal with any one technology.
NATURAL NUCLEAR SOLAR WIND BIOMASS COAL
GAS

Gas Very High Photovolt Turbines Gasificati FutureGen

station- Temperature aic producin on plants plants
size Reactors systems g using using coal
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using heat for electricity y for reformati then steam
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reformatio or for electrolysi is, n
n thermochemi s with assuming
cal cycles 10% they
efficiency operate at
30%
capacity

RAW 15.9 million 240,000 2500 7 1.5 billion 1 billion

MATERIALS cu. ft. of tons of kilowatt- meters per tons of dry tons of coal
REQUIRED natural unenriched hours of second biomass which
gas uranium, five sun per average (initially would
only a times today's square wind byproduct require
fraction of global meter per speed, s such as doubling
current production year, typically peanut current
U.S. found in found in shells, U.S.
annual the many then domestic
consumpti Southwest parts of concentrat production
on ern states the ed crops)
of the Sun country
Belt

INFRASTRUCT 777,000 2000 113 million 1 million 3300 1000

URE facilities; 600- 40- 2- gasificatio 275-
though a megawatt kilowatt megawatt n plants, megawatt
more next- systems, wind and up to plants; only
likely generation covering turbines, 113.4 12 sites
scenario nuclear 50% of covering million were
would power plants; more than 5% of 120 acres or proposed
include a only 103 300 million 11% of for a DOE
mix of nuclear million acres, or U.S. demonstrat
larger power plants acres an an area farmland ion plant
central operate in the area three larger than not all
productio States today size the California dedicated met the
n plants size of to growing requiremen
Nevada the ts
biomass

TOTAL COST $1 trillion $840 billion $22 trillion $3 trillion $565 billion $500 billion

PRICE PER
GGE $3.00 $2.50 $9.50 $3.00 $1.90 $1
(Gallon of Gas
Equivalent)
CO2 600
EMISSIONS 300 million 0 0 0 600 million**
million*
measured in tons

*Zero net emissions because crops pull CO2 from the air. **90% will be captured and stored underground.

TIME FRAME There are The first Honda A 100- Governm By 2012,
four Very High built an kilowatt ent the first
fueling Temperature experimen turbine is funded FutureGen
stations Reactor in tal solar- now bio-mass demonstrati
that now the U.S. will powered being research on plant
produce be built at hydrogen built at will be should be
hydrogen Idaho refueling the transferre running at
from National station at National d to 50%
natural Laboratory in its lab in Renewabl private capacity.
gas. 2021. California e Energy industry
in 2001. Lab in in 2015.
Colorado.

Read more: Truth About Hydrogen Power - Hydrogen Energy and Fuel - Popular Mechanics

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells vs. Other Gasoline

and Electric Powered Vehicles

Hydrogen and fuel cells have been hailed as the future of automotive power. Theyll mean that
we wont depend on fossil fuels. Electric powered vehicles offer much the same thing, and like
hydrogen and fuel cells will have zero emissions. How do they compare against each other, and
will these challengers replace the traditional gasoline engine?

Emissions

Hydrogen and fuel cells emissions are zero. All that comes out of the exhaust pipe is water,
which does no harm at all to the environment. Similarly, electric vehicles produce no emissions.

Gasoline, on the other hand, is a bad pollutant. The number of cars on the roads globally
contributes heavily to global warming. As the number of vehicles increases, so does the problem.
Removing a percentage of these cars would have a significant impact. Pollution and the
dwindling stocks of fossil fuels have been major spurs for the development of alternative auto
power.
Cost

To date theres only one hydrogen fuel cell vehicle commercially available, the Honda FCX
Clarity. Very few of these are on the roads. Even those are in a single area, Southern California,
which is the only place to have hydrogen filling stations. Its only available on a 3-year lease,
costing $600 a month.

Electric cars are available, and more are coming on the market. Again, these are relatively
expensive cars, with a high capital outlay. There are very, very few charging stations, even if
authorities keep planning a network of them. Both hydrogen and electric vehicles are very cheap
to run, much cheaper than gasoline or diesel. Theyre very limited by range, however. Even the
Clarity only has a range of about 250 miles, meaning its not effective for long trips.

Electric cars have an even smaller range, making them urban vehicles. Over time, the cost of
operating hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles is small, much lower than for
gasoline. The initial cost of gas vehicles is a great deal lower, although the price of gas increases
that cost over the life of the vehicle.

Mileage

Hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles promise excellent mileage. The only current example, the
Clarity, gives 60 miles per kilogram of hydrogen under all conditions, which is excellent
hydrogen mpg. With electric vehicles, much will depend on the size of the battery.

Hybrid vehicles do cut emissions, and offer vastly improved mileage over other gas vehicles, in
the region of 45 miles to 50 miles per gallon. Gas vehicles are improving their mileage,
especially among sub compacts, but they still have a great deal of pollution.

Noise

With virtually all gasoline vehicles, except perhaps the Rolls Royce, noise is a factor. The engine
is quite loud. This isnt a problem with hydrogen and fuel cells vehicles, nor with electric
vehicles. Neither of those have the same moving parts. As the design of the engine is so radically
different, the noise is removed. Although noise levels can be cut down in gas vehicles, they can
never be completely eliminated. Some people, like those driving muscle cars, actually thrive on
the noise.

Hydrogen Fuel Cost vs. Diesel and Gasoline

Fuels
Hydrogen fuel cost when compared to gasoline or diesel may make it prohibitive in the near
future as a sustainable fuel source. The big problem with hydrogen is the process that is needed
to turn it into fuel. Platinum is the best metal that is used in the electrolysis process to create
hydrogen fuel, and that is one of the most expensive metals out there. Hydrogen is measured in
miles per kilogram. One kilogram of hydrogen is pretty much the same as one gallon of gasoline,
making for an easy comparison. The price of hydrogen is about $3.00 per gallon, and is only
available in limited areas in California and New York. No other states have hydrogen fueling
stations. The problem with hydrogen engines is that they don't have much power, which is due to
hydrogen being a simple element. The power in hydrogen is nowhere near that of gasoline, and
because of this, you cannot go as far on a full tank of hydrogen. So when compared to gasoline
or diesel, which are nearly the same price, they become the more obvious choices. FCV, or fuel
cell vehicles where hydrogen is used, are also very expensive cars, so the whole cost of hydrogen
goes to a new level when you factor in the price of the car. As research progresses, the cost of
hydrogen should decrease as the technologies improve to produce it. For now though, it makes
sense to stick with gasoline or diesel for your fuel needs.

Basics of fuel cell

Fuel cells run on hydrogen, the simplest element and most plentiful
gas in the universe. Hydrogen is colorless, odorless and tasteless.
Each hydrogen molecule has two atoms of hydrogen, which
accounts for the H 2 we often see. Hydrogen is the lightest element,
with a density of 0.08988 grams per liter at standard pressure, yet it
has the highest energy content per unit weight of all the fuels
52,000 Btu/lb, or three times the energy of a pound of gasoline. To keep abreast of the
latest advancements and
Hydrogen is never found alone on earth it is always combined demonstrations in
with other elements such as oxygen and carbon. Hydrogen can be hydrogen and related
extracted from virtually any hydrogen compound and is the fuels, enter your email
ultimate clean energy carrier. It is safe to manufacture. And and subscribe to Fuel
hydrogen's chemical energy can be harnessed in pollution-free Cells 2000's free
ways. monthly Fuel Cell
Technology Update.
Hydrogen generated from diverse domestic resources can reduce
demand for oil by more than 11 million barrels per day by the year
2040.

A good source of information on hydrogen is the U.S. Department

of Energy's H2IQ web page, as well as the overview book,
Hydrogen & Our Energy Future, which expands on DOE's series of
one-page fact sheets to provide an in-depth look at hydrogen and
fuel cell technologies. This overview book provides additional
information on the science behind the technology how it works,
benefits over conventional technology, its status, and challenges
and explains how hydrogen and fuel cells fit into our energy
portfolio.

Together with partners, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

developed a National Hydrogen Energy Road Map to provide a
framework to make the hydrogen economy a reality. This Road
Map outlines the challenges ahead to developing a hydrogen
economy - including the necessary elements of a hydrogen
infrastructure for not only on transportation uses but also
distributed generation, since development of a hydrogen
infrastructure would benefit both applications.

The National Hydrogen Energy Road Map and other pertinent

documents are available on the DOE's Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, &
Infrastructure Technologies Program website.

Safety

Hydrogen is the perfect companion to electrons in the clean energy

systems of the future. But hydrogen is not perfect no fuel is.

Because of its high energy content, hydrogen must be handled

properly, just as gasoline and natural gas today require careful
handling. Hydrogen is no more dangerous than other fuels, just
different.

Hydrogen-based fuels like town gas were used in many

communities in the U.S. and are still used around the world.

Hydrogen is made, shipped and used safely today in many

industries worldwide. Hydrogen producers and users have
generated an impeccable safety record over the last half-century.

Liquid hydrogen trucks have carried on the nation's roadways an

average 70 million gallons of liquid hydrogen per year without
major incident.

Hydrogen has been handled and sent through hundreds of miles of

pipelines with relative safety for the oil, chemical, and iron
industries.

Hydrogen and the Law: Safety and Liability - a powerpoint

presentation with lots of statistics and information on hydrogen
safety.

Hydrogen Safety for First Responders - DOE's Introduction to

Hydrogen Safety for First Responders is a Web-based course that
provides an "awareness level" overview of hydrogen for fire, law
enforcement, and emergency medical personnel, but also contains a
lot of useful information for everyone. This multimedia tutorial
introduces hydrogen, its basic properties, and how it compares to
other familiar fuels; hydrogen use in fuel cells for transportation
and stationary power; potential hazards; initial protective actions
should a responder witness an incident; and supplemental resources
including videos, supporting documents, and links relevant to
hydrogen safety. To receive print or CD versions of the course,
contact DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Information Center or call 1-877-EERE-INFO/877-337-3463.

Fuel Flexibility means Energy Security. Hydrogen can be

produced from a variety of sources:

Traditional: natural gas, gasoline, diesel, propane

Renewable/alternative fuels: methanol, ethanol, landfill
gas, bio-gas, methane
Water: using electrolysis, solar or wind power
Innovative: sodium borohydride, algae, peanut shells

Storage

Because hydrogen is such a light gas, it is difficult to store a large

amount in a small space. That is a challenge for auto engineers who
want to match today's 300-mile vehicle range, but some recent
vehicles have done it. Researchers are examining an impressive
array of storage options, with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
support. Today's prototype FCVs use compressed hydrogen tanks
or liquid hydrogen tanks. New technologies such as metal hydrides
and chemical hydrides may become viable in the future. Another
option would be to store hydrogen compounds methanol,
gasoline, or other compounds on board, and extract the hydrogen
when the vehicle is operating.

Delivery

Since fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity, the main question
on everybody's mind is Where and how am I going to get the
hydrogen to fuel up my fuel cell car? If auto engineers choose to
store hydrogen compounds on board the vehicle, tomorrow's fuel
infrastructure would look a lot like today's. Many other options are
being explored to deliver hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).

Centralized production and delivery. Hydrogen production

and delivery services including a limited pipeline system
 already serve the needs of today's industrial demand.
On-Site Production. The energy station of the future might
produce hydrogen on demand from natural gas, other
compounds or even water.
Innovative Approaches. Fuel cell products that generate
electrical power sometimes come with hydrogen generators
called Reformers. An energy station might purchase one of
these units, use the electricity for operations and tap into the
reformer to produce hydrogen for vehicles.
Power from the sun. The ultimate solution might be solar
powered hydrogen filling stations, where electricity
generated by the sun (or by a windmill) is used to extract
hydrogen from water. This is not as far out as it sounds.
Two such stations already are operating in Southern
California.

Check out our chart of hydrogen fueling stations in the US and the
rest of the world.

How much will Hydrogen fuel cost?

The U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen, Fuel Cells &

Infrastructure Technologies Program is working to achieve the
following goals:

By 2005, the technology will be available to produce hydrogen at

the pump for $3.00 per gallon gasoline equivalent, and DOE wants
to validate this technology by 2008. By 2010, the price goal is
$1.50 per gallon of gasoline equivalent (untaxed) at the station.

Even $3 a gallon would save most of us money, since FCVs will be

two to three times more efficient than internal combustion engine
(ICE) vehicles. If all the goals are met, FCVs offer the promise of
energy at $1 a gallon - or less!

British scientists 'invent artificial petrol' that

could cost just 90p per GALLON (and there's
no carbon)
 Hydrogen-based fuel produces no greenhouse gases so could
help nations slash their carbon footprint
It is due to be available at the pumps in three to five years

Petrol price relief? Stephen Voller, chief executive of Cella Energy said he is confident the new
fuel will work in existing cars

Artificial petrol that costs 19p per litre could be on forecourts in as little as three
years.

British scientists are refining the recipe for a hydrogen-based fuel that will run
in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of conventional petrol.

With hydrogen at its heart rather than carbon, it will not produce any harmful
emissions when burnt, making it better for the environment, as well as easier on
the wallet.

The first road tests are due next year and, if all goes well, the cut-price petrol
could be on sale in three to five years.
Professor Stephen Bennington, the projects lead scientist, said: In some
senses, hydrogen is the perfect fuel. It has three times more energy than petrol
per unit of weight, and when it burns, it produces nothing but water.

Our new hydrogen storage materials offer real potential for running cars, planes
and other vehicles that currently use hydrocarbons.

The fuel is expected to cost around $1.50 a gallon, or 19p a litre. Even with fuel
taxes, the forecourt price is likely to be around 60p a litre less than half the
current cost.

That would bring the price of filling a 70-litre Ford Mondeo down to around
42.

Energy from hydrogen can be harnessed by burning the gas or combining it with
oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity.

But current methods of storing hydrogen are expensive and not very safe.

How it works: Cella Energy is optimistic that drivers will not need to modify their cars in order
to use the fuel
To get round this, scientists from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near
Oxford, University College London and Oxford University have found a way of
densely packing hydrogen into tiny beads that can be poured or pumped like a
liquid.

More...

1p levy on petrol could be scrapped: Cash-strapped drivers promised Budget relief

Three million drivers who use their car for work hit by 2,000-a-year bill

Stephen Volker, of Cellar Energy, which is developing the technology, told

Gizmag: We have developed micro-beads that can be used in an existing
gasoline or petrol vehicle to replace oil-based fuels.

Green energy: A hydrogen fuel bus in London. Unlike existing 'green' fuels the new fuel under
development will not require motorists to upgrade their vehicles
'Early indications are that the micro-beads can be used in existing vehicles
without engine modification. The materials are hydrogen-based, and so when
used produce no carbon emissions at the point of use, in a similar way to electric
vehicles.

A tankful of the artificial petrol, which has yet to be given a brand name, is
expected to last 300 to 400 miles, in line with conventional fuel.

But AA president Edmund King warned: The fact the hydrogen is cheaper now
doesnt mean it always will be because the Government would soon get its
hands on it and increase the tax.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1351341/Relief-pumps-Revolutionary-

hydrogen-fuel-cost-just-90p-GALLON-run-existing-cars.html#ixzz1nbbIvjpK

Advantages of the hydrogen economy

In the previous section we saw the significant, worldwide problems created by fossil fuels. The
hydrogen economy promises to eliminate all of the problems that the fossil fuel economy creates.
Therefore, the advantages of the hydrogen economy include:

1. The elimination of pollution caused by fossil fuels - When hydrogen is used in a fuel
cell to create power, it is a completely clean technology. The only byproduct is water.
There are also no environmental dangers like oil spills to worry about with hydrogen.
2. The elimination of greenhouse gases - If the hydrogen comes from the electrolysis of
water, then hydrogen adds no greenhouse gases to the environment. There is a perfect
cycle -- electrolysis produces hydrogen from water, and the hydrogen recombines with
oxygen to create water and power in a fuel cell.
3. The elimination of economic dependence - The elimination of oil means no dependence
on the Middle East and its oil reserves.
4. Distributed production - Hydrogen can be produced anywhere that you have electricity
and water. People can even produce it in their homes with relatively simple technology.

The problems with the fossil fuel economy are so great, and the environmental advantages of the
hydrogen economy so significant, that the push toward the hydrogen economy is very strong

Technological Hurdles
The big question with the hydrogen economy is, "Where does the hydrogen come from?" After
that comes the question of transporting, distributing and storing hydrogen. Hydrogen tends to be
bulky and tricky in its natural gaseous form.
Once both of these questions are answered in an economical way, the hydrogen economy will be
in place.

We'll look at each of these questions separately in the following sections.

Hydrogen's Dirty Secret

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.

By Barry C. Lynn

| May/June 2003 Issue

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Image: John Hersey

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."
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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."
Net Calorific Value of Fossil Fuel and Battery
Governments are exploring ways to reduce the dependency on fossil fuel and to lower emissions.
They do this by promoting the electric car. This is done in good faith, but looking at Figure 5 we
may be facing an impossible task. Many readers will agree that the success of personal
transportation was only made possible with the abundance of oil at very low price in terms of net
calorific value. The notion of driving a large vehicle for long distances may not be transferable
with battery propulsion, even with government subsidies. Todays batteries are weak contenders
against petroleum, and the chart below demonstrates this. Li-ion, the battery choice for the
electric vehicle, is hardly visible; the 90 percent efficiency of the electric motor does not make
up for the low net calorific value.
Figure 5: Net calorific values of fuels with conversion efficiencies. The net calorific values of
diesel and gasoline surpass hydrogen and Li-ion. The conversion efficiency refers to thermal
output and does not include friction and drag.

* CNG (compressed natural gas) is 250 bars (3,625psi)

** Hydrogen is at 350 bar (5,000psi)

Hydrogen is also being dwarfed by petroleum. The slightly better efficiency of the PEM fuel cell
in energy conversion compared to the IC engine has only a marginal benefit. In addition,
hydrogen cannot be pumped from the earth as oil and needs energy to generate. Hydrogen can be
seen as portable energy storage that needsenergyto produce, similar to charging a battery.

Let us conserve liquid fossil fuel because alternative energies will be more expensive. Daimlers
CEO, Dieter Zetsche, knows this and stressed at a 2010 meeting in Stuttgart, Germany, that
major research and developments are needed now because, in the long run theres no alternative
to the electric vehicle. EV makers know that the investment is speculative and that the return
will be moderate for some time to come. The success of the electric vehicle will ultimately lie on
the battery. Performance, longevity and price will be the deciding factors.

Does Hydrogen Fuel Pose Environmental Problems?

Posted: October 20, 2003

In his State of the Union speech in January 2003, President Bush laid out his hopes for the future of
hydrogen fuel cell cars.
"With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these
cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by
hydrogen, and pollution-free."

The administration pledged $1.7 billion for hydrogen research and development (R&D) over the next five
years to make fuel cell cars a reality. With government funding secured, the race is on to overcome the
obstacles involved in making hydrogen a viable energy source.

Hydrogen fuel supporters cite its significant environmental benefits:

unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen can be pollution-free and infinitely
renewable through wind, solar and hydropower sources.

Skeptics argue that the fuel source does have its environmental
drawbacks, and are concerned about the Bush administration's plan
to extract hydrogen. Instead of generating hydrogen from water and
sunlight, the 2002 National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap requires that
up to 90 percent of all hydrogen be refined from non-renewable
resources, oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels.

Once the hydrogen is in a fuel cell car, only water vapor and heat will be expelled from the tailpipe, but
the process of burning fossil fuels to obtain the hydrogen will release carbon dioxide, the primary cause of
global warming.

Some scientists say that if hydrogen is only extracted from fossil fuels, the environmental impact of the
carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels will outweigh the environmental benefits of a
clean-burning energy provider.

According to John Heywood, director of MIT's Sloan Automotive Lab, "If the hydrogen does not come
from renewable sources, then it is simply not worth doing, environmentally or economically."

President Bush's 2004 budget asks for more than $22 million for hydrogen research and development to
be devoted to coal, nuclear power and natural gas, and $17 million for renewable sources.

"Cutting R&D for renewable sources and replacing them with fossil and nuclear doesn't make for a
sustainable approach," said Jason Mark, director of the clean vehicles program for the Union of
Concerned Scientists.

A recent study warns of the danger of releasing hydrogen itself into the atmosphere. Los Alamos
researcher Thom Rahn led a team of scientists from California universities and the National Center for
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. Their study of the natural cycle of atmospheric hydrogen was
recently published in the British science journal Nature, and finds that substantially increased hydrogen
production has the potential to damage the upper atmosphere.

Escaped hydrogen could build up, depleting the ozone layer near the North and South poles and
triggering an increase in global warming. The study also warns that hydrogen may further contribute to
global warming by aiding other chemicals in producing increased amounts of water vapor in the upper
atmosphere.

"It is impossible to manufacture, store and transport hydrogen without at least some fractional loss (to the
atmosphere)," Rahn said.

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology estimate that leaked hydrogen in a hydrogen
economy could cause as much as a 10 percent decrease in the stratospheric zone. If hydrogen replaces
fossil fuels as the world's main energy source, the researchers believe that each year 60 trillion to 120
trillion grams of hydrogen could be released into the atmosphere. This is four to eight times the amount
that is currently released.

The impact of increased hydrogen production depends on how well the earth adapts to the change. John
Eiler, assistant professor of geochemistry at CalTech, said, "This man-made hydrogen will either be
absorbed in the soil -- a process that is still poorly understood but likely free of environmental
consequences -- or will react with other compounds in the atmosphere. Determining which of these two
processes dominates should be a solvable problem."

Tracey Tromp, another CalTech researcher, contends that early recognition of problems will mitigate
hydrogen fuel's environmental flaws.

"If hydrogen emissions present an environmental hazard, then recognizing that hazard now can help
guide investments in technologies to favor designs that minimize leakage," Tromp said.

The CalTech researchers, like other scientists looking at the environmental impact of increased hydrogen
production, believe that the sooner such problems are identified, the easier it will be to find solutions to
make a hydrogen economy truly feasible.