Hydrogen researchers step on the gas

Fuel cells 101
Then there is the challenge of making an affordable fuel cell to generate the electricity to power a hydrogen car. Though hydrogen can be used to fuel an internal combustion engine, much of the latest research and development effort is focused on fuels cells because they’re potentially twice as efficient in powering a car.

A fuel cell works something like a battery. Hydrogen atoms (which, if you skipped chemistry class, consist of one proton and one electron) are pumped across a catalyst like platinum, which strips off electrons that then flow through a membrane that holds back the protons. The electrons then go their merry way down a wire to power the car’s electric motors. When the electrons have finished their job, they reunite with the waiting protons, forming hydrogen atoms again. And those hydrogen atoms, the H in H2O, combine with oxygen to form water.

The problem is that, so far, no one has been able to figure out how to make a fuel cell anywhere close to cheap enough to power an affordable, mass-produced car. GM has set a target of $50 per kilowatt for each cell, a price point at least ten times cheaper than the cheapest fuel cells available today. Researchers haven’t yet found cheap enough materials, or figured out how to mass produce fuel cells cheaply enough.

Mass production usually brings rapid price cuts for hot-selling products like consumer electronic devices. But unlike “early adopters” of consumer electronics, few car buyers are willing to spend four or five times the eventual mass market price just to show off a new technology to their friends, according to Joseph Romm, a former Department of Energy senior official and author of ‘The Hype About Hydrogen.’

“You have this obstacle,” he said. “If we had huge amounts of (fuel cell) sales the cost might be lower. But we’ve got to get people to buy huge amounts before the price is lower. That problem was fatal to electric vehicles, and even for natural gas vehicles.”

It’s part of the so-called “chicken and egg” problem that is central to the challenge of moving from one transportation technology to the next. Beyond the hurdle of ramping up cheap mass production, hydrogen skeptics like Romm warn of another major Catch-22 facing the the rollout of fuel cell cars. Simply put: these cars will be a tough sell, he says, until consumers are convinced that hydrogen filling stations will be available wherever they want to go. But who will put up the billions — possibly trillions — of dollars required to build that distribution system until it’s clear there will eventually be enough hydrogen cars on the road to justify the investment?

“Essentially what you’re asking the Texacos and the Shells and Mobils is to make the following gamble: ‘You’re going to build this  that at best is going to compete with an existing profitable product line of yours — gasoline — and at worst is going lose every last cent you put into it,” he said. “The investment makes no sense.”

One solution, say hydrogen researchers, could be to start with fleets of government or company cars fueled at a central location. Shell’s strategy envisions concentrating distribution on a regional level before rolling out hydrogen filling stations nationwide. Some have even suggested it would be cheaper and easier to deliver hydrogen by tanker truck directly to fuel cell cars instead of converting tens of thousands of filling stations to carry hydrogen.

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