Jump-Starting the Hydrogen Economy: AFC Energy Takes a Back to Basics, Commercial Approach

Jump-Starting the Hydrogen Economy: AFC Energy Takes a Back to Basics, Commercial Approach

November 10, 2011 By Andrew Burger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbk_FEVfWhg

…

In most cases, longstanding challenges to wide-scale commercialization remain, however, due to one simple fact: production costs remain all too high, putting large-scale commercialization off in the distant future.

The UK’s http://www.afcenergy.com/">AFC Energy is intent on changing that, and as quickly as possible. On the verge of announcing its first commercial-scale installations with an industrial partner, AFC founder Howard White talked with Clean Technica about the company’s laser-like focus on taking the basic, time-tested and proven alkaline fuel cell technology invented in the 19th century and updating it through the use of modern materials and manufacturing processes.

The result is a modular, low cost-high-performance alkaline fuel cell system that if not commercially viable today soon will be, certainly in specific industrial sectors, according to White.

If AFC succeeds, White sees its success as opening up a global market for hydrogen that in large part is viewed and treated as a waste by-product in industry.

…

Hydrogen economy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The hydrogen economy is a proposed system of delivering energy using hydrogen. The term hydrogen economy was coined by John Bockris during a talk he gave in 1970 at General Motors (GM) Technical Center.

Hydrogen advocates promote hydrogen as potential fuel for motive power (including cars and boats), the energy needs of buildings and portable electronics. Free hydrogen does not occur naturally in quantity, and thus it must be generated from some other energy source by steam reformation of natural gas or another method. Hydrogen is therefore an energy carrier (like electricity), not a primary energy source (like coal). The utility of a hydrogen economy depends on issues of energy sourcing, including fossil fuel use, climate change, and sustainable energy generation.

Rationale

A hydrogen economy is proposed to solve some of the negative effects of using hydrocarbon fuels where the carbon is released to the atmosphere. Modern interest in the hydrogen economy can generally be traced to a 1970 technical report by Lawrence W. Jones of the University of Michigan.

…

Proponents of a world-scale hydrogen economy argue that hydrogen can be an environmentally cleaner source of energy to end-users, particularly in transportation applications, without release of pollutants (such as particulate matter) or carbon dioxide at the point of end use. A 2004 analysis asserted that "most of the hydrogen supply chain pathways would release significantly less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than would gasoline used in hybrid electric vehicles" and that significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions would be possible if carbon capture or carbon sequestration methods were utilized at the site of energy or hydrogen production.

…

Hydrogen

Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize transportation and, possibly, our entire energy system. The simplest and most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen can be http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/hydrogen_production.html">produced from fossil fuels and biomass and even by electrolyzing water. Producing hydrogen with renewable energy and using it in http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/fuel_cell.html">fuel cell vehicles holds the promise of virtually pollution-free transportation and independence from imported petroleum.

…

Engineering Materials

Hydrogen Cars Get Thumbs Down From Steven Chu

Doug Smock
5/22/2009

In his 2003 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush, requested $1.2 billion in spending on hydrogen-powered cars. This month, the Obama administration announced that U.S. Energy Department funding for hydrogen-related projects would be cut by 60 percent to $68.2 million next fiscal year. That concurs with what I felt was the overall consensus at a seminar on hydrogen power at last fall’s Society of Manufacturing Engineer’s annual conference. The remaining federal funding will focus on hydrogen power for buildings. ”We’re going to be moving away from hydrogen-fuel cells for vehicles,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said. “We asked ourselves, is it likely in the next 10 or 15, or even 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy? The answer, we felt, was no.”

…

Obama Hydrogen Fuel Failure Conceded by Chu Paring Budget: Cars

By Alan Ohnsman and Brian Wingfield - Tue Jun 14 04:00:02 GMT 2011

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, whose mandate includes getting more fuel-efficient cars on U.S. roads, is disregarding advisers in his own department and seeking to cut almost half the federal funding for hydrogen-powered autos.

…

“Secretary Chu has firmly set his mind against hydrogen as a passenger-car fuel,” Mary Nichols, chairwoman of California’s Air Resources Board, said in an interview with Bloomberg Government. Her agency’s regulations affect more drivers than any other state’s. “Frankly, his explanations don’t make sense to me. They are not based on the facts as we know them.”

…

Chu is “hostile to hydrogen,” Robert Walker, a former member of the Energy Department’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee, said in an interview. Walker, executive chairman of Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates, a Washington lobbying firm, and a former Republican House member from Pennsylvania, resigned from the panel in April over the budget proposal.

‘More Likely’ Options

Chu, 63, has advocated battery cars and biofuels as options more likely to meet U.S. energy and environmental goals in the near term. Discounting hydrogen means the U.S. risks falling behind Japan, Germany and South Korea in the technology because those nations are moving ahead with plans for extensive fuel- station networks to serve buyers of the cars.

…

Berkeley Scientists Discover Inexpensive Metal Catalyst for Generating Hydrogen from Water

April 30, 2010
Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375 lcyarris@lbl.gov

Hydrogen would command a key role in future renewable energy technologies, experts agree, if a relatively cheap, efficient and carbon-neutral means of producing it can be developed. An important step towards this elusive goal has been taken by a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley. The team has discovered an inexpensive metal catalyst that can effectively generate hydrogen gas from water.

“Our new proton reduction catalyst is based on a molybdenum-oxo metal complex that is about 70 times cheaper than platinum, today’s most widely used metal catalyst for splitting the water molecule,” said Hemamala Karunadasa, one of the co-discoverers of this complex. “In addition, our catalyst does not require organic additives, and can operate in neutral water, even if it is dirty, and can operate in sea water, the most abundant source of hydrogen on earth and a natural electrolyte. These qualities make our catalyst ideal for renewable energy and sustainable chemistry.”

…

“The basic scientific challenge has been to create earth-abundant molecular systems that produce hydrogen from water with high catalytic activity and stability,” Chang says. “We believe our discovery of a molecular molybdenum-oxo catalyst for generating hydrogen from water without the use of additional acids or organic co-solvents establishes a new chemical paradigm for creating reduction catalysts that are highly active and robust in aqueous media.”

…

Long says, “This metal-oxo complex represents a distinct molecular motif for reduction catalysis that has high activity and stability in water. We are now focused on modifying the PY5Me ligand portion of the complex and investigating other metal complexes based on similar ligand platforms to further facilitate electrical charge-driven as well as light-driven catalytic processes. Our particular emphasis is on chemistry relevant to sustainable energy cycles.”

…

Fuel Cell Forklift Fleets – Catching on in a Big Way

By Sandra Curtin, Research Director, Fuel Cells 2000

Coca-Cola, Walmart, Whole Foods, and other nationally recognizable companies have discovered the substantial benefits provided by deploying fuel cell power in their materials handling fleets. These firms report saving tens of thousands of dollars in labor costs and hundreds of thousands in electricity costs annually, while also reducing carbon emissions by hundreds of metric tons each year. Sixteen of these companies, including seven in the Fortune 500, are profiled in Fuel Cell 2000’s new report, “The Business Case for Fuel Cells: Why Top Companies Are Purchasing Fuel Cells Today.”

Why fuel cells?

“The cost and productivity savings that we have gained have been so significant that we have already converted a large number of our material handling vehicles, even in this economy. As OorjaPac takes less than one minute to refuel and supplies enough power for an entire shift, this greatly impacts our 24/7, 365-day operation.” Tom Hughes, Warehouse Manager, Super Store Industries

“With these fuel cell materials handling units, we will be able to maintain productivity, decrease operating costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. We assessed many different technologies for our materials handling fleet and believe the Plug Power fuel cell units give us the best overall solution.” Lauren C. Steele, Spokesman, Coca-Cola Consolidated

…

Several studies support these findings. Argonne National Laboratory estimates that fuel cell lift trucks produce 63 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than battery-powered systems, while Battelle indicates that fuel cell forklifts on a lifecycle cost basis require approximately 48 to 50 percent less investment than battery-powered competitors in high-throughput applications. Batelle also found that while fuel cell-powered forklifts require a greater initial investment they provide significant savings in operation and maintenance.

…

'A portfolio of power-trains for Europe: A fact-based analysis' launched today

The study 'A portfolio of power-trains for Europe: A fact-based analysis' was launched today in Brussels by a consortium of around thirty organisations including global companies across the passenger car value chain, an NGO and Government Organisations. The analysis compares the economics, sustainability and performance of four different types of vehicles in helping achieve the overall 80% decarbonisation goal by 2050 set by the European Union.
http://www.europeanclimate.org/documents/Power_trains_for_Europe.pdf">The document can be downloaded here.