Another sustainable technology for clean transport is Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV):
an electric vehicle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which is some sort of battery fuelled by hydrogen. Such vehicles will be as clean, silent and sustainable as Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). They would be able to refuel nearly as fast as petrol vehicles, making them practical for long trips.
The Well-to-Wheel (WtW) energy efficiency (including production, compression and transport of hydrogen) of FCVs is:
Very low (much lower than for ICVs) when hydrogen is produced from electricity.
Using renewable electricity to produce hydrogen would be a pitiful way of wasting earth's limited renewable resources - except possibly when renewable electricity is produced in
very remote locations, too far to be transported (such as in the Sahara desert).
Very good when hydrogen is produced by coal gasification with CO2 capture and storage (CCS). This clean, near-zero-emission process is quite sustainable since coal reserves are huge. More...
Excellent when hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of natural gas (CH4 + 2H2O --> CO2 + 4H2). This is today the most common hydrogen production method. It is a good way of using our reasonably abundant natural gas reserves. More...
In that case, our preliminary computations indicate that FCVs have a WtW efficiency of 27%, which is:
much higher than ICVs (14.5% for petrol and 17.5 for diesel),
higher than BEVs powered by the average EU electricity mix (24%),
similar to BEVs powered by fuel cell power plants (26%),
lower than BEVs powered by combined cycle natural gas turbines (33%).
Therefore fuel cells could become an excellent option for vehicles having to cover long distances, such as:
buses, fork-lifts, captive fleets, long-haul trucks and boats, which are not well suited for other electric technologies. Also, these applications would only require a limited number of hydrogen refuelling stations, which would simplify their spread.
Inter-city and family cars, in replacement of Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs).
In this application,
FCVs would be competing with fast charging BEVs. At this stage, it is difficult to forecast which technology will conquest the market. It will depend largely on vehicle cost and on refuelling infrastructure cost (fast charging stations versus hydrogen refuelling stations).
There are several other applications where fuel cells will likely provide significant benefits, such as:
Portable electronics (such as laptop computers), for extended unplugged operation.
Backup power generators (for instance in hospitals).
Cogeneration plants (converting natural gas into electricity and steam).
Local power units in buildings and homes, converting natural gas into electricity and hot water; two thousand are in operation in Japan, but they are still quite expensive
(about 100'000$ for about 2 kW electric production). Read more at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23451723/...
Power plants for peak electricity, since fuel cell operation is very flexible. A 1 MW pilot plant is currently being built by SOLVAY in Antwerpen to turn excess hydrogen production into electricity. Read more at www.solvay.com...
FCVs technology has recently progressed a lot. But fuel cells are still too expensive widespread commercialisation: today fuel cells for small cars cost 50'000€ to 100'000€, largely because they are produced in very small volumes. However, their price could probably drop sharply in the near future is they were to be mass-produced.
Unlike Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) technologies which are ready for widespread commercialisation,
FCV technology is only ready for large scale demonstration projects, mainly in captive fleet applications (such as buses and fork-lifts). However, several automobile manufacturers strongly anticipate that from 2015 onwards, quite a significant number of Fuel Cell cars could be commercialised. Read their press release...
Fuel Cells and FCVs certainly have a bright future. It is essential that the European industry becomes a leader in this technology. We therefore recognise that more private and public money and effort should rapidly be invested into:
Research, notably to reduce the cost of fuel cells.
Pilot production plants, for fuel cell and other components such as hydrogen tanks.
Large scale demonstration projects, in selected captive fleet applications.
