Fuel cells technologies enabling less expensive, durable, eco friendly power on-demand for transportation and military systems

Since the Industrial Revolution, the environmental impacts of energy have posed a concern. Recently, this has driven researchers to search for viable options for clean and renewable energy sources. Due to its affordability and environmental friendliness, hydrogen is a feasible alternative to fossil fuels for energy applications. However, due to its low density, hydrogen is difficult to transport efficiently, and many on-board hydrogen generation methods are slow and energy intensive.

 

A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity by a chemical reaction. It converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process also creates electricity. Fuel cells provide many advantages, they are environment friendly as they don’t produce pollutants or greenhouse gasses, significantly improving our environment, high energy efficiency ( can be close to 80%  where they generate both heat and electricity), scalable providing power from milliwatts to megawatts, and complementary i.e.  readily be combined with other energy technologies, such as batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and super-capacitors.

 

Fuel cells provide many advantages, high energy efficiency ( can be close to 80% where they generate both heat and electricity), they are environment friendly as they don’t produce pollutants or greenhouse gasses, significantly improving our environment,  scalable providing power from milliwatts to megawatts, and complementary i.e. readily be combined with other energy technologies, such as batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and super-capacitors.

 

Hydrogen fuel cells can be used in a broad range of applications such as cars, buildings, electronic devices, trucks, and backup power systems. As these cells can be grid-independent, they are an attractive option for critical load functions such as telecommunication towers, data centers, emergency response systems, hospitals, and even military applications for national defense.

 

Fuel cells are also important for military systems as they  can extend the operating range and mission of by reducing the dependence on carbon-based fuel sources. They also save energy and reduce the operating costs associated with dependence on foreign oil. “As the U.S. moves to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and become more energy efficient, this technology may well define the future of power and energy for the war fighter,” writes ONR.

 

In just the last two years, Toyota, Hyundai and Honda have released vehicles that run on fuel cells, and carmakers such as GM, BMW and VW are working on prototypes. Market for FECVs    includes Toyota’s Mirai, Hyundai’s Nexo and Honda Motor’s Clarity Fuel Cell, these “plug-less” EVs are the alternative to their battery electric cousins. Drivers can refuel FCEVs at a traditional gasoline station in less than 5 minutes. The 2021 Mirai gets an EPA estimated 402 miles of range on the XLE trim with the Nexo close behind at 380 miles. Neither cold weather nor heated seats deplete the range, another added bonus. An FCEV stores the hydrogen in high-pressure tanks (the Mirai, for example, has three). Non-toxic, compressed hydrogen gas flows into the tank when refueling.

 

The Japanese have invested more than AUD $16 billion (USD $12 billion) on hydrogen research and development and are looking to deploy at least 6,000 fuel-cell cars and 100 buses in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics. In 2016, South Korea announced plans to switch 26,000 buses from compressed natural gas to hydrogen. And in July 2018, the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy pledged to establish special-purpose companies to speed up the rollout of hydrogen fueling stations.

 

In July  2018, ARENA announced AUD $1.5 million (USD $1.1 million) for a green hydrogen innovation hub at Jandakot, Western Australia. There, the gas company ATCO will trial the production, storage and use of renewable hydrogen in a commercial-scale microgrid. Green hydrogen will be produced from on-site solar using electrolysis, fueling a range of appliances after being blended into a natural gas pipeline, ARENA said.

 

However, compared to electric vehicles, “hydrogen hasn’t really taken off,” said Timotej Gavrilovic, a contributing analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. “The number of hydrogen-based vehicles has been pretty small.” And with battery-powered electric vehicles still only slated to have a penetration of around 10 percent by 2030, the chances of a major boom in fuel-cell cars by the same time is small.

 

“If there were stations everywhere, hydrogen would be an obvious solution,” J.R. DeShazo, director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA, told ABC News. “Refueling stations are really expensive and require significant economies of scale to be cost effective and compete with gasoline and electricity.” “Despite more than half a century of development, starting in 1966 with GM’s Electrovan, hydrogen fuel-cell cars remain low in volume, expensive to produce, and restricted to sales in the few countries or regions that have built hydrogen fueling stations,” John Voelcker, the former editor of Green Car Reports wrote. “I am not a believer of FCEVs. It costs tens of billions of dollars to set up a hydrogen fueling network that has industrial strength compression equipment” to fuel these vehicles, he said.

 

Both Voelcker and DeShazo pointed out that the production of hydrogen — if not made from renewable energy such as natural gas or solar — causes greenhouse emissions. “If the goal is reducing climate change gas per mile driven, electricity is simply better at doing that,” Voelcker said. “More CO2 is associated with hydrogen cars.”