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DAM-L energy article: fuel cells, hydrogen
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Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 09:14:51 -0800
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
Subject: ENS fuel cell story/LS
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Fuel Cells Still Too Costly for Mass Market
By Donna Tapellini, Wired News
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, September 27, 2000 (ENS) - Fuel cell
technologies hold the
promise of producing cleaner energy, but the big question is how soon they
will be commercially viable for the mass market.
Fuel cell powered cars may have attracted more attention, but the first
consumer product to use such energy will likely be much smaller than a
sports utility vehicle.
"We're in the probable stage," said Peter Faguy, chair of the Fuel Cell
2000 conference happening here this week.
Faguy said many companies are focusing on creating small, portable fuel
cell powered devices instead of
replacing gasoline in cars. One example is camping and lantern company
Coleman, which is working with Ballard Power Systems on a new product that
will use fuel cell technology.
"Portable applications will be first," said Faguy, director of
electrochemical materials for Microcoating Technologies. Warning lights on
highways in New Jersey are already using fuel cells, he said.
"People are talking about powering laptops this way," Faguy added. After
small devices, the next best application for fuel cells could be in
providing energy for
homes and other buildings.
"Public focus has been on cars, but the cost per kilowatt is a huge
issue," Faguy said. "We have to lower the cost of just about every
component."
Participants at the conference said cars present several problems for fuel
cell energy. One issue is dealing with the water that gets produced in the
process. This can be especially tricky for drivers in cold climates.
"We don't want to tell the fellow in Duluth to get a horse when it's 40
below," said Robert Beyerlein of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology in Maryland.
In August, General Motors and ExxonMobil announced they had created a
gasoline fuel processor for fuel cell vehicles. GM plans a demonstration
using the technology within 18 months. The processor uses gasoline as a
fuel to create a stream of hydrogen that powers a fuel cell.
Hydrogen fuel, which can be obtained from natural gas, methanol, or
petroleum, electrochemically combines with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce
electricity. Heat and pure water vapor are the only byproducts from the
fuel cell's electrochemical reaction, making it environmentally friendly.
Fuel cells have been used industrially for some time,
and can be found in space shuttles, for example.
There are several different types of cells, from proton
exchange membrane to alkaline, and scientists and
industry executives at the conference hotly debated
which type produces the most renewable energy and
which might be the most commercially viable, if any.
Fuel cells would be commercially viable tomorrow, said Mark Williams, fuel
cells product manager for the U.S. Department of Energy, if there were a
cheaper, easier way to produce hydrogen.
"There's no infrastructure for it. So, do we develop huge plants to
produce it, or use gasoline to reform it and make it?" he said.
Manufacturing costs need to be brought down significantly and there are
many scientific problems that still need to be resolved.
The silver bullet, Williams said, is some
kind of small, inexpensive reformer to convert the hydrogen, something a lot
of companies are trying to create.
Williams said fuel cells are a niche market right now, with a kilowatt of power
costing between $3,000 to $4,000 to produce. In contrast, he said the
average big power plant (using coal or natural gas) produces a kilowatt
for about
$1,000.
Williams predicted that fuel cells will be used to power commercial
facilities such as hospitals, hotels and large computer centers by 2005.
Residential homes will not see them until about 2010, with cars following
by 2015, he said.
Researchers also argued about whether or not fuel cell technology can help
create a society less dependent on fossil fuel.
"I'm not sure we can wean ourselves from fossil fuel," Williams said.
"It's a pretty formidable challenge. I just don't see it happening."
Producing hydrogen from water takes energy, so for now fossil fuel is used
in the production of most fuel cells, with the exception of companies like
Energy Conversion Devices (ECD), which uses solar power. Stanford
Ovshinsky, the president of ECD, said that right now "there's no utopian
solution, but there is a lot that can be done."
Conference attendees pointed out that the big oil and auto companies are
not interested in seeing fossil fuel go out of style. "Our fuel
infrastructure is geared to make gasoline," Beyerlein said. "Octane is the
name of the game."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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