|
Fuel cell technology was invented in1839, but the potential applications for the technology were not demonstrated for another 120 years.
In 1961 President Kennedy launched the Apollo program, although the technology to send a man on the moon did not yet exist. It was an investment in technology, industry and leadership that made the program successful. In fact, the fist practical application for fuel cell technology was to power the onboard electronics for the Apollo mission.
Today, there is a resurgence of interest in the endeavor that made Apollo successful and a desire to apply that mentality to launching the hydrogen economy.
The following are typically cited as technology hurdles that need to be overcome before hydrogen becomes publicly available:
Fuel Cell
Currently, fuel cells are considered too expensive for commercial applications. Exploration by fuel cell manufactures into the following areas is intended to bring down the cost:
- Material reduction and exploration of lower-cost material alternatives (reduce the amount of platinum used and/or substitute with nickel)
- Scaling up production to gain the benefit of economies of scale
- Minimizing temperature constraints (which add complexity and cost to the system)
- Streamlining manufacturing processes
- Increasing power density (power output vs. physical size of fuel cell)
Production
Globally 50 million metric tons of hydrogen is made for industry use each year. The vast majority of this hydrogen is the result of reforming fossil fuels which releases carbon into the atmosphere. If the goal of the hydrogen economy is to produce hydrogen without releasing greenhouse gas emissions, then the following areas of production need to be further developed:
- Expand renewable energy electricity production (wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass)
- Work to increase the efficiency of electrolyzers (increasing temperature or adding catalysts)
- Develop biolytic production for industrial scale
Storage
As a fuel hydrogen has a very high energy content, which good for producing energy to do work. The problem is that hydrogen also has a very low density which makes it difficult to pack enough hydrogen into a tank to go very far. That is why storage of hydrogen for stationary, transportation, and portable applications is critical technological challenge in advancing the hydrogen economy. Research into hydrogen storage methods is occurring at national federal laboratories, universities, and private industry. The benchmark guiding on-board vehicular hydrogen storage systems is to enable vehicles to have a driving range of 300 miles or more. Most fuel cell vehicle have a range of 180 miles. The technologies being investigated for hydrogen storage include:
- Compressed Liquid Hydrogen
- Metal Hydrides
- Chemical Storage
- Carbon Based Storage
|
