A Mazda RX-8 sat prominently in the middle of the showroom at Showcase Mazda in Phoenix. It looked like the one pictured on the Autoblog Web site with the title, “Hydrogen powered RX-8 has effective range of 390 miles.”
“The rotary engine takes really well to hydrogen power,” said Nathan C. Thornley, fleet sales manager at the dealership. “You just flip a switch to change from gasoline to hydrogen fuel.”
“But, this car is not ever going to be manufactured,” said Thornley, pointing to the Web site photo.
Hydrogen power sounds wonderful – the fuel is made by breaking apart water molecules with an electric current. When used in a combustion engine or fuel cell, the by-product is water. And, oh, by the way, it cleans the air while it is powering your vehicle.
Car manufacturers have been making hydrogen-powered prototypes for years. They sound wonderful, too:
The Honda FCX uses a “high-efficiency, high-output ultra-capacitor energy storage system to achieve powerful, responsive driving performance,” says Honda’s Web site.
The Hy-wire takes hydrogen “technology as it exists today and packages it into an innovative drivable vehicle comparable in size and weight to today’s luxury automobiles,” says GM’s Web site.
BMW says its H2R Record Car is “proof that hydrogen is able to replace conventional fuel without requiring the driver to compromise dynamic performance.”
Motortrend.com says, “The Nissan X-Trail FCV is a high-pressured hydrogen-powered vehicle that delivers clean power, without noxious emissions.”
So, why aren’t these vehicles seen on our highways?
Thornley explained that the Mazda RX-8 (H2RE model) discussed on the “Autoblog” Web site was a prototype built in Japan to showcase the talents of Mazda’s rotary engine. He said the problem with hydrogen power is not a technical one, but a logistical one. “The infrastructure is not there. Until there are hydrogen service stations every few miles, car manufacturers won’t make them.”
He did not know of any plans to build a hydrogen powered Mazda in the near future, and said it would be at least five or 10 years. But he thinks Mazda may be the first to do so.
Honda has put a few hydrogen vehicles on the road – five were delivered to the City of Los Angeles in 2002. Four more were delivered in 2004, two each to the City of San Francisco and to California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). Honda plan’s to place the 2005 FCX with a customer in the northeastern United States to demonstrate the cold-weather capabilities of the fuel cell “stack.”
Unlike the Mazda H2RE, which burns hydrogen, the Honda uses fuel cells. In the fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are joined together to produce water and electricity. Hydrogen is fed into the “anode” of the fuel cell, where a catalyst splits the hydrogen into a positively charged proton and a negatively charged electron, which each travel to the cathode by different routes.
The electrons create an electrical current, and power, before returning to the cathode where they are reunited with the hydrogen protons and oxygen which has entered into the cathode. The result is clean water.
And water can be used to create hydrogen “fuel” usable in both the fuel cells and combustion engines. It’s a clean, simple cycle.
“The electricity needed to break apart the water molecules can be obtained by harnessing energy from the wind, the waves or the sun – all renewable resources,” said Roy McAlister, president and founder of the American Hydrogen Association.
He has been “running on hydrogen” since 1960, when he was a student at the University of Kansas. In the bed of his white 1978 Dodge pickup is a hydrogen tank about the size of a large boxing bag. “That’s 1978 technology; today the tank would only be about one third that size,” McAlister said.
Since 1978, his “flagship” pickup has run exclusively on hydrogen, even in the world’s most polluted cities, such as Mexico City “and Phoenix,” he added.
McAlister has been somewhat of a lone crusader for hydrogen power, promoting it long before the idea became popular. But he will tell you that hydrogen power was in use as far back as 1792 when William Murdock found a way of producing it as a cleaner fuel. He was looking for a way to overcome black lung fever caused by the soot from burning whale and coal oil. The “town gas,” as the hydrogen fuel was called, was quite successful, McAlister said. It was used in cities around the world including Paris, Glasgow, London, Phoenix and even Payson, Ariz. It was circulated with subterranean piping and was used until natural gas subsidies made that an attractive alternative.
McAlister has taken his hydrogen powered pickup to China, Mexico and other cities teaching others how to use hydrogen power. China is looking at hydrogen power as a way to relieve its gas pollution problems. Since China does not have a large-scale traditional manufacturing infrastructure, it could just skip the 20th century’s car manufacture techniques and develop cars with 21st century characteristics, said Lun Jingguang, an expert with China’s fuel-cell bus project office.
China is expected to become the largest car consumer within 10 to 15 years, according to the Development Research Center of the State Council. China’s largest cities are battling exhaust pollution and the country has been listed as the second largest country polluted by carbon dioxide. The United States is number one.
Although car manufacturers are putting much energy and many resources into developing fuel cells, McAlister said it would be simpler to use hydrogen directly in combustion engines modified slightly for hydrogen fuel. Mechanics would still recognize the engine.
“Tests showed that engines converted to hydrogen operation actually cleaned the air that entered the engine,” said McAlister in his book, The Solar Hydrogen Civilization.
“Vehicles that were converted to operation on hydrogen worked much better without the smog control systems. In fact after removing the parasitic pump for delivering air to the exhaust manifold, removing the catalytic reactor, by-passing the computer for controlling the ignition timing and blocking the throttle valve wide open, the engine could run better on stratified-charge hydrogen,” McAlister said.
A car can be converted to hydrogen for $3000 to $10,000, he added.
It’s easy enough that car owners can do it themselves by taking a class and using their notes. Kits are also available on the Internet.
People that aren’t handy probably won’t be able to buy a hydrogen powered car at a dealership in the next year or two, but a hydrogen powered truck can be bought online at www.anuvu.com. The specs say the CUV2-door pickup has a 250 mile range in town, and can go 60 miles on the highway, per excursion. The truck reaches speeds of 75 mph, and goes from zero to 60 in 10 seconds – all with zero emissions. “If you can afford a Hummer, you can afford this vehicle,” says the Web site.
At the East Valley Institute of Technology, there are several vehicles that run on pure hydrogen. They can also run on methane and other fuels. One is a “farm truck.” McAlister thinks farmers are an important part of the future of alternative fuels because of the plant and animal wastes that can produce methane.
The vehicle he demonstrated was a small 1991Geo. Although its engine was a little loud, it started easily and ran smoothly. It was a student’s car. He teaches students how to convert their cars to alternative fuels, and how to make hydrogen fuels in an appliance no bigger than a dishwasher.
He also works to dispel some misconceptions about hydrogen.
A roadblock to hydrogen’s acceptance is the public’s perception that it is explosive and dangerous. This fear probably originated with the Hindenburg fire in 1937 and the space shuttle disasters in 1986 and 2003. The Challenger and Columbia tragedies were not caused by hydrogen, said McAlister in his book. He also said, “The Hindenburg would have burned and crashed even if it had been using helium as a lifting gas. It had already safely crossed the Atlantic 21 times. The investigative report concluded that, “The actual cause of the fire was the extreme easy flammability of the covering material brought about by discharges of an electrostatic nature …”
McAlister said that hydrogen dissipates quickly into the air so that a spark is less likely to ignite it than a gasoline spill which lingers. He released hydrogen from a tank and lit a spark; a tiny pop resulted. The hydrogen was already gone.
“In fact, leaking hydrogen requires an ignition temperature of 585 degrees Celsius (1085 degrees Fahrenheit) to initiate combustion in ambient pressure air. Unless certain catalysts make it otherwise, the air and hydrogen must be mixed and heated at least 585 degrees Celsius before the hydrogen will start to burn. If hydrogen is mixed with oxygen instead of air, the temperature of auto-ignition is reduced but a spark, catalyst, or heated surface is still required to ignite the mixture,” McAlister says in his book. Storage is another concern, since hydrogen can embrittle steel. But temperature and moisture control can take care of that. McAlister showed a steel tank that has stored hydrogen for over a century. But, most hydrogen is stored in carbon tanks now, he said.
Some of the biggest obstacles to a hydrogen powered society are lobbyists for the oil industry and government subsidies, said McAlister. It will not be easy to change a multi-billion dollar industry.
A retired ExxonMobil executive, Michael Ramage is the committee chair of the National Academy of Sciences, a group that makes scientific recommendations to Congress. He said, “Our study suggests that while hydrogen is a potential long-term energy approach for the nation, the government should keep a balanced portfolio of research and development efforts to enhance U.S. energy efficiency and develop alternative energy sources.”
President Bush had requested that approximately 5.26 percent of the $1.2 billion initiative to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil be used to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells in vehicles, homes and businesses.
The report concluded “In the best case scenario, the transition to a hydrogen economy would take many decades, and any reductions in oil imports and carbon dioxide emissions are likely to be minor during the next 25 years.”
Another obstacle to hydrogen usage is the lack of infrastructure that will allow drivers to travel more than a few miles from home and fill up their vehicle.
It was a major point in the report by the National Academy of Sciences. “We are facing a ‘chicken and egg’ problem that will be difficult to overcome,” said the retired oil executive. “Who will invest in the manufacture of fuel cell vehicles if there is no widespread hydrogen supply? At the same time, who will invest in facilities to produce hydrogen if there are not enough fuel cell vehicles to create sufficient income for the hydrogen producers?”
Canada seems willing to tackle the challenge and start on road to solving the infrastructure issue. In April 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada announced that country’s plans to build a Hydrogen HighwayTM from the Vancouver Airport to Whistler, location of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Seven transportation nodes will be centered around cities such as Victoria and Surrey. Each is to have its own sustainable microcosm with hydrogen fueling infrastructure and stationery applications. They hope to create a community of technology developers and users throughout British Columbia.
The National Research Council hopes the Hydrogen Highway will “play an integral role in removing barriers for hydrogen and fuel cell commercialization. The project will develop a critical mass of expertise, knowledge, and experience in the area, provide data or developing international codes and standards around implementing the technology, stimulate demand for the technology by allowing the media and general public to feel, touch and see the benefits of a hydrogen economy, open doors for international partnership and create a hydrogen infrastructure legacy in association with a high profile international event,” says one of their reports.
The Hydrogen Highway™ means more than a one-time project to the council. They consider it to be a metaphor for the transition to the hydrogen economy and a sustainable future for British Columbia and all of Canada.
President Bush requested Congress to allocate $228 million of the 2005 national budget to develop cars that run on hydrogen fuel and the service stations to support them.
California is jumping on the bandwagon. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order creating a public and private partnership to build a Hydrogen Highway in California by 2010. He christened Station #1 by filling a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle at a pump at the University of California at Davis.
“Californians invent the future and we are about to do it again,” Schwarzenegger said in a speech that day.
Speaking about the frequent gasoline price hikes and the state’s critical shortages of refining capacity, Schwarzenegger said, “We can deal with these problems by investing in a clean hydrogen future, thus bringing jobs, investment and continued economic prosperity to the state. We have an opportunity to prove to the world that a thriving environment and economy can co-exist. This vision for California is real and attainable; however, it will take time so we must plant the seeds now,” California’s governor said.
Hydrogen fuel facilities are already located in Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
Closer to home, hydrogen powered vehicles can fill up at the pumps in downtown Phoenix. For the last two and a half years, the hydrogen park has been operating at an APS substation located just south of Bank One Ballpark.
In old brick buildings built in the 1920s is an experiment in new technology that could lead Arizona into a cleaner future. Roy Hobbs, senior consulting engineer in the Technology Development Department at Arizona Public Service, explained that the substation is a pilot program. Here, City of Phoenix employees come and fill their tanks with different blends of fuel: 100 percent hydrogen, 100 percent natural gas, or 15, 20, 30 or 50 percent blends.
In a metal box smaller than a storage shed, the hydrogen is made by splitting water molecules with electricity generated in off-peak hours. Hobbs said that with new technology, the equipment could be half that size. He opened the door and pointed out the cells. They looked like a four-foot stack of cafeteria trays. Water flows across the cells and a small amount of power causes electrons to migrate across the membrane, with hydrogen being produced on one side and water and oxygen on the other. It works in reverse of the fuel cells which use hydrogen as a fuel. Hobbs compared it to the photosynthesis in tree leaves.
Enough hydrogen is produced to supply this small park. After it is produced, the hydrogen is dried and then stored in a large blue carbon tank with a myriad of dials to control every aspect of its storage, temperature, pressure and flow rate. The natural gas is stored in a black tank on the opposite side of the room.
Safety was a huge concern when the facility was engineered and still is since the hydrogen and natural gas are stored at pressures as high as 5000 psi. APS used their experience with other high pressure systems, such as the ones at Palo Verde Nuclear Plant, as a basis for the engineering. APS worked closely with the fire department in building the project. The facility is regularly inspected and has several monitoring systems. There have been no safety problems in the two and a half years of operation.
Security is tight at the facility, but drivers can pull up to the pumps after checking in at a guard station. Prices, about the same as current gasoline prices, are listed for various blends. Credit cards are used for payment. The pumps look similar to gasoline pumps and instructions are posted for first time users. Nozzles are different sizes because of the difference in pressures at which natural gas and hydrogen are stored and flow. Because of the high pressure, the nozzles lock on to the tank with a latch during fueling.
Most of the users of the hydrogen park are City of Phoenix employees filling up the city’s vehicles. A few are hydrogen enthusiasts who have built or modified their own cars to hydrogen usage. Sometimes, car companies will bring in their prototypes for fueling. They call ahead to make sure the fuel meets their standards and it does. APS certifies the fuel’s purity. Nissan, which has testing facilities in the Valley, is setting up their testing plan for 2005, said Hobbs. Daimler Chrysler also comes by on occasion, as well as lesser known manufacturers.
APS, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity, has also been testing four vehicles as part of an alternative fueled vehicle fleet which use various combinations of hydrogen and compressed natural gas (CNG). Their objectives are to evaluate the safety and reliability of the fuel usage and the hydrogen fueling infrastructure. During the 40,000 test miles to date, no safety issues were discovered.
A Mercedes Sprinter van used pure hydrogen for over 4,265 miles. The only mechanical problem was rough operation. “It sounds like a diesel engine,” said one driver. The van appeared to have good fuel economy, operating at 20 miles per gallon. The report said that based on experience with the vehicle, this appeared to be an unrealistically high fuel economy and may have been a result of the short time period of the test.
Hobbs said he is pleased with the way the fueling station and testing is proceeding.
“We set out to see if we could do it, what the cost would be and to understand the safety issues,” said Hobbs.
Other groups are also using APS’s facility for testing new technology. SHEC-Labs (Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation) field-tested their new Solar Catalytic Hydrogen Generator in Phoenix; it was their first “on sun” test of the system outside of Canada. The system produces hydrogen from natural gas, or by disassociation of water, at temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius. The solar technology allows for pollution free manufacturing of hydrogen.
New technology is adopted over a generation, Hobbs said. He said the hydrogen revolution really got started in 1990. Now that we are past the halfway point, he thinks some progress has been made on several fronts:
The general acceptance by the public of the instability of a society based on petroleum. “It puts the nation at risk,” he said.
The acknowledgement of health problems associated with pollution caused by our current fuels, and the need to find a solution.
The issue of sustainability is becoming a social value. That means using renewable energy resources. “Hydrogen can be made with renewable, indigenous sources,” Hobbs said. “By producing hydrogen in state we can create jobs, and have more stability in prices because we know what the costs will be the next year. Every year $2.5 billion goes out of Arizona in fuel costs. “
“The first question was ‘Can we do it?’,” Hobbs said.
The APS project, McAlister’s work, the Hydrogen Highway, and the prototype cars show that we can.
“The next challenge will be marketability,” Hobbs said.
There has to be a demand for the hydrogen powered vehicles before manufacturers will make more than prototypes.
Additional Resources
Nathan C. Thornley, Fleet Sales Manager at Showcase Mazda in Phoenix, 1521 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85014 602-277-7171
Ray Hobbs, Senior Consulting Engineer in the Technology Development Department at Arizona Public Service 602-250-1510
Roy McAlister, President and founder of the American Hydrogen Association, 480-461-4135
East Valley Institute of Technology, 1601 W. Main Street, Mesa, AZ
“The Solar Hydrogen Civilization” by Roy McAlister, Published by the American Hydrogen Association, Mesa, Arizona, Copyright 2003
HYDROGEN-FUELED MERCEDES SPRINTER VAN OPERATING SUMMARY, U.S. Department of Energy FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies - Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity, Don Karner, James Francfort, January 2003
SAE International Arizona-Nevada Section Newsletter, October 2004 (Ray Hobbs, APS)
Hydrogen powered RX-8 has effective range of 390 miles (re: RX-8)
Hydrogen-powered BMW H2R prototype to be shown at Los Angeles Auto Show
(re: BMW)
2005 Honda FCX with Breakthrough Honda Fuel Cell Stack Earns EPA and CARB Certification (re: Honda FCX)
Honda announces fuel cell breakthrough
X-Trail Fuel Cell Vehicle Proves Hydrogen System in the Real World (re: Nissan)
Canada's Hydrogen Highway™ – an NRC-born Cluster Development Strategy (Canada’s Hydrogen Highway)
http://www.schwarzenegger.com/en/news/uptotheminute/news_up_en_hydro_net.asp?s... (California’s Hydrogen Highway)
http://www.bullnet.co.uk/shops/test/hydrogen.htm (re: Fuel Cell)
