Hydrogen can store and deliver clean energy for many uses across U.S. economic sectors, including transportation.
It has the potential to significantly reduce air pollution in the form of greenhouse gases from trucks, buses, planes, and ships. Greenhouse gases trap heat and contribute to climate change, and the transportation sector is responsible for 29% of these emissions.
Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Some electric vehicles contain a battery, and some contain a hydrogen fuel cell and a battery. All electric vehicles have electric motors.
In battery-only electric vehicles, electricity charges the battery directly. In hydrogen fuel cell–powered vehicles, hydrogen is stored as a fuel in a tank. The hydrogen stores energy, flows into a fuel cell, reacts with oxygen from the air, and creates electricity that powers the electric motor.
Hydrogen Fuel Advantages
Tailpipes on hydrogen fuel cell–powered vehicles produce only heat and clean water, no pollutants.
Traditional combustion engines can make a vehicle heavy and less efficient. Instead of a combustion engine, hydrogen-powered vehicles have hydrogen fuel cells, which convert energy to electricity more efficiently.
Fuel cells convert a fuel’s chemical energy to electrical energy and can be two to three times more efficient than internal combustion engines.
Fuel cells make the vehiclemore efficient and quieter, because there are fewer vibrations from moving parts. Hydrogen fuel allows vehicles to travel longer distances with less refueling, so it is ideal for fueling heavy-duty tractor trailers and public transit buses, which travel hundreds of miles at a time.
Zero-emissions vehicles, like hydrogen fuel cell–powered public buses and drayage trucks, can idle without contributing to air pollution. Drivers can keep their vehicles on while stopped to provide cooling or heating for comfort.
Filling Up with Hydrogen
Hydrogen is sold per kilogram. The energy in one kilogram of hydrogen is equal to one gallon of gasoline. Hydrogen can fill a vehicle’s tank in minutes, like gasoline at the pump. About 50 U.S. fuel stations provide hydrogen to support the more than 12,000 hydrogen fuel cell–powered vehicles and nearly 70 buses on the road.
The cost of hydrogen hovers around $13 per kilogram (kg), but as technologies advance and costs decrease, hydrogen fuel will become more accessible and affordable.
Hydrogen fuel cell–powered vehicles travel longer distances using less energy. One kg of hydrogen contains about the same energy as a gallon of gasoline. A fuel-cell electric vehicle with 1 kg of hydrogen can drive approximately 60 miles, compared to conventional vehicles, which get about 25 miles on a gallon of gasoline.
With continued technology improvement, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is working to increase that fuel efficiency up to nearly 100 miles on 1 kg of hydrogen. DOE’s Hydrogen Shot aims to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen to $1/kg within one decade to make hydrogen more accessible and affordable. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.
Visit the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Technologies Office’s education page to learn more about hydrogen and fuel cells, including their important role in a clean and equitable energy future. Sign up to receive the office’s newsletter and stay in the loop with the latest developments in hydrogen and fuel cells.
READthe latest news shaping the hydrogen market atHydrogen Central
H2U Partner De Nora Confirms Success of H2U’s New Non-platinum Group Metal (PGM) Catalyst for Low-Cost Green Hydrogen Production via Water Electrolysis
De Nora and H2U Technologies Inc. announced today their Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to examine the viability of newly identified non-platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts for green hydrogen production. Through their partnership, De Nora will help bring H2U’s innovative, earth-abundant catalysts to the electrolyzer market. These new catalysts will fill a critical gap in the development of low-cost green hydrogen, decreasing a significant cost barrier to growing the hydrogen value chain and promoting the energy transition.
De Nora has also confirmed new success with a non-platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst identified by H2U for green hydrogen production, marking a significant milestone in H2U’s catalyst discovery efforts. H2U’s electrocatalyst compounds for OER and HER reactions show viability for low-cost, scalable green hydrogen production by eliminating PGM in water electrolysis.
H2U Non-PGM Catalysts
H2U Technologiesboasts the world’s most advanced, effective technology and systems for discovering and developing new non-PGM electrocatalysts composed of earth-abundant elements. Low-cost electrocatalysts are key components for use in water electrolysis to generate green hydrogen that drives the Hydrogen Economy. Such technology innovations include H2U Technologies’ proprietary systems for high-throughput screening of compositions to determine catalytic activity.
De Nora Water Electrolysis
With almost a century of technical leadership, De Nora is a world leader in developing and manufacturing electrodes for almost every industrial electrolysis application and is serving the largest OEMs of water electrolysis equipment and plants globally. De Nora and H2U formed a partnership a year ago to exploit H2U’s proprietary Catalyst
Discovery Engine™ system in order to discover and develop revolutionary electrocatalysts for hydrogen production via water electrolysis.
“We are excited to undertake this opportunity with H2U Technologies,” said Christian Urgeghe, Chief Technology Officer of De Nora. “PGM catalysts – specifically platinum and iridium – present a major chokepoint in the evolution of the Hydrogen Economy. We need to replace these expensive, rare materials with earth abundant compounds so that our electrolysis customers can scale their businesses, and H2U Technologies has a credible approach to accomplish this important goal”.
“We are fortunate to be working with a partner like De Nora – a global leader in catalytic coatings and Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) for electrolysis – to bring our low-cost earth abundant catalysts to the hydrogen electrolyzer market,” said Mark McGough, CEO and President of H2U Technologies. “We look forward to continued collaboration and partnership with De Nora in our mission to reduce the cost and enable global scaling of green hydrogen”.
About Industrie De Nora Spa. www.denora.com De Nora is a global supplier of innovative technologies and solutions and is recognized as a partner of choice for important industrial electrochemical processes. Since its foundation in 1923, De Nora is driven by the philosophy of continual improvement by way of developing and manufacturing electrodes and electrochemical systems. The
Green Hydrogen and the Energy Transition
“Green Hydrogen” is the new highly anticipated energy carrier for decarbonizing the global economy. It is produced from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and Alkaline and PEM electrolyzers, which produce hydrogen, are ideally suited for pairing with such highly variable resources.
Hydrogen offers the ability to store renewable energy across months and seasons, as well as the ability to serve as a carbon-free fuel for heavy transportation such as ships, aircraft, trains and trucks. H2U’s proprietary low-cost catalysts are designed to substantially reduce electrolyzer CAPEX requirements, especially in the coming years, where highly constrained sources of PGM materials will lead to shortages and remarkable price increases, presenting a major barrier to a rapid energy transition.
Company offers advanced disinfection and filtration technologies to solve problems related to municipal and industrial water treatment. De Nora is committed to the development of unconventional solutions to achieve energy transition to decarbonization and clean water for everyone. Worldwide over 1,600 employees work together dynamically, sharing knowledge to achieve a sustainable future.
About H2U Technologies, Inc. H2U Technologies is a developer of new catalysts used for the electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen. The company also develops a grid-scale PEM electrolyzer, the Gramme 50. The technology underpinning H2U Technologies’ products is based on 10 years of research and development funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through Caltech’s Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP). For more information, visith2utechnologies.com.
DOE invests $2.4 million for next-generation hydrogen energy storage technologies.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced $2.4 million in funding for three projects to advance novel thermal and hydrogen energy storage technologies toward increased duration, reliability and affordability.
The technologies will initially support transitioning of existing fossil assets to low carbon energy systems, with the long-term potential to support the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of a fully decarbonized electricity grid by 2035.
Dr. Jennifer Wilcox, Acting Assistant Secretary of FECM, said:
The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is investing in projects that will advance thermal and hydrogen energy storage technologies for use during and beyond the electricity decarbonization transition.
“By validating new options for electricity storage, these projects will move us toward achieving the cost and performance goals of DOE’s Long Duration Storage Shot—to reduce the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90 percent for systems that deliver 10 or more hours of duration in one decade.”
The selected projects also support FECM’s Energy Storage program and DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge, which seek to develop and manufacture domestic energy storage technologies that meet all U.S. market demands by 2030 and position the United States as a world leader in energy storage.
DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the projects:
Sand Thermal Energy Storage (SandTES) Pilot Design — Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, California) and partners will perform a pre-front end engineering design (pre-FEED) study on the integration of a 10 MWhe (megawatt-hour electricity) SandTES pilot system into Alabama Power’s Ernest C. Gaston Electric Generating Plant in Wilsonville, Alabama.
SandTES is a high-temperature thermal energy storage technology operated with sand (quartz or silica) as the storage medium. The use of sand as a heat transfer material offers the advantages of widespread availability, low cost, and high thermal capacity.
DOE Funding: $796,253; Non-DOE Funding: $199,063; Total Value: $995,316
Hydrogen Storage for Load-Following and Clean Power: Duct-firing of Hydrogen to Improve the Capacity Factor of NGCC — Gas Technology Institute (Des Plaines, Illinois) and partners will demonstrate storage of more than 54 megawatt-hours of energy as clean hydrogen produced using natural gas with carbon capture and storage—and its use for load-following in Southern Company Services’ Washington County Cogeneration Facility in McIntosh, Alabama.
Hydrogen storageand discharge rates will be linked to follow daily power demand fluctuations from variable renewable energy, thus increasing plant efficiency while reducing emissions.
DOE Funding: $800,000; Non-DOE Funding: $331,971; Total Value: $1,131,971
Economically Viable Intermediate to Long Duration Hydrogen Energy Storage Solutions for Fossil Fueled Assets — WE New Energy Inc. (Knoxville, Tennessee) and partners will complete a pre-FEED study of a cost-effective steel-concrete composite hydrogen energy storage prototype that is integrated with existing or new coal- and gas-fueled electricity generating units. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.
These units usually are not designed to respond to major shifts in output. This integrated system will enable more flexible operations, helping to manage dynamic changes in electric grid demand and electricity price.
DOE Funding: $798,053; Non-DOE Funding: $211,293; Total Value: $1,009,346
FECM funds research, development, demonstration and deployment projects to decarbonize power generation and industrial sources, to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and to mitigate the environmental impacts of fossil fuel use.
Priority areas of technology work include point-source carbon capture, hydrogen with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, critical mineral production and carbon dioxide removal. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements and visit the NETL website.
DOE Invests $2.4 Million for Next-Generation Energy Storage Technologies,March 21, 2022
"Ceres now has the potential to address an even greater market for electrolysis"
Revenues rose by 44% in 2021
Ceres Power Holdings PLC (AIM:CWR, OTC:CPWHF)said it intends to increase its spending on R&D and capital investment significantly to take advantage of the opportunities in the growing fuel cell markets and especially hydrogen.
This requirement for hydrogen is predicted to double each decade between 2030 and 2050, said Ceres chief executive Phil Caldwell, and be worth US$2.5trn eventually, according to consultant McKinsey.
"That is a big opportunity," he said, adding: "We need a different energy landscape and Ceres' purpose to deliver technology that enables a clean and efficient energy future is absolutely aligned with that goal.”
The fuel cell technology group grew revenues by 44% to £31.7mln in the year to end-December 2021, driven largely by licence fee income, which more than doubled.
Ceres is partners with several of the world’s top engineering firms and after the year-end signed a new deal with two of these – Weichai and Bosch – to establish manufacturing facilities in China and build its commercial presence there.
Strong revenue growth is expected to continue into 2022, the company said, though the phasing will be materially influenced by the timing of this new China joint venture.
Losses in the year just ended rose to £23.4mln from £14.5mln, which reflected heavy investment across all aspects of the business, with R&D expenditure rising by 34% to £34.9mln while staff numbers increased to 489 from 351.
Net cash at the year-end was £250mln.
Caldwell added: "The recent global volatility has only served to highlight the urgency for energy security around the world, with … hydrogen now widely acknowledged as an essential part of the route to net zero.
"Having established a leading technology position in fuel cells Ceres now has the potential to address an even greater market for electrolysis through a highly efficient, low-cost production method for hydrogen."
As the future of automotive power heads away from the internal combustion engine toward electric vehicle technology, the industry now has two options: fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), which are vehicles that use hydrogen as the fuel source, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which are vehicles that rely solely on battery power or electricity.
According to a recentPreScouter Intelligence Brief, in the absence of an infrastructure to enable FCEVs, BEVs remain the more appealing option today. However, this could change within the next five to 10 years as investments in hydrogen production and infrastructure increase, potentially pushing FCEVs to outperform BEVs in some segments and become the more sustainable alternative.
PreScouter’s researchers based their analysis on expert insights from Dr. Bostjan Hari, battery systems engineer, through a concise review of impending technical and business opportunities for FCEVs in addition to highlighting 11 technological advancements in the realm of FCEV manufacturers.
How Does a FCEV Work?
FCEVs are electric vehicles that get their power from a hydrogen fuel cell instead of a battery. A fuel cell system is the heart of an FCEV. The electricity is produced by the electrochemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen supplied into FCEV hydrogen tanks. Only pure, distilled water is produced as a byproduct. FCEVs use this electricity for traction and require the battery for auxiliary operations such as starting or storing energy gained by regenerative braking.
The key distinction between FCEVs and BEVs is the energy source. FCEVs, in contrast to BEVs, rely on the energy stored in the vehicle’s fuel cells, which have a number of advantages over batteries. As long as fuel is available to power the fuel cell, it can generate energy. This is one of the most significant advantages of fuel cells.
A typical electric automobile can be fully charged in slightly over six hours, whereas an FCEV could be refueled in five minutes and have a range of more than 350 miles. A modest amount of hydrogen can go a long way. Hydrogen production is an energy-efficient chemical process that yields fuel cells with a performance advantage of two to three times over internal combustion engines. Users will be able to travel as far as they do today on only a third of the fuel.
How Do FECVs and BEVs Compare in Regard to Environmental Friendliness?
FCEVs are also the best option in terms of environmental impact, as fuel cells can be a 100% renewable and environmentally friendly energy system. In the absence of adequate recycling systems, the lithium-ion batteries used in BEVs are expected to cause a serious environmental crisis when they reach the end of their useful lives.
While driving, the car emits pure water vapor and filters ultrafine dust from the atmosphere. This fundamental feature of the FCEV has drawn a lot of public attention as the future of eco-friendly mobility. This technology may have a huge impact on our lifestyle in terms of sustainability due to the abundance of hydrogen on Earth and the production process itself being highly eco-friendly.
Overall, FCEVs are cleaner than BEVs and internal combustion vehicles, with additional room for improvement as hydrogen generation and distribution advances. FCEV production is also cleaner than BEV production due to fewer raw material requirements compared to BEV mineral mining and the consumption of heavy metals such as lithium and cobalt. FCEVs are also easier (and cheaper) to recycle than BEVs.
What Is the Status of the Global FCEV Market?
Global FCEV deployment has been primarily focused on light-duty passenger cars. However, the geographical distribution of FCEVs varies significantly. Korea, the United States and Japan have concentrated on passenger cars, with a small number of buses and commercial vehicles.
On the other hand, with its fuel cell bus and commercial vehicle policies, China today dominates worldwide stocks in these segments. This trend is anticipated to continue, as China’s 2020 fuel cell car subsidy policy focuses on employing fuel cells in medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. China has set a goal of using overone million FCEVsfor commercial purposes by 2030.
There will be more fuel cell buses and trucks in Europe in the near future. More than a thousand buses are planned during the next decade. ThePort of Rotterdam and Air Liquidehave developed an initiative to deploy 1,000 fuel cell trucks by 2025, and a joint call signed by over 60 industrial partners aims for up to 100,000 trucks by 2030. TheIEAforecasts that fuel cell manufacturing could produce six million FCEVs by 2030, meeting roughly 40% of the “Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario” needs.
Global technical regulationsare continually updated to assure global FCEV safety. International standards are used to build localized safety regulations and laws for FCEVs. They usually incorporate electrical and hydrogen safety requirements.
Hydrogen Tanks Are Bulky in Vehicles
Because hydrogen has a poor volumetric energy density, storing enough onboard poses weight, volume, kinetics, safety and cost challenges. Hydrogen can only be stored under high pressure, at extremely low temperatures as a liquid, or in metal hydride systems to maximize volumetric energy density.
Compressed hydrogen is the most used method for storing hydrogen in cars. Passenger FCEVs’ compressed hydrogen tanks are cumbersome and take up a lot of space. This is a flaw in the current generation of electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen metal or non-metal hydrides could be used in the future as a replacement for heavy hydrogen tanks. This is just beginning to take shape, with hydrogen evaporation remaining a key technical problem to overcome.
Honda and Nissan chose a 350 bar (5,000 psi) pressurized tank, while Toyota employs 700 bar (10,000 psi) tanks. Although the 10,000 psi composite tanks have been proved to be quite safe as needed by various regulatory requirements, the public is concerned about their safety. Moreover, the tank proportions require more space than traditional petrol tanks.
FCEVs won’t be commercially viable unless buyers are satisfied that they will be able to easily access refueling stations. Thus, the adoption of fuel cell vehicles should be complemented with enabling infrastructure. According toH2 Tools, by the end of 2021, there were over 492 hydrogen refueling stations operating globally. Japan had about 141 stations, followed by South Korea (112) and Germany (91).
TheGM Electrovanwas the first fuel cell-powered passenger car developed by General Motors in 1966. The project was shelved because of the high cost, difficulty and scarcity of fuel supply. The still-activeCalifornia Fuel Cell Partnershipwas created in 1999 to facilitate the testing and development of FCEVs in the United States. It has included representatives from the majority of major automakers at various points in time, although mainly only three have brought fuel cell vehicles to market so far.
Many automakers currently sell or lease FCEVs, but the technology is still new. Honda, Hyundai and Toyota are just a few of the companies on the top list. However, automakers are dedicated to growing both hydrogen fueling stations and hydrogen-powered vehicles, so more FCEVs are on the way, but while all of today’s fuel cell vehicles are considered mass-market production vehicles, none are now available outside of California in the United States. Many of them were only available in limited numbers, and Honda’s has never been sold, only leased, since its debut.
Can Hydrogen Fuel Cells Become the EV Technology of Choice?
Several studies, including one byArgonne National Laboratory, have demonstrated that creating and using hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles is more environmentally friendly than using grid electricity to power battery EVs. Hydrogen could be created using wind and solar energy, or by decomposing plant materials; however, these processes take longer and cost more money.
“Nothing worth having comes easy,” as President Roosevelt once said. The commercialization of FCEVs on the market is moving at a moderate pace at the moment.
So, who will win the EV battle? The answer: Battery and fuel cell technologies will coexist in the future because of their obvious similarities, with BEVs being more appropriate for short-range and small vehicles, and FCEVs the better choice for medium-to-large and long-range vehicles.
