Facts of the Matter
Facts of the Matter
Fuel cell technology
is still on horizonThe question of whether the chicken or the egg came first has been a common brain teaser, perhaps since the beginnings of mankind. The same quandary, albeit it in a different form, applies to the development of new technologies from the germs of ideas and the science behind them. In particular, there is the difficulty of introducing and popularizing new technologies in a market-driven economy when there is strong competition and a profit motive. The research and development costs associated with putting a new technology on the market is only part of the problem in delivering a product. The situation becomes much more complicated when there is a chain of support functions that must also be in place for the technology to be used.
One of the most sought-after technologies is a clean fuel to replace petroleum. Although the doomsday projections of critically short petroleum supplies made in the 1970s have proven to be exaggerated and premature, petroleum is a nonrenewable resource, and the geopolitics of petroleum have been and will continue to be a diplomatic nightmare for energy-hungry countries such as the United States. There is a strong incentive for America and other countries to become carbon free, not only for economic and political reasons, and environmental concerns.
It is not only the limited petroleum resources underlying foreign soils that are a concern, but also the exhaust products of petroleum burning, which include carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and nitrogen oxides contribute to photochemical smog and acid rain. Hybrid gas-electric cars now on the market have three times the fuel economy of traditional gas-only cars, but efficient as they are, they still burn gasoline with all of the attendant pollution problems.
The ideal fuel would be one that is both abundant and clean. Such a fuel exists in the form of hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements on earth. Plentiful as a component of water, hydrogen can be combined with oxygen to produce energy and water. Fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity are routinely used in spacecraft to produce clean energy. And there is the hope that the technology can be adapted to automobiles and other purposes.
The products of the fuel cell are electricity and water. There is no carbon dioxide and no nitrogen oxides. In a fuel cell, electrons are stripped from hydrogen atoms and become part of an electric circuit that can power electric motors or other electrical equipment. The resulting hydrogen ions are combined with oxygen from the air to form water, the only other product of the fuel cell.
So why isn't there a huge effort to bring this technology to consumers? Hydrogen is a lightweight and explosive gas that requires a unique system of production, transportation and storage. Like propane and other carbon-based gases, it must be stored under pressure. At present there is no distribution and storage system in place.
That's where the chicken and egg problem comes into play. No one will buy a hydrogen-powered car unless there are 'hydrogen stations' to refuel it. No one will produce automobiles powered by a hydrogen fuel cell unless there are buyers, and no one will build distribution and storage systems for hydrogen fuel if there are no customers. Without the egg there will be no chicken, and without the chicken there can be no egg.
Even so, there is plenty of interest and R&D in both the government and the private sectors. If approved by Congress, the U.S. Energy Department's Hydrogen Program funding will increase by more than a third to $39.9 million in fiscal year 2003, according to the Bush administration's budget request released Feb. 4. British Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser has called for a complete ban on selling gasoline or diesel-powered cars. He refused to pinpoint any date when such a ban should come into effect, but said "green" cars would soon be widely available, adding that major car and oil companies such as Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Shell and BP already have an "impressive" joint project to test various hydrogen-fueled cars in the United States.
A solar-powered hydrogen production and fueling station in the Los Angeles area was opened by American Honda Motor Co. in July of 2001. It is the first station by any automaker that uses solar power as primary energy source to extract hydrogen from water via electrolysis. The experimental station, rated at 8 kilowatts, produces enough hydrogen to fuel one car at present but could be expanded by using electricity from the grid.
There is one other experimental solar-powered hydrogen production facility currently operating in North America, designed and installed by the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University. There were at least three other such facilities, two in the United States and one in Germany, but all have been shut down.
Toyota, poised to be the first to offer a pure-hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to a limited public in 2003, is developing a lineup of fuel cell vehicles to meet multiple driving conditions and needs. Toyota, along with development partner General Motors, unveiled its new fifth-generation experimental vehicle in its fuel cell hybrid series at the 35th Tokyo Motor Show last fall. Their new vehicle will extract hydrogen from a still to be developed "clean hydrocarbon" fuel.
We could all be a little smarter, no? Richard Brill picks up
where your high school science teacher left off. He is a professor of science
at Honolulu Community College, where he teaches earth and physical
science and investigates life and the universe.
He can be contacted by e-mail at rickb@hcc.hawaii.edu