FuelCellsWorks

The recent buzz over hybrids and electric cars has overshadowed the massive investments global auto giants are making in fuel-cell vehicles — another near-reality dream car that some believe promises an ultimate zero-emissions society.

Japan plans to stay on the cutting edge of the accelerated race for green technology — including fuel cells — that has kept its automakers competitive even as rival gas-guzzling carmakers crumbled under the weight of the global recession.

But despite a lead in technology, some carmakers, especially from abroad, say costly and back-breaking legal barriers are making Japanese roads uninviting for testing their latest pollution-free cars.

General Motors Co. of the United States and Mercedes-Benz, an arm of Germany’s Daimler AG, have long been engaged in talks with Japanese authorities to bring in their latest fuel-cell vehicles with 700-bar high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks for a test run on public roads.

“Japan is waving a flag for eco-cars but why don’t they let these cars in,” said George Hansen, director in charge of fuel-cell commercialization at General Motors Asia Pacific (Japan) Ltd.

Fuel-cell vehicles, which are powered by electricity generated by a reaction between oxygen and hydrogen, have long been researched as an alternative to petroleum-powered cars since they only emit water vapor,  have ample driving range and can be quickly refueled.

With global auto giants pushing to mass-produce the electric vehicles with fuel cells from 2015, Japan is also scrambling to lay the groundwork that will help to allay concerns on safety, production costs and lack of infrastructure like hydrogen fueling stations.

But while the country already has regulations on a 350-bar hydrogen tank system, the government is still in the process of setting up a legal framework for a 700-bar system, which promises a longer cruising distance.

As a result, automakers say they currently need to collect and submit massive volumes of data for a series of safety tests to obtain certification, a straining and foggy process that could cost over ¥100 million in total.

In GM’s case, the automaker needs to provide convincing data to verify the safety of a tank material that is not common in Japan — the key cause for stalled talks for certification.

“There is nowhere else in the world that requires this amount of money for a test vehicle,” said Masanobu Wada, managing director of the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

Combined with huge resources already spent in developing the fuel-cell vehicle, there is also no guarantee that the extra costs for data collection will bear fruit.

At home, Toyota Motor Corp. is among the few domestic automakers given approval for driving its FCHV-adv fuel-cell vehicle with a 700-bar system on public roads.

Both Toyota and Honda  Motor Co., whose FCX Clarity with a lower pressure 350-bar system is available for lease in Japan, refused to provide any details on the certification process.

But several officials familiar with the negotiations said Toyota likely also waded through the same hurdles to obtain approval for its FCHV since both Japanese and foreign automakers are obliged to meet the taxing requirements for a test run on public roads.

“There are no legal shortcuts,” an official at a Japanese carmaker said on condition of anonymity. “The government does not have any guideline to evaluate the new technology.”

GM brought one of its fuel-cell Chevrolet Equinox vehicles to Japan around two years ago for a test run, but it still remains stationed for display at a government exhibition park in Yokohama.

The U.S. automaker currently has over 100 of these cars on roads worldwide, including the United States, Europe and South Korea.

“To be honest, we can’t just let our vehicle — our valuable asset — sit tight since it will decay if we don’t move it,” Hansen said.

But GM is no stranger in the process. It made similar investments when it was granted approval for its liquid hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the HydroGen3, in 2003.

And this time the situation is vastly different. The company, which made a rare speedy exit from bankruptcy proceeding in July, is eager to put on a greener face and keep its foothold in an environmentally conscious market.

“We’re not giving up,” Hansen said. “GM believes it’s important to have our cars driven in Japan.”

Japan, for its part, has been trying to relax some of its regulations while launching various demonstrations and projects to ensure safety. It is also one of the key players in efforts led by the United Nations to compile global standards for fuel-cell and other auto-related technologies.

“We are aiming for international harmonization so Japan does not isolate itself with unique regulations,” said Yasushi Takahashi, chief officer at the government-affiliated New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.

“But these promotional activities (on fuel-cell vehicles) will come to an immediate halt if an accident occurs, so we need to be cautious in that sense,” he added.

Takafumi Imada, subsection chief in charge of hydrogen and fuel-cell promotion at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, also said each automaker for its part needs to specify concrete numerical targets that demonstrate the company’s long-term position on fuel-cell vehicles.

“We feel that they should clarify the role of their (fuel-cell) business and their firm commitment and resolve,” Imada said. “Only then can we begin talk on division between the public and private sectors on what each of us needs to do.”

But whether foreign automakers are willing to wait for those legal barriers to come down is another matter, especially at a time when many are turning their attention away from a shrinking Japanese market to vibrant auto demand in neighboring China.

“If Japan wants to lead in environmental technology, it needs to think more about what that really means,” GM’s Hansen said.

“Instead of simply making good technology and exporting it,” Hansen said Japan should exercise “soft leadership in translating various ideas (on paper) into action.”

U.S. DOE Awards $1.7 Million to Explore New ‘Green’ Energy Creation

A team of four chemists at the University of Rochester have begun work on a new kind of system to derive usable hydrogen fuel from water using only sunlight.

The project has caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Energy, which has just given the team nearly $1.7 million to pursue the design.

“Everybody talks about using hydrogen as a super-green fuel, but actually generating that fuel without using some other non-green energy in the process is not easy,” says Kara Bren, professor in the Department of Chemistry. “People have used sunlight to derive hydrogen from water before, but the trick is making the whole process efficient enough to be useful.”

Bren and the rest of the Rochester team—Professor of Chemistry Richard Eisenberg, and Associate Professors of Chemistry Todd Krauss, and Patrick Holland—will be investigating artificial photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to carry out chemical processes much as plants do. What makes the Rochester approach different from past attempts to use sunlight to produce hydrogen from water, however, is that the device they are preparing is divided into three “modules” that allow each stage of the process to be manipulated and optimized far more easily than other methods.

The first module uses visible light to create free electrons. A complex natural molecule called a chromophore that plants use to absorb sunlight will be re-engineered to efficiently generate reducing electrons.

The second module will be a membrane suffused with carbon nanotubes to act as molecular wires so small that they are only one-millionth the thickness of a human hair. To prevent the chromophores from re-absorbing the electrons, the nanotube membrane channels the electrons away from the chromophores and toward the third module.

In the third module, catalysts put the electrons to work forming hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can then be used in fuel cells in cars, homes, or power plants of the future.

By separating the first and third modules with the nanotube membrane, the chemists hope to isolate the process of gathering sunlight from the process of generating hydrogen. This isolation will allow the team to maximize the system’s light-harvesting abilities without altering its hydrogen-generation abilities, and vice versa. Bren says this is a distinct advantage over other systems that have integrated designs because in those designs a change that enhances one trait may degrade another unpredictably and unacceptably.

Bren says it may be years before the team has a system that clearly works better than other designs, and even then the system would have to work efficiently enough to be commercially viable. “But if we succeed, we may be able to not only help create a fuel that burns cleanly, but the creation of the fuel itself may be clean.”

MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (MTI Micro), developer of the Mobion^® off-the-grid mobile power source and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated (MTI) (OTC: MKTY), announced a significant power achievement for its Mobion^® technology. The Mobion^® fuel cell engine has reached another milestone by demonstrating a power density of 84mW/cm² while maintaining its fuel efficiency of 1800Wh/kg or 1.4Wh/cc.

This achievement shows a 30% power density improvement over the initial 62mW/cm² announced last year. Placing Mobion in what is believed to be the highest power density ranking within the micro fuel cell industry; this improvement furthers MTI Micro’s leadership position in the development of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) solutions for the portable electronic device industry.

“Having a greater amount of energy in smaller amount of space is always a major concern of customers with power-hungry devices,” said Peng Lim, President and CEO of MTI Micro. “This significant improvement addresses manufacturers’ needs for a compact, power-dense energy supply, while incorporating a simplified design. The new design is engineered to greatly reduce assembly time and cost to pave the way for high-volume manufacturing.”

MTI Micro’s Mobion micro fuel cell provides full power in any orientation, at any humidity level and within the operational temperature range of consumer electronic devices. This power density improvement marks another milestone in MTI Micro’s developments.

Hungerford, Berkshire, United Kingdom– UPS Systems plc has today announced with the University of Glamorgan that they have reached the finals for ‘Environmental Technology’ at the awards because of their innovative fuel cell system at the Hydrogen Centre.

The Hydrogen Centre was the brainchild of the University of Glamorgan and part of its vision to create a hydrogen economy in Wales. It was built to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen production from a range of indigenous renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, and evaluate the benefits of using hydrogen as an energy storage medium for these intermittent renewables.

Whilst the University planned and secured funding for the Centre, UPS Systems supplied and installed a 10kW hydrogen fuel cell along with inverters and a bespoke controller unit, to power parts of the Centre and its associated facilities.

The fuel cell installation at the Hydrogen Centre was the first of its kind in the UK, showcasing a process that uses stored green energy. It demonstrates the use of carbon-neutral energy for both stationary and transportation applications.

“The Hydrogen Centre deserves its place in the finals because it sets a precedent for future projects by demonstrating how fuel cell technology can reduce our dependence on oil and allow us to be independent of the National Grid. We have created a truly green energy source that will change the way we look at power generation,” said Tom Sperrey, Managing Director at UPS Systems.

Professor Alan Guwy of the University of Glamorgan commented, “It is fantastic to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award and to gain recognition for the Hydrogen Centre. The work undertaken at the Centre is truly innovative, bringing us one step closer to the reality of a hydrogen economy.”

Andrew Lee, Editor of The Engineer said: “The 2009 shortlist for The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards is the strongest yet and we were delighted to receive high-quality entries such as the Hydrogen Centre. Along with the other finalists it demonstrates the fantastic collaborative work underway between the UK’s most innovative companies and its world-class universities. We wish UPS Systems and Glamorgan, and indeed all the shortlisted entrants, the best of luck in December.”

The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards will announce the winners at The Royal Society in London on the 4th December 2009.

UPS Systems plc (upssystems.co.uk) is the UK’s largest independent supplier of standby power solutions. Through its independent position, allied to close working relationships with the world’s leading manufacturers, the company is uniquely able to offer impartial technical advice on the widest range of standby power solutions. An authority on fuel cell technology, UPS Systems implemented the UK’s first two hydrogen fuel cells providing AC standby power, and is currently working on projects where the technology will be used for the supply of backup or prime power to utilities, telecommunications, remote telemetry, portable signage and renewable energy applications.

The University of Glamorgan has built the Renewable Hydrogen Research and Development Centre to raise awareness about the various means of generating hydrogen from renewable resources and to demonstrate that the energy from hydrogen can be used in everyday situations. The Centre will provide a facility for research into various renewable hydrogen topics and aims:
• To produce high quality scientific research in sustainable environmental technologies;
• To advance knowledge and provide trained scientists and engineers to meet the needs of the industry;
• To enhance the standing of the University of Glamorgan both nationally and internationally.

Located at Baglan Energy Park, South Wales, the Renewable Hydrogen Research and Development Centre is part of a range of hydrogen energy research activities conducted by the University of Glamorgan’s Hydrogen Research Unit.

The Engineer Technology & Innovation Awards 2009 will recognise and reward outstanding examples of that co-operation. An expert panel of judges will assess the entries against the key criteria that will be used to draw up the short-list in each category. These will include: the degree of technical innovation involved in the entry; the value added to the entry through the collaboration between academic and commercial partners; the actual or potential impact of the entry on its market or end-users. Now in its third year, this prestigious awards scheme is run by The Engineer, the leading magazine and website for technology and innovation, in conjunction with main sponsor BAE Systems.

LATHAM, N.Y. and BANGALORE, India – Plug Power Energy India Pvt. Ltd, an affiliate of the leading US-based fuel cell manufacturer, Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), and SFO Technologies, (A NeST Group Company) announced today that they have signed into a strategic manufacture and supply agreement for the build of Plug Power’s GenSys(R) fuel cell systems in India.