tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/fuel-cells-7538/articlesFuel cells – The Conversation2022-11-01T12:46:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928022022-11-01T12:46:19Z2022-11-01T12:46:19ZBeyond passenger cars and pickups: 5 questions answered about electrifying trucks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491972/original/file-20221026-13-xcxwfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C10%2C6689%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trucks line up to load and unload at the Port of Los Angeles in Long Beach, California.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trucks-line-up-to-drop-off-their-loads-at-the-port-of-los-news-photo/1228408112">Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As part of its effort to reduce air pollution and cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, California is pursuing aggressive policies to promote clean trucks. The state already requires that by 2035, all new cars and other light-duty vehicles sold in the state must be <a href="https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/08/20220826-acc2.html">zero emission</a>. Its powerful <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/">Air Resources Board</a> has adopted rules requiring that most trucks be zero emission by 2035, and is now proposing that all trucks sold by 2040 <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-21/california-regulators-new-big-rigs-zero-emission-by-2040">must be zero emission</a>. The Conversation asked a panel of transportation experts from the University of California, Davis what’s involved in such a rapid transition.</em></p>
<h2>1. Why is California targeting medium- and heavy-duty trucks?</h2>
<p>Although diesel engines are valuable for moving heavy loads, they also are major polluters. Diesel trucks account for <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/diesel-fuel/diesel-and-the-environment.php">one-fourth of greenhouse gas emissions</a> and <a href="https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/documents/TransportationWhitePaper.pdf">about half of conventional air pollution</a> from transportation in U.S. cities. </p>
<p>Pollutants in diesel exhaust include nitrogen oxides, fine particulates and <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/overview-diesel-exhaust-and-health">numerous cancer-causing compounds</a>. Since many disadvantaged communities are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/03/09/redlining-pollution-environmental-justice/">located near highways and industrial centers</a>, their residents are especially affected by diesel truck pollution. Two regions in California – the <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/3460147-the-best-and-worst-u-s-cities-for-air-quality/">Central Valley and Los Angeles-Long Beach</a> – have some of the dirtiest air in the U.S., so the state has placed particular emphasis on cutting diesel use. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Almost all diesel fuel in the U.S. is used in trucks, not in passenger vehicles.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>2. Are zero-emission trucks ready to go?</h2>
<p>To a degree, yes. Some new models, mainly powered by batteries but some by <a href="https://www.energy.gov/public-services/vehicles/hydrogen-fuel-cells">hydrogen fuel cells</a>, are available on the market, and more are being announced almost daily. </p>
<p>But the production volumes are still small, and there are many variations of truck models needed for very diverse applications, from delivering mail locally and plowing snow to hauling goods cross-country. Many of these needs cannot be met with currently offered zero-emission trucks. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0p14c77j">hurdle</a> is that new electric truck models have <a href="https://theicct.org/cost-electric-semi-feb22/">higher purchase prices</a> than comparable diesel trucks. However, as the market for zero-emission trucks grows, economies of scale should bring these costs down significantly. We already see this happening with <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2022/trends-in-electric-light-duty-vehicles">zero-emission cars and light-duty trucks</a>.</p>
<p>The total cost of ownership for zero-emission trucks, which includes the purchase price, fuel costs and maintenance, is <a href="https://ncst.ucdavis.edu/research-product/current-and-future-performance-and-costs-battery-electric-trucks-review-key">already competitive in some applications</a> with conventional diesel trucks. One example is trucks used for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2022.102783">local goods delivery</a> by companies like Amazon, UPS and FedEx. This stage is also known as last-mile delivery – getting a product to a buyer’s door.</p>
<p>These trucks are typically driven less than <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7kr753nm">150 miles per day</a>, so they don’t need large battery packs. Their lower energy costs and reduced maintenance needs often offset their higher purchase costs, so owners save money on them over time. </p>
<p>Our studies indicate that by 2025 and especially by 2030, many applications for battery trucks, and perhaps hydrogen fuel cell trucks, will have <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1g89p8dn">competitive or even lower total costs of ownership</a> than comparable diesel trucks. That’s especially true because of California subsidies and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128353">incentives</a>, such as the <a href="https://californiahvip.org/">Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project</a>, which reduces the cost of new electric trucks and buses. And the state’s <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard">Low Carbon Fuel Standard</a> greatly reduces the cost of low-carbon fuels and electricity for truck and bus fleets.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a white shuttle bus painted with branding and '100% Zero Emission.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492193/original/file-20221027-25221-5wsypi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Zeem Solutions CEO Paul Gioupis poses in one of his company’s vehicles. Zeem, based in Inglewood, California, rents fleets of zero-emission trucks, vans and shuttle buses to other companies for a flat monthly fee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/paul-gioupis-ceo-of-zeem-solutions-allows-companies-to-news-photo/1408096502">Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The market in California is already reacting to these policy signals and is developing quickly. In the past year, there has been a large increase in sales of last-mile electric delivery trucks, and companies have stepped up their pledges to procure such vehicles. </p>
<p>Over 150 zero-emission truck models are commercially available and eligible for state incentive funding. They range from <a href="https://californiahvip.org/vehicle-category/2b/">large pickup trucks</a> to <a href="https://californiahvip.org/vehicle-category/heavy-duty/">heavy-duty tractor units for tractor-trailer combinations</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Is there enough charging infrastructure to support all these vehicles?</h2>
<p>Providing near-zero-carbon electricity for EVs and hydrogen for fuel cells, and expanding charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure, is just as important as getting zero-emission trucks on the roads.</p>
<p>Fleet owners will need to install chargers that can charge their battery-powered trucks overnight, or sometimes during the day. These stations may require so much power that utilities will need to install additional hardware to bring electricity from the grid to the stations to meet potentially high demands at certain times. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This video from the utility Southern California Edison shows some of the steps involved in electrifying medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Fuel cell trucks will require hydrogen stations installed either at fleet depots or public locations. These will allow fast refueling without high instantaneous demands on the system. But producing the hydrogen will require electricity, which will put an additional burden on the electric system.</p>
<p>Presently there are few public or private charging or hydrogen stations for truck fleets in California. But the California Public Utility Commission has allowed utilities to charge their customers to install a significant number of <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/infrastructure/transportation-electrification/approved-te-investments">stations throughout the state</a>. And the U.S. Department of Energy recently allocated $8 billion for construction of <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-launches-bipartisan-infrastructure-laws-8-billion-program-clean-hydrogen-hubs-across">hydrogen hubs</a> – networks for producing, processing, storing and delivering clean hydrogen – across the country. </p>
<p>Despite these efforts, the rollout of charging and hydrogen infrastructure will likely slow the transition to zero-emission trucks, especially long-haul trucks.</p>
<h2>4. Who would be affected by a diesel truck ban?</h2>
<p>California’s rules will affect both truck manufacturers and truck users. The state’s <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-trucks">Advanced Clean Trucks rule</a>, adopted in 2020, requires the sale of increasing percentages of zero emission trucks starting in 2024. By 2035, 40% to 75% of all trucks, depending on the truck type, must be zero emission. </p>
<p>A new proposal scheduled for adoption in early 2023, the <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-fleets">Advanced Clean Fleets rule</a>, would require fleets with over 50 trucks to purchase an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over time, with the requirement that all truck sales and purchases be zero emission by 2040. </p>
<p>These two policies would work together. The Advanced Clean Trucks rule ensures that zero-emission trucks will become available to fleets, and the Advanced Clean Fleets rule would give truck manufacturers confidence that the zero-emission trucks they produce will find buyers. </p>
<p>These two rules are the most ambitious in the world in accelerating a transition to zero-emission trucks. </p>
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<h2>5. Are other states emulating California?</h2>
<p>Yes, there is strong interest in many other states in electrifying trucking. Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have already <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-06/how-zero-emission-laws-will-reshape-u-s-trucking?sref=Hjm5biAW">adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks rule</a>, and <a href="https://www.electrictrucksnow.com/states">others are in the process of doing so</a>. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have <a href="https://www.electrificationcoalition.org/nevada-joins-multi-state-agreement-to-electrify-trucks-and-buses/">agreed to work together</a> to foster a self-sustaining market for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. </p>
<p>We expect that transitioning to zero-emission truck fleets will require strong policy support at least until the 2030s and perhaps longer. The transition should become self-sufficient in most cases as production scales up and fleets adapt their operations, resulting in lower costs. This could be soon, especially with medium-duty trucks. </p>
<p>Converting large long-haul trucks will be especially challenging because they need large amounts of onboard energy storage and benefit from rapid refueling. Fuel cell systems with hydrogen may make the most sense for many of these vehicles; fleets will ultimately decide which technologies are best for them. </p>
<p>The transition to zero-emission trucks will be disruptive for many fleets and businesses, and will require government support during the early years of the transition. Overall, though, we believe prospects are bright for zero-emission trucking, with enormous clean air and climate benefits, and eventually, cost savings for truck owners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Sperling receives funding from a variety of government agencies and foundations. He is a board member with the California Air Resources Board and the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lewis Fulton, via UC Davis, receives funding from a range of organizations involved in manufacturing vehicles, installing infrastructure, and other activities relevant to the market development of battery-electric vehicles. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marshall Miller receives funding via UC Davis from a range of organizations involved in manufacturing vehicles, installing infrastructure, and other activities relevant to the market development of battery-electric vehicles.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miguel Jaller receives funding from Federal and State agencies, foundations, truck manufacturers, and other organizations.
He has provided advisory to startup companies in the transportation and trucking fields, and is an Amazon Scholar working on worldwide sustainability efforts for Amazon.</span></em></p>As California goes on regulating air pollution, other states often follow – including the Golden State’s ambitious goals for cleaning up emissions from trucking.Daniel Sperling, Distinguished Blue Planet Prize Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Founding Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, DavisLewis Fulton, Co-director, STEPS (Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways), University of California, DavisMarshall Miller, Senior Development Engineer, institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, DavisMiguel Jaller, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1913332022-10-09T23:48:17Z2022-10-09T23:48:17ZWhat will power the future: Elon Musk’s battery packs or Twiggy Forrest’s green hydrogen? Truth is, we’ll need both<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487708/original/file-20221003-17-hlp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=140%2C50%2C4109%2C2771&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The battle of the billionaires has become the stuff of headlines. The world’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#59d606763d78">richest man</a>, Elon Musk, has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/musk-vs-forrest-the-clash-of-eco-titans-and-their-enormous-egos-20220920-p5bjjj.html">gone head-to-head</a> with Australia’s richest man, billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest.</p>
<p>Musk, founding investor in battery-powered car giant Tesla, has famously mocked hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles as “mind-bogglingly stupid”. Forrest has just placed a very large bet on green hydrogen through his Fortescue Future Industries company. It’s no surprise Forrest has hit back, calling Musk “just a businessman” rather than a “real climate avenger”.</p>
<p>The stoush might sound tabloid. But at its heart is serious debate about the world’s industrial future. Battery-electric cars have already proven their worth, whereas hydrogen fuel-cell cars are still emerging. But green hydrogen isn’t a one-trick pony – it can replace fossil fuels in many high-emissions industrial processes, such as making steel or cement. </p>
<p>As we accelerate towards a green future, will batteries or fuel cells power the world? The short answer is, we’ll need both.</p>
<h2>The battle for the future?</h2>
<p>Musk and his company Tesla are backing batteries and battery-powered electric vehicles. And Musk is doing this at colossal scale, with his large-scale gigafactories churning out millions of lithium-ion battery packs to power battery-electric vehicles. Other corporations such as LG and Samsung are following suit, rolling out their own gigafactories. </p>
<p>By contrast, Forrest is heavily backing green hydrogen. To make it a reality, he envisages vast solar arrays across Australia’s sun-drenched north and west to power the electrolysis process which splits water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen. In a fuel cell car, green hydrogen once again combines with oxygen and produces electricity. </p>
<p>While Teslas and many other battery-electric cars are now seen on roads around the world, fuel cell cars have had limited appeal to date. While Japan’s Toyota and South Korea’s Hyundai have backed them, they’re a rarity in other nations. This, Forrest believes, can change as green hydrogen arrives in large volumes and costs fall. </p>
<p>Musk does have a point. What, he asks, is the point of producing clean energy to produce hydrogen to produce electricity to propel a car? Why not just store the green electricity in a battery and use it directly? </p>
<p>While this truth might limit the uptake of fuel-cell vehicles in the medium term, Forrest sees green hydrogen as a miracle commodity and a long-term prospect. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/oil-vs-water-confessions-of-a-carbon-emitter-v1/13072410">Speaking</a> last year, Forrest said green hydrogen could become the biggest industry in the world, boasting revenues of AU$18.5 trillion by 2050. </p>
<p>How? Green hydrogen is versatile. Unlike batteries, green hydrogen can replace oil, coal and gas in virtually all their uses – including as fuel in fuel cell electric vehicles. Green hydrogen can produce <a href="https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/pressdetailpage/thyssenkrupp-is-accelerating-the-green-transformation--decision-taken-on-the-construction-of-germanys-largest-direct-reduction-plant-for-low-co2-steel-146809">green steel</a>, green cement, green glass, green plastics and even green fertiliser (through green ammonia).</p>
<p>This is the real reason green hydrogen matters. It makes total fossil fuel substitution possible, as I argue in my <a href="https://anthempress.com/a-green-industrial-revolution-pb">forthcoming book</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-plans-to-be-a-big-green-hydrogen-exporter-to-asian-markets-but-they-dont-need-it-179381">Australia plans to be a big green hydrogen exporter to Asian markets – but they don’t need it</a>
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<h2>How far off is total substitution?</h2>
<p>Forrest and his green hydrogen company are focused on green hydrogen as a universal substitute, rather than just fuel for vehicles. </p>
<p>This changes how we should view the hydrogen-battery debate. While battery-electric technology has taken a commanding lead in consumer cars, batteries are much less effective in powering heavy transport such as trucks. That’s because you would need immensely heavy batteries to get enough range and power. By contrast, the ability to store large volumes of hydrogen means fuel cells may well be needed to power trucks, trains, boats and ships. </p>
<p>Giant industrial economies to Australia’s north like such as South Korea, Japan and China are increasingly seeing green hydrogen as a way to decarbonise. The technique should also produce major water savings, given the water used in electrolysis is a <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.1c01375">fraction of that</a> needed to make fossil fuel use viable through mining, cooling power stations and fracking for gas or oil. </p>
<p>While these nations will be able to produce some of their own green hydrogen using water, solar and wind, they are also likely to look for overseas suppliers such as Australia, given our vast solar and wind resources.</p>
<p>But there are cost and scale challenges to overcome, notably the cost of electrolysers. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01097-4">Recent research</a> suggests this bottleneck is significant, but could be overcome with government and industry backing. </p>
<p>Costs should drop rapidly in the next few years. By the end of this year, the world will have its first gigawatt of electrolysis capacity. By 2030, according to a new <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/electrolysers">International Energy Agency report</a>, it could be between 134 and 200 gigawatts of capacity if all planned projects proceed. As of 2021, 38 gigawatts of capacity <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-has-38gw-of-green-hydrogen-in-pipeline-but-major-cost-falls-needed/">were planned</a> in Australia. Some of these won’t proceed, of course. But many will. </p>
<p>Green hydrogen is not a direct competitor with light battery-electric cars. It’s complementary – and it will open up many new urgently needed pathways to net zero in hard-to-decarbonise sectors. So Musk is wrong about hydrogen. But he’s right about batteries – we’ll need them too. </p>
<p>For our part, Australia has everything to gain from accelerating the green hydrogen industrial future. It’s entirely feasible we could have a vast export industry to take up the slack as coal, oil and gas decline. And we’ll benefit from our rich deposits of minerals needed in batteries, too. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/breakthrough-in-gas-separation-and-storage-could-fast-track-shift-to-green-hydrogen-and-significantly-cut-global-energy-use-186644">Breakthrough in gas separation and storage could fast-track shift to green hydrogen and significantly cut global energy use</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Mathews receives funding from ARC for the joint research project "Green energy transition in East Asia"</span></em></p>Australia’s richest man recently took on the world’s richest man over the shape of our green future. But it’s not either batteries or green hydrogen – we need both.John Mathews, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1625132021-06-11T12:41:01Z2021-06-11T12:41:01ZShipping is tough on the climate and hard to clean up – these innovations can help cut emissions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405760/original/file-20210610-10384-o9rdwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C5378%2C3566&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shipping is responsible for a large portion of global emissions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/NndKt2kF1L4">William William/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ships carry <a href="https://unctad.org/webflyer/review-maritime-transport-2020">more than 80%</a> of world trade, and they rely heavily on some of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/ghg-emission-factors-hub">least environmentally friendly</a> transportation fuels available. </p>
<p>There are no cheap, widely available solutions that can lower the shipping industry’s planet-warming carbon emissions – in fact, shipping is considered one of the hardest industries on the planet to decarbonize – but some exciting innovations are being tested right now.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GUXAGAYAAAAJ&hl=en">professor of naval architecture and marine engineering</a>, I work on ship propulsion and control systems, including electrification, batteries and fuel cells. Let’s take a look at what’s possible and some of the fuels and technologies that are likely to define the industry’s future.</p>
<h2>Shipping’s climate problem</h2>
<p>Shipping is the <a href="https://www.ics-shipping.org/shipping-fact/shipping-and-world-trade-driving-prosperity/">cheapest way to move raw materials and bulk goods</a>. That has given it both an enormous economic impact and a large carbon footprint.</p>
<p>The industry emits roughly <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/Greenhouse-Gas-Studies-2014.aspx">1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year</a> – nearly 3% of global emissions, according to the <a href="https://www.imo.org">International Maritime Organization</a>, a specialized U.N. agency made up of 174 member nations that sets standards for the industry. If shipping were a country, it would rank between Japan and Germany as the sixth-largest contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, nearly 70% of ships’ emissions occur within 250 miles (400 kilometers) of land, meaning it also has an impact on air quality, especially for port cities.</p>
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<p>Technological innovation, in addition to policies, will be crucial for achieving low-carbon or zero-emission shipping. Academic research institutes, government labs and companies are now experimenting with electrification; zero- or low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas, ammonia and biofuels; and alternative power sources such as fuel cells and solar, wind and wave power. Each has its pros and cons. </p>
<h2>Why electrifying ships matters</h2>
<p>Just as on land, electrification is one key to cleaning up the industry’s emissions. It allows engines operating on fossil fuels to be either replaced by alternative power generation technologies, or downsized and modified for low-emissions operation. It also allows ships to <a href="https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/navigating-cleaner-maritime-shipping.pdf">connect to electric power while in port</a>, reducing their emissions from idling.</p>
<p>Ship electrification and hybridization are <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7329678">significant trends for both commercial and military vessels</a>. Electrifying a ship means replacing its traditional mechanical systems with electrical ones. Some fleets have already electrified propulsion and cargo handling. Hybrid power systems, on the other hand, integrate different power-generation mechanisms, such as engines and batteries, to leverage their complementary characteristics.</p>
<p>I see deeper electrification and broader hybridization as a core strategy for achieving green shipping.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cranes load shipping containers onto a ship docked in port." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405764/original/file-20210610-13-1t90cai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ships that can connect to electric power in port can cavoid burning fuel that produces greenhouse gases and pollution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/PXHCvMmFiPw">Ernesto Velázquez/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tremendous opportunities also exist for improving the operation of the existing fleet – and reducing fuel use – through automation and real-time control. Advanced sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning can help ships to “see,” “think,” and “act” better to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.</p>
<h2>Greener fuels for ocean voyages</h2>
<p>Shifting to cleaner and greener fuel sources will be essential for decarbonizing the shipping industry.</p>
<p>Most of the power plants on today’s ships are based on internal combustion engines that use cheap heavy fuel oil. Innovations in marine diesel and gas turbine engine design and treatment of exhaust gas have lowered harmful emissions. However, most of the “low-hanging fruit” has been harvested, with little room left for dramatic improvement in traditional power sources.</p>
<p>The focus now is on developing cleaner fuel sources and more efficient alternative power generation technologies.</p>
<p>Low or zero-carbon fuels, such as natural gas, ammonia and hydrogen, are predicted to be the dominant energy sources for shipping in the future. <a href="https://www.lr.org/en/insights/articles/decarbonising-shipping-ammonia/">Ammonia</a> is easy to transport and store, and it can be used in internal combustion engines and high-temperature fuel cells. But like <a href="https://theconversation.com/hydrogen-is-one-future-fuel-oil-execs-and-environmentalists-could-both-support-as-rival-countries-search-for-climate-solutions-159201">hydrogen</a>, it is largely still made with fossil fuels. It’s also toxic. Both have the potential to be made with water and renewable energy using electrolysis, but that zero-carbon technology is still in the early stages and costly.</p>
<p>These fuels have started replacing heavy diesel fuels in some marine segments, <a href="https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/navigating-cleaner-maritime-shipping.pdf">primarily as demonstration projects</a> and at a slower rate than needed. Cost and infrastructure remain major barriers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2015/Feb/Renewable-Energy-Options-for-Shipping">Renewable energy sources</a>, such as <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/energysails-harness-wind-sun-clean-up-cargo-ships">wind</a>, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/solar-power-could-reinvent-the-shipping-industry-if-we-let-it/">solar</a> and wave energy, are also promising. Integrating renewable sources as cost-effective and reliable energy solutions for oceangoing vessels is another challenge developers are working on.</p>
<p><iframe id="PGtCc" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PGtCc/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Powering ships using fuel cells and batteries</h2>
<p>Fuel cells and batteries also hold promise as alternative power generation technologies.</p>
<p>Through electrochemical reactions, fuel cells generate electric power in a highly efficient and clean manner, making them very attractive for transportation. Fuel cells are operated with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/fuel-reforming">pure hydrogen or reformed gases</a>, except for high-temperature fuel cells that can use natural gas or ammonia as fuel.</p>
<p>Given the existing fuel infrastructure, most maritime fuel cell demonstration projects today have to store liquid hydrogen or use onboard systems that convert natural gas or other fuel to hydrogen-rich syngas. Infrastructure for hydrogen storage has to be developed for widespread adoption of fuel cell technology.</p>
<p>Battery technology is essential for electrification, even for ships with an internal combustion engine as their prime mover. It also has its own unique challenges. In addition to ensuring the batteries are safe and reliable – you don’t want a fire or power outage in the middle of the ocean – ruggedness and flexibility are necessary for powering operations such as cargo handling and tugboat operations.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Investing in the future</h2>
<p>In 2018, the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/06GHGinitialstrategy.aspx">set targets</a> to reduce the carbon intensity of the global fleet by at least 40% by 2030 and to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 from the 2008 levels. </p>
<p>Those targets are important, but they leave the deadlines for action well into the future. At its June 2021 meeting, the IMO agreed to <a href="https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/imo-approves-ban-on-heavy-fuel-oil-in-the-arctic">some small short-term</a> targets, <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/pages/ISWG-GHG-8.aspx">including lowering ships’ carbon-intensity</a> by 2% a year from 2023 to 2026. It also agreed to <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/pages/MEPC76.aspx">ban the use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic</a> starting in 2024, but with waivers <a href="https://gcaptain.com/imo-adopts-marpol-amendments-to-ban-heavy-fuel-oil-in-the-arctic/">allowing some ships to continue</a> using it there until 2029.</p>
<p>Countries and some shipping companies are recommending a faster transition. In early June, the governments of Denmark, Norway and the United States, along with the Global Maritime Forum and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, announced a new <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/denmark-norway-and-united-states-lead-zero-emission-shipping-mission">Zero-Emission Shipping Mission</a> to try to scale up and deploy new green maritime solutions faster. </p>
<p>The shipping giant AP Møller-Maersk has said it could support a carbon tax of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-02/shipping-giant-maersk-seeks-150-a-ton-carbon-tax-on-ship-fuel">$150 per ton of carbon dioxide</a> to encourage more innovation and a faster transition, though others in the industry argue that a tax like that would <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/shipping/060821-shipping-carbon-tax-proposals-ahead-of-imo-meeting-make-owners-jittery">nearly double the cost of bunker fuel and make freight</a> far more expensive, with repercussions throughout the global economy.</p>
<p>I believe the grand vision of zero-emission shipping can be realized if the ship design and fleet operation communities work together with policymakers, the logistics industry and the broad academic and industry technical communities to find solutions.</p>
<p>This is an exciting time to work in the area of energy and power solutions for shipping. The technology developed today will have a transformative impact, not only on the marine industry but also on society.</p>
<p><em>This story was updated June 17, 2021, with the IMO meeting results</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jing Sun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If shipping were a country, it would rank between Japan and Germany as the sixth-largest contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions.Jing Sun, Professor and Department Chair, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1368312020-04-22T18:45:02Z2020-04-22T18:45:02ZA smart second skin gets all the power it needs from sweat<p><em>The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Skin is the largest organ of the human body. It conveys a lot of information, including temperature, pressure, pleasure and pain. Electronic skin (e-skin) mimics the properties of biological skin. Recently developed e-skins are capable of wirelessly monitoring physiological signals. They could play a crucial role in the next generation of robotics and medical devices. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.gao.caltech.edu/">My lab at Caltech</a> is interested in studying human biology and monitoring human health by using advanced bioelectronic devices. The e-skin we have developed not only analyzes the chemical and molecular composition of human sweat, it’s <a href="http://robotics.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.aaz7946">fully powered by chemicals in sweat</a>.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Existing e-skins and wearable devices primarily focus on monitoring physiological parameters like heart rate and can’t assess health information at the molecular level. Moreover, they typically require batteries to power them, and the batteries need to be recharged frequently.</p>
<p>Despite recent efforts to harvest energy from the human body, there are no reports of self-powered e-skins that are able to perform biosensing and transmit the information via standard Bluetooth wireless communications. This comes down to the lack of power efficiency. There is a need for a self-powered device that can continuously collect molecular as well as physical information and wirelessly transmit the information to other devices.</p>
<h2>How we do this work</h2>
<p>The approach we take to harvesting energy from the human body is based on biofuel cells. Fuel cells convert chemical energy to electricity. The biofuel cells we developed for our e-skin convert the lactic acid in human sweat to electricity. In addition to the biofuel cells, the e-skin contains biosensors that can analyze metabolic information like glucose, urea and pH levels, to monitor for diabetes, ischaemia another health conditions, as well as physical information like skin temperature. The e-skin, made of soft materials and attached to a person’s skin, performs real-time biosensing, powered solely by sweat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329621/original/file-20200422-82699-uzmg0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sweat-powered biofuel cells in this electronic skin provide enough electricity to power biological sensors and transmit the information wirelessly to other devices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yu et al., Sci. Robot. 5, eaaz7946 (2020)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Previously developed wearable biofuel cells <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/elan.201600019">don’t produce a lot of power</a> and aren’t very stable. We greatly improved the power output and stability of the biofuel cells by using novel nanomaterials for the cell’s two electrodes. The cathode of our biofuel cell is composed of a mesh of carbon nanotubes decorated with nanoparticles containing platinum and cobalt. The anode is a nanocomposite material that contains an enzyme that breaks down lactic acid. </p>
<p>The biofuel cells can generate a continuous, stable output as high as several milliwatts per square centimeter over multiple days in human sweat. That’s enough to power the biosensors as well as wireless communication. We demonstrated our e-skin by monitoring glucose, pH, ammonium ions and urea levels in studies using human subjects. We also used our e-skin as a human-machine interface to control the motion of a robotic arm and a prosthetic leg.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We plan to further improve the power output of the biofuel cells and integrate different biosensors. The development of fully self-powered e-skin opens the door to numerous robotic and wearable health care possibilities. Wearable sensor arrays could be used for health monitoring, early disease diagnosis and potentially nutritional intervention. In addition, self-powered e-skin could be used to design and optimize next generation prosthetics.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wei Gao receives funding from the National Institute of Health. </span></em></p>Lightweight, flexible materials can be used to make health-monitoring wearable devices, but powering the devices is a challenge. Using fuel cells instead of batteries could make the difference.Wei Gao, Assistant Professor of Medical Engineering, California Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104502019-01-30T11:35:29Z2019-01-30T11:35:29ZHydrogen trains are coming – can they get rid of diesel for good?<p>When the UK government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40669869">cancelled its plans</a> to electrify train lines across Wales, the Midlands and the north of England, and cut back on the Great Western rail network electrification, it brought a premature end to a rail investment programme <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/13/rail-network-investment-cameron-clegg">once touted</a> as the biggest the country had seen since the Victorian era. But now <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/full-steam-ahead-for-hydrogen-trains-spzchrf8s">reports suggest</a> that the government and train manufacturers are hoping there may be an alternative way to turn British railways electric: hydrogen.</p>
<p>Hydrogen trains have already replaced more polluting diesel engines on a line <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/17/germany-launches-worlds-first-hydrogen-powered-train">in Germany</a>, and some train companies think the vehicles could be running in Britain as <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/news/hydrogen-fuel-cell-trains-run-british-railways-2022/">early as 2022</a>. Introducing them would still require substantial investment and wouldn’t be without challenges. But they could be an important step towards reducing the carbon footprint of railways.</p>
<p>Only <a href="http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/26108/rail-statistics-compendium-2016-17.pdf">around a third</a> of the UK rail network has been electrified, with little extra track converted in the last few years. Without continuing to electrify the network, the government is faced with the dilemma of how to eliminate diesel trains that produce carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants.</p>
<p>The current strategy is to purchase <a href="https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/10/24/bi-mode-trains-unlocking-opportunity/">bimodal trains</a> that can switch to using diesel when they reach parts of the track without electricity. But this is fudging the issue of dealing with climate change and air pollution and still leaves the UK <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/451522/share-of-the-rail-network-which-is-electrified-in-europe/">well behind</a> most other European networks. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hydrogen fuel cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solid_oxide_fuel_cell_protonic.svg">R.Dervisoglu/Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If electrifying the rest of the network is deemed too expensive, one potential alternative is to generate electricity on board the train. One way to do this is to use fuel cells that combine hydrogen gas with oxygen from the air to produce electricity and water. Hydrogen can carry more energy than the same weight of batteries, meaning fuel cell systems could be lighter. They also take less time to refuel than batteries take to recharge and don’t have the same <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact">high environmental costs</a> from manufacturing.</p>
<p>The hydrogen gas would need to be compressed into tanks that would usually be stored on the train’s roof. But adding a regenerative braking system to charge an additional small battery would reduce the amount of hydrogen needed to power the train.</p>
<p>The high cost of installing overhead wires means that hydrogen trains would likely be a more economic way to electrify railway lines with relatively low volumes of traffic. And it makes sense to experiment with hydrogen trains to uncover any unexpected issues. But widespread use would require substantial investment in the generation and storage of hydrogen. Because very few hydrogen-based railways have ever been built, it’s not clear if they would actually save governments any money over electrifying larger lines that would provide economy of scale.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Costly solution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/train-tracks-rural-environment-717427429?src=yZgDkKBWJhYGxk8F1rhkyw-1-1">Lukas Juocas/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A better solution might be to develop bimodal trains that can switch between electricity from overhead wires and fuel cells. This would be especially suitable for the UK rail network, which has many bridges and tunnels that are too low to run overhead cables beneath and very expensive to replace. If electric trains could switch to hydrogen power for sections of track with bridges or tunnels rather than requiring cables, it could considerably reduce the cost of electrification.</p>
<p>The other problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that the fuel is currently manufactured from methane (natural gas) using a process called <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-natural-gas-reforming">steam methane reforming</a> that also produces a large output of highly toxic carbon monoxide. This can be converted to carbon dioxide but that means using hydrogen fuel cells still contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<h2>Cleaner hydrogen</h2>
<p>A pollution-free way of producing hydrogen is through <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-electrolysis">electrolysis</a>, by passing an electric current through water. In theory, you could use excess wind power (and perhaps solar) to generate this electricity and make the hydrogen a renewable energy source. The issue is that electrolysis plants are unlikely to be economic unless they run for a high proportion of the day. This would mean that when there wasn’t excess wind to power them, they would need regular electricity from the grid that would make the process highly expensive (and not necessarily renewable).</p>
<p>A second alternative is to use a “thermochemical” production method that involves reacting water with sulphur and iodine in the presence of heat. The good news is that this method is set to become economical within the next ten years thanks to the development of generation IV nuclear power plants. These high-temperature, <a href="https://theconversation.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-mini-nuclear-reactors-56647">small modular reactors</a> are being developed in China, the US, Canada and Japan but not in the UK or Europe.</p>
<p>Despite the current limits of hydrogen as a transport fuel, as more and more countries (in particular Japan) undertake further research on the hydrogen economy, its costs will fall substantially, just as they have for solar and wind power. Hydrogen could even eventually come to replace natural gas in mains gas pipes, which would help bring down the costs of using it for transport.</p>
<p>The difficulty often seen in trying to introduce a new kind of transport fuel is that vehicle owners won’t use it without the infrastructure to support it but infrastructure builders won’t install it unless there is demand from vehicle owners. A government-funded experiment with hydrogen trains could help overcome this problem and bring the renewable hydrogen economy one step closer to reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110450/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Scott-Quinn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fuel cells are being touted as an alternative to costly electrification – but no one knows if they’ll really be cheaper.Brian Scott-Quinn, Emeritus Professor of Finance, ICMA Centre, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1019672018-08-24T04:15:00Z2018-08-24T04:15:00ZHow hydrogen power can help us cut emissions, boost exports, and even drive further between refills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233235/original/file-20180823-149484-hfrzfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Could this be the way to fill up in future?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hydrogen could become a significant part of Australia’s energy landscape within the coming decade, competing with both natural gas and batteries, according to a new <a href="http://www.csiro.au/hydrogenroadmap">CSIRO roadmap</a> for the industry. </p>
<p>Hydrogen gas is a versatile energy carrier with a wide range of potential uses. However, hydrogen is not freely available in the atmosphere as a gas. It therefore requires an energy input and a series of technologies to produce, store and then use it. </p>
<p>Why would we bother? Because hydrogen has several advantages over other energy carriers, such as batteries. It is a single product that can service multiple markets and, if produced using low- or zero-emissions energy sources, it can help us significantly cut greenhouse emissions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233399/original/file-20180824-149463-3jqusa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Potential uses for hydrogen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compared with batteries, hydrogen can release more energy per unit of mass. This means that in contrast to electric battery-powered cars, it can allow passenger vehicles to cover longer distances without refuelling. Refuelling is quicker too, and is likely to stay that way. </p>
<p>The benefits are potentially even greater for <a href="https://theconversation.com/of-renewables-robocops-and-risky-business-82452">heavy vehicles</a> such as buses and trucks which already carry heavy payloads, and where lengthy battery recharge times can affect business models. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-hydrogen-fuel-cell-trucks-drive-our-sustainable-transport-future-4426">Could hydrogen fuel cell trucks drive our sustainable transport future?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Hydrogen can also play an important role in energy storage, which will be increasingly necessary both in remote operations such as mine sites, and as part of the electricity grid to help smooth out the contribution of renewables such as wind and solar. This could work by using the excess renewable energy (when generation is high and/or demand is low) to drive hydrogen production via electrolysis of water. The hydrogen can then be stored as compressed gas and put into a fuel cell to generate electricity when needed.</p>
<p>Australia is heavily reliant on imported liquid fuels and does not currently have <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-fuel-stockpile-is-perilously-low-and-it-may-be-too-late-for-a-refill-96271">enough liquid fuel held in reserve</a>. Moving towards hydrogen fuel could potentially alleviate this problem. Hydrogen can also be used to produce industrial chemicals such as ammonia and methanol, and is an important ingredient in petroleum refining.</p>
<p>Further, as hydrogen burns without greenhouse emissions, it is one of the few viable green alternatives to natural gas for generating heat. </p>
<p>Our roadmap predicts that the global market for hydrogen will grow in the coming decades. Among the prospective buyers of Australian hydrogen would be Japan, which is comparatively constrained in its ability to generate energy locally. Australia’s extensive natural resources, namely solar, wind, fossil fuels and available land lend favourably to the establishment of hydrogen export supply chains.</p>
<h2>Why embrace hydrogen now?</h2>
<p>Given its widespread use and benefit, interest in the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-hydrogen-fuel-making-a-comeback-22299">hydrogen economy</a>” has peaked and troughed for the past few decades. Why might it be different this time around? While the main motivation is hydrogen’s ability to deliver low-carbon energy, there are a couple of other factors that distinguish today’s situation from previous years. </p>
<p>Our analysis shows that the hydrogen value chain is now underpinned by a series of mature technologies that are technically ready but not yet commercially viable. This means that the narrative around hydrogen has now shifted from one of technology development to “market activation”.</p>
<p>The solar panel industry provides a recent precedent for this kind of burgeoning energy industry. Large-scale solar farms are now generating attractive returns on investment, without any assistance from government. One of the main factors that enabled solar power to reach this tipping point was the increase in production economies of scale, particularly in China. Notably, China has recently emerged as a proponent for hydrogen, earmarking its use in both transport and distributed electricity generation. </p>
<p>But whereas solar power could feed into a market with ready-made infrastructure (the electricity grid), the case is less straightforward for hydrogen. The technologies to help produce and distribute hydrogen will need to develop in concert with the applications themselves. </p>
<h2>A roadmap for hydrogen</h2>
<p>In light of this, the primary objective of CSIRO’s National Hydrogen Roadmap is to provide a blueprint for the development of a hydrogen industry in Australia. With several activities already underway, it is designed to help industry, government and researchers decide where exactly to focus their attention and investment. </p>
<p>Our first step was to calculate the price points at which hydrogen can compete commercially with other technologies. We then worked backwards along the value chain to understand the key areas of investment needed for hydrogen to achieve competitiveness in each of the identified potential markets. Following this, we modelled the cumulative impact of the investment priorities that would be feasible in or around 2025. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233038/original/file-20180822-149472-1drmh69.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What became evident from the report was that the opportunity for clean hydrogen to compete favourably on a cost basis with existing industrial feedstocks and energy carriers in local applications such as transport and remote area power systems is within reach. On the upstream side, some of the most material drivers of reductions in cost include the availability of cheap low emissions electricity, utilisation and size of the asset. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-hydrogen-fuel-making-a-comeback-22299">Why is hydrogen fuel making a comeback?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The development of an export industry, meanwhile, is a potential game-changer for hydrogen and the broader energy sector. While this industry is not expected to scale up until closer to 2030, this will enable the localisation of supply chains, industrialisation and even automation of technology manufacture that will contribute to significant reductions in asset capital costs. It will also enable the development of fossil-fuel-derived hydrogen with carbon capture and storage, and place downward pressure on renewable energy costs dedicated to large scale hydrogen production via electrolysis. </p>
<p>In light of global trends in industry, energy and transport, development of a hydrogen industry in Australia represents a real opportunity to create new growth areas in our economy. Blessed with unparalleled resources, a skilled workforce and established manufacturing base, Australia is extremely well placed to capitalise on this opportunity. But it won’t eventuate on its own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Bruce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The hydrogen economy has been touted for decades as a way to navigate the clean energy transition. Now a new CSIRO roadmap sets out how hydrogen power can become a major energy player.Sam Bruce, Manager, CSIRO Futures, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847112017-10-27T13:07:24Z2017-10-27T13:07:24ZHow a Victorian lawyer from Wales invented the hydrogen fuel cell<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192213/original/file-20171027-13315-i0v6d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/examination-current-light-bulbs-physics-laboratory-232599646?src=Mv8CllSuIWZuht1UfyH5LQ-1-5">Shaiith/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Let us start, in the spirit of steampunk, by imagining a new and different past. One that is just a little different to that which we currently have. </p>
<p>So welcome to the year 1867. The Victorian age is at its zenith and a new, powerful and monied middle class is looking for things to do with their cash. Towns and cities seem to be growing bigger with each passing day, and horizons are transformed as new buildings appear everywhere. </p>
<p>One aspect of the urban landscape never changes though. Everywhere you look you will see one of the huge gasometers that have been a constant feature of the cityscape for almost 20 years now. They are filled with the hydrogen gas essential to run the fuel cells – or gas batteries, as the Victorians call them – that are so vital for the economy and for powering everyday life.</p>
<p>In both this imagined and the real past, the gas battery was invented in 1842 by a young Welshman from the then town of Swansea, William Robert Grove. It was a revolutionary device because rather than using expensive chemicals to produce electricity like ordinary batteries, it used common gases – oxygen and hydrogen – instead. </p>
<p>However in this timeline, unlike our own, within 20 years the Welsh man of science’s amazing invention had ushered in a new industrial and cultural revolution. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192189/original/file-20171027-13349-11ocnll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Towering gasometers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gasometer_Simmering_1901.jpg">Franz Kapaun/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our imagined scene is the British Empire’s new electrical age. The horseless carriages that run along roads and railways are all powered by electricity from banks of gas batteries. So is the machinery in the factories and cotton mills that produce the cheap goods which are the source of Britain’s growing wealth. The demand for coal to produce the hydrogen needed to run gas batteries has transformed places such as Grove’s own south Wales, where coalfields are expanded to meet the insatiable need for more power.</p>
<p>Middle-class homes are connected to those gasometers through networks of pipes supplying the hydrogen needed as fuel to run all kinds of handy electrical devices. Machines for washing clothes – and dishes – have trebled the workload of domestic servants by transforming their employers’ expectations concerning daily hygiene. There are machines for cleaning floors and furniture. Electric ovens are fast replacing the traditional kitchen range in the more fashionable houses. Gas batteries also run the magic lanterns that provide entertainment for middle-class families every evening after dinner.</p>
<p>Of course, none of this actually happened. The true history of energy, and the culture that depends on that energy, over the past 150 years or so has been rather different. <a href="http://www.planete-energies.com/en/medias/saga-energies/history-energy-united-kingdom">It was coal and oil</a>, rather than hydrogen, that powered the 19th and 20th-century economies. </p>
<h2>A curious voltaic pile</h2>
<p>The gas battery’s real history begins in October 1842, when Grove, newly appointed professor of experimental philosophy at the London Institution, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Zcn4AUhj0F4C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=letter+to+michael+faraday+from+william+grove+platina+foil&source=bl&ots=4cJ_CMDArc&sig=5tUXQbiu4Xqk2XPOuK5EzgWG4Ck&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXl-X37JDXAhVD1RoKHRe5BIYQ6AEINjAG#v=onepage&q=letter%20to%20michael%20faraday%20from%20william%20grove%20platina%20foil&f=false">penned a brief note</a> to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/faraday_michael.shtml">chemist and physicist Michael Faraday</a> at the Royal Institution. </p>
<p>“I have just completed a curious voltaic pile which I think you would like to see,” he wrote. The instrument was “composed of alternate tubs of oxygen and hydrogen through each of which passes platina foil so as to dip into separate vessels of water acidulated with sulphuric acid.” </p>
<p>The effect, as Grove described it to Faraday, was startling: “with 60 of these alternations I get an unpleasant shock and decompose not only iodide of potassium but water so plainly that a continuous stream of thin bubbles ascends from each electrode”. Grove had invented a battery which turned hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192190/original/file-20171027-13355-1molhph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The technology described in Grove’s letter to Faraday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A1839_William_Grove_Fuel_Cell.jpg">Wikimedia/EERE</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1842 Grove was busily making a name for himself in metropolitan scientific circles. He had been born in 1811 into a leading family in the commercial and public life of Swansea, and grew up in a world where the importance and utility of science was commonly understood. The Groves’ neighbours included prominent industrialists including pottery manufacturer and botanist <a href="http://www.swansea.ac.uk/crew/researchprojects/dillwyn/">Lewis Weston Dillwyn</a> and John Henry Vivian – an industrialist and politician – who were also fellows at the Royal Society. </p>
<p>Grove studied at Brasenose College Oxford before going to London to prepare for a career in the law. While there he became a member of the Royal Institution and it is clear that from around this time he started to become an active electrical experimenter. </p>
<h2>Economical batteries</h2>
<p>This is when some of Grove’s earliest forays into scientific work began to appear. In 1838 he gave a lecture to the society describing a new battery he had invented: “an economical battery of Mr Grove’s invention, made of alternate plates of iron and thin wood, such as that used by hatters”.</p>
<p>This emphasis on economy was a theme that would recur in his work on the powerful nitric acid battery that he developed a year later – and which led to his aforementioned appointment as professor, and fellowship of the Royal Society – as well as in his work on the gas battery.</p>
<p>Grove described <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786443908649684?src=recsys">in a letter</a> to Philosophical magazine how the battery “with proper arrangements liberates six cubic inches of mixed gases per minute, heats to a bright red seven inches of platinum wire 1/40th of an inch in diameter, burns with beautiful scintillations needles of a similar diameter, and affects proportionally the magnet”. This is typical of the way battery power was demonstrated. Scientists would show how it could break down water into its constituent gases, make wires glow, or work an electromagnet.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192198/original/file-20171027-13355-mjwy9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Moritz von Jacobi’s electromagnetic motor, 1873.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motor_Jacobi.jpg">Wikimedia/Julius Dub</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Significantly, Grove also went on to say that as “it seems probable that at no very distant period voltaic electricity may become a useful means of locomotion, the arrangement of batteries so as to produce the greatest power in the smallest space becomes important”. Indeed, shortly after Grove announced his invention, the German-born engineer Moritz Hermann von Jacobi used a bank of Grove’s batteries to <a href="https://www.eti.kit.edu/english/1382.php">power an electromagnetic motor boat</a> on the river Neva in Saint Petersburg. And the technology later went on to be used extensively by the American telegraph industry.</p>
<h2>Born of necessity</h2>
<p>It was Grove’s continuing work on making batteries more efficient and economic that led directly to the gas battery which was to be the forebear of the now modern fuel cell. He wanted to find out just what happened in the process of generating electricity from chemical reactions. </p>
<p>It showed how “gases, in combining and acquiring a liquid form, evolve sufficient force to decompose a similar liquid and cause it to acquire a gaseous form”. To Grove, this was “the most interesting effect of the battery; it exhibits such a beautiful instance of the correlation of natural forces”.</p>
<p>The gas battery provided powerful evidence in favour of the theory Grove had developed regarding the inter-relationship of forces, which he described a few years later in his essay, <a href="https://archive.org/details/correlationofphy00grovrich">On the Correlation of Physical Forces</a>. There he argued:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>that the various imponderable agencies, or the affections of matter, which constitute the main objects of experimental physics, viz. heat, light, electricity, magnetism, chemical affinity, and motion, are all correlative, or have a reciprocal dependence. That neither taken abstractedly can be said to be the essential or proximate cause of the others, but that either may, as a force, produce or be convertible into the other, this heat may mediately or immediately produce electricity, electricity may produce heat; and so of the rest. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, forces were interchangable and any one of them could be manipulated to generate the others.</p>
<p>But what about utility and practical power? Grove clearly believed, as did many of his contemporaries – including the electro-magnet’s inventor, William Sturgeon – that the future was electrical. It would not be long before electromagnetic engines like the one that Jacobi had used for his boat on the Neva would replace the steam engine. It was just a matter of finding the right and most economic way of producing electricity for the purpose. </p>
<p>As Grove <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/41334772?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents">put it to a meeting</a> of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1866, if:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>instead of employing manufactured products or educts, such as zinc and acids, we could realise as electricity the whole of the chemical force which is active in the combustion of cheap and abundant raw materials … we should obtain one of the greatest practical desiderata, and have at our command a mechanical power in every respect superior in its applicability to the steam-engine. </p>
<p>We are at present, far from seeing a practical mode of replacing that granary of force, the coal-fields; but we may with confidence rely on invention being in this case, as in others, born of necessity, when the necessity arises.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He was clear that realising this particular dream was not his problem, however: “it seems an over-refined sensibility to occupy ourselves with providing means for our descendants in the tenth generation to warm their dwellings or propel their locomotives”.</p>
<h2>A new past</h2>
<p>Grove certainly made no attempt to turn his gas battery into an economic device, but like many Victorians he was fond of looking into the future and putting his technologies there. In many ways it was Victorians such as Grove who invented the view of the future as a different country that we are so familiar with now. Their future was going to be a country full of new technologies – and electrical technologies in particular.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192204/original/file-20171027-13349-kyffn6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Robert Grove, circa 1877.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWilliam_Robert_Grove_2.jpg">Wikimedia/Lock & Whitfield</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the time Grove died in 1896 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/25/electicity-thomas-edison-renewable-energy-interview-1896">commentators were prophesying</a> a future where electricity did everything. Electricity would power transport systems. Electricity would grow crops. Electricity would provide entertainment. Electricity would win wars. It seemed almost impossible to talk about electricity at all without invoking the future it would deliver.</p>
<p>All this brings us neatly back to the new past for Grove and the gas battery that our future technologies may deliver. If the future of new and clean electrical technology – that contemporary promoters of the fuel cell are today offering us – really happens, then the obscure story about a curious little invention by a largely forgotten Welsh man of science will become an epic piece of technological history. </p>
<p>That future, if it happens, will change our past. It will change the ways we understand the history of Victorian technology and the ways in which the Victorians used those technologies to tell stories about their future selves. We should not forget that we still pattern our own projected futures in the same way as they did. We extrapolate bits of our contemporary technologies into the future in the same sort of way. </p>
<p>It is interesting to speculate in that case why particular sorts of technologies make for good futures and others apparently do not. At the end of the 19th century the gas battery clearly did not look like a good piece of future making technology to many people. It does now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iwan Rhys Morus receives funding from the AHRC as part of the Unsettling Scientific Stories project: <a href="http://unsettlingscientificstories.co.uk/">http://unsettlingscientificstories.co.uk/</a>. </span></em></p>An obscure technology from the past has the potential to change the world’s future.Iwan Morus, Professor of History, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/549932016-02-22T13:55:27Z2016-02-22T13:55:27ZRiversimple’s hydrogen fuel cell Rasa gives car design a clean slate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112146/original/image-20160219-25901-vzuyvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Back to basics in the home of the fuel cell</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Riversimple</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The prototype of a car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell was unveiled this month by the Welsh company Riversimple. The company has named its vehicle named “Rasa” after the Latin phrase <em>tabula rasa</em>, which means: clean slate. </p>
<p>This is not the first fuel cell car – we already have <a href="https://ssl.toyota.com/mirai/fcv.html">Toyota’s Mirai</a>, while Honda made its <a href="automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/">FCX Clarity fuel cell car</a> available to carefully selected clients for lease some years ago and is due to unveil a successor this year. But the Rasa is very different – while Japanese and Korean companies tend to follow the North American design principle of simply adding the fuel cell technology to a traditional vehicle template, Riversimple has, in many respects, gone back to the beginning; hence the name: clean slate.</p>
<p>And where better to develop such a car than in Wales, which has traditionally supported low-carbon vehicle technologies – and where <a href="http://www.cleantechinvestor.com/portal/fuel-cells/6455-fuel-cell-history.html">Sir William Groves first invented the hydrogen fuel cell</a>?</p>
<p>Riversimple’s founder and chief engineer, Hugo Spowers, has long argued that the technology in previous fuel cell vehicles was unnecessarily complex and expensive. This has created an impression in the market – and the wider industry – that hydrogen fuel cell technology is inherently expensive. Spowers says that, scaled down, a fuel cell system doesn’t need to be particularly costly – but a small fuel cell powertrain (the components, including the engine, that essentially make the car go) can only power a light car. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112144/original/image-20160219-25876-862r0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sleek and simple – but can the Rasa compete?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Riversimple</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a result, Riversimple has developed a car not unlike the “<a href="http://www.hypercars.com/">hypercar</a>” concept developed in the 1990s by Rocky Mountains Institute founder Amory Lovins. Lovins argued that cars needed to shed half their weight, but that once you started aiming for this you would find that all sorts of onboard systems could be downsized as well, or removed altogether, leaving you effectively with a vehicle only a quarter of the weight of a conventional car – what he called a “<a href="http://www.iisd.org/business/tools/principles_factor.aspx">factor four</a>” improvement.</p>
<p>The Riversimple Rasa weighs in at only 580kg, compared with the original Lotus Elise at 770kg, or the first generation Smart at 752kg. This is achieved by intensive use of carbon fibre and aluminium and, like the Elise and Smart, the Rasa is also a two-seater. Though once regarded as an expensive technology – which when optimised for aerospace or Formula 1 applications it can be – much work, particularly in the UK in recent years, has shown that, for ordinary road cars, cheaper methods of using this material are possible. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hRKg2ajTF4U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Yet these advanced features of the car overshadow the equally interesting fact that it is accompanied by a new automotive business model: the car is not for sale, but can be leased as part of a transport provision package. While leasing is also used by Toyota and Honda as a way of marketing their fuel cell cars, in this case as the car ages it is gradually leased to less demanding customers at a lower cost. Eventually the vehicle will go back to Riversimple for refurbishment and re-leasing. The car therefore becomes the means and not the end for running the business. </p>
<p>The facilities for assembling the car and dealing with it over its lifetime follow a dispersed manufacturing model of small, local facilities, rather than the large, centralised factories of conventional car manufacturers. This is made possible by the technologies used, particularly the body/chassis system, which operates<a href="https://icc.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/2/183.short">at much lower level of economies of scale than conventional steel body technology</a> – meaning that the more are produced, the cheaper it gets to make each one.</p>
<p>However, some issues remain. Despite there being are a number of hydrogen (H2) production facilities in the UK –- three along the M4 corridor in south Wales alone –- it is not readily available to consumers. In this respect, the Rasa’s launch is well timed, as H2 infrastructure will also be needed by the Toyota Mirai and its competitors. In the meantime, Riversimple will put hydrogen filling points near the <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a6c90aa8-c8dc-11e5-be0b-b7ece4e953a0.html#axzz40WqlKDDe">20 or so trial users</a> of this first generation of Rasas. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112143/original/image-20160219-25855-1sq4bbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Rasa’s stripped down interior doesn’t compromise on style.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Riversimple</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Questions also remain over the production of hydrogen. Unlike petrol or diesel, it is not a fuel, but an energy carrier and has to be produced from hydrocarbons, or by splitting water. The latter, in particular, can be very energy intensive, while the former often involves using fossil fuels, the source of most current hydrogen production. </p>
<p>At the same time, experiments are taking place – in Germany, for example – using hydrogen to store excess electricity generated from renewable sources. This may work if such technologies are adopted more widely, although current UK energy policy seems to prefer a 20th-century approach rather than embracing such new technologies.</p>
<p>Some may also question whether we still need fuel cell electric cars with the advent of battery-electric cars. Spowers sees a role for both and deliberately positions the Rasa as a local vehicle for commuting, shopping, social visits and the like. This way, like the many <a href="http://www.fuelcells.org/uploads/fcbuses-world1.pdf">fuel cell buses</a> in use around the world, it never strays far from its fuelling point. This means that unlike an EV in similar use it would only need to refuel once a week or so, rather than every day. The 300 mile range of the Rasa beats the Nissan Leaf, a battery EV targeted at a similar market, which can travel up to 155 miles between charges.</p>
<p>Overall the Rasa certainly does wipe the slate clean for Britain’s sustainable car industry. Whether it will prove to be the best option will no doubt be apparent after the 12-month trial due to start later this year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Nieuwenhuis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Will the Rasa be a clean slate for the advancement of fuel cell cars?Paul Nieuwenhuis, Senior Lecturer and Co-Director, Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence (EVCE), Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/380172015-03-06T16:08:22Z2015-03-06T16:08:22ZNew nanomaterials will boost renewable energy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73476/original/image-20150302-15975-87usmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fossil fuels can only go so far towards meeting our burgeoning energy demands</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=fossil%20fuels&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=130778297">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global energy consumption is accelerating at an alarming rate. There are three main causes: rapid economic expansion, population growth, and increased reliance on energy-based appliances across the world. </p>
<p>Our rising energy demand and the environmental impact of traditional fuels pose serious challenges to human health, energy security, and environmental protection. It has been estimated that the world will <a href="http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/program/2002_energy_storage.pdf">need to double its energy supply</a> by 2050 and it is critical that we develop new types of energy to meet this challenge.</p>
<p>Fuel cells usually use expensive platinum electrodes, but a non-metal alternative could be an affordable solution for energy security. Fuel cells generate electricity by oxidizing fuel into water, providing clean and sustainable power. </p>
<p>Hydrogen can be used as the fuel. First, hydrogen is split into its constituent electrons and protons. Then the flow of electrons generates electrical power, before the electrons and protons join with reduced oxygen, forming water as the only by-product.</p>
<p>This technology has high energy conversion efficiency, creates virtually no pollution, and has the potential for large-scale use. However, the vital reaction which generates reduced oxygen in fuel cells requires a catalyst – traditionally a platinum electrode. Unfortunately, the high cost and limited resources have made this precious metal catalyst the primary barrier to mass-market fuel cells. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73480/original/image-20150302-15960-15uuhr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The high cost of platinum can make electrodes – as well as engagements – prohibitively expensive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diamond_engagement_ring_platinum_dr56plrb_s_430.jpg">1791 Diamonds</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ever since fuel cells using platinum were <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/alk/alk3.htm">developed for the Apollo lunar mission</a> in the 1960s, researchers have been developing catalysts made from alloys containing platinum alongside cheaper metals. These alloy catalysts have a lower platinum content, yet commercial mass production still requires large amounts of platinum. To make fuel cells a viable large-scale energy option, we need other efficient, low cost, and stable electrodes.</p>
<p>We <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/323/5915/760.abstract">previously discovered</a> a new class of low-cost metal-free catalysts based on carbon nanotubes with added nitrogen, which performed better than platinum in basic fuel cells. The improved catalytic performance can be attributed to the electron-accepting ability of the nitrogen atoms, which aids the oxygen reduction reaction. These carbon-based, metal-free catalysts could dramatically reduce the cost of commercialising of fuel cell technology. Unfortunately, they are often found to be less effective in acidic conditions – the typical conditions in mainstream fuel cells. </p>
<p>Using carbon composites with a porous structure to increase surface area and nanotubes to enhance conductivity, <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/1/e1400129">our latest research</a> demonstrates that our nanomaterials are able to catalyse oxygen reduction as efficiently as the state-of-the-art non-precious metal catalysts – and with a longer stability. This first successful attempt at using carbon-based metal-free catalysts in acidic fuel cells could facilitate the commercialisation of affordable and durable fuel cells.</p>
<p>In addition to fuel cells, these new metal-free carbon nanomaterial catalysts are also efficient electrodes for low-cost solar cells, supercapacitors for energy storage, and water splitting systems which generate fuel from water. The widespread use of carbon-based metal-free catalysts will therefore result in better fuel economy, a decrease in harmful emissions, and a reduced reliance on petroleum sources. This could dramatically affect life in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liming Dai receives funding from the US National Science Foundation and Air Force Office of Scientific Research.</span></em></p>A non-metal alternative to platinum electrodes in fuel cells could make them an affordable solution for energy security.Liming Dai, Director, Center of Advanced Science and Engineering for Carbon (Case4Carbon), Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/360522015-01-19T06:40:57Z2015-01-19T06:40:57ZExplainer: For the future of electric vehicles, one size does not fit all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69152/original/image-20150115-5177-1n9p4ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fill it up with hydrogen. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shannon Stapleton/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In an effort to jumpstart adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles, Toyota Motors earlier this month made more than 5,600 <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/following-teslas-lead-toyota-makes-fuel-cell-patents-140308329.html">patents</a> available to other carmakers. A few days later, General Motors introduced the <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/detroit-auto-show/2015/01/12/chevy-bolt-concept-reveal/21624465/">electric Bolt</a>, an electric vehicle designed to run 200 miles on batteries. </p>
<p>Automakers, meanwhile, continue to develop yet other types of electric vehicles: plug-in hybrids and hybrid electrics. </p>
<p>Electric vehicles are the most promising alternative to conventional gasoline and diesel-powered cars. But how is each technology different? And what are the relative benefits and commercial challenges to each? </p>
<h2>How we got here</h2>
<p>Let’s start with similarities. Plug-in battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are all electric vehicles. They’re all propelled by an electric motor and have batteries to store or supply electricity as required and absorb energy when braking the vehicle.</p>
<p>Some of these vehicles can also generate electricity on board, either through a gasoline-powered combustion engine or a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. </p>
<p>They all represent a fundamental break from the gasoline combustion vehicles we drive today in three ways: the drivetrain is electric, rather than mechanical; the engine under the hood is electrochemical instead of combustion-based; and the fuel is electricity and hydrogen, rather than gasoline.</p>
<p>The forces behind these technological shifts began in the late 1980s with automobile manufacturers’ acknowledgment that the long-term availability of petroleum is limited and that an alternative vehicle platform and fuel would be needed to assure a viable future business model. Hydrogen was selected as the fuel and a 25-year path for fuel-cell vehicle commercialization was established. </p>
<p>Since 1990, three additional forces have emerged to further affirm the decision to target the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle as the product of the future, including climate change, policies that favor fuel independence, and air quality regulations, notably in California.</p>
<h2>Battery electric vehicles (BEVs)</h2>
<p>In the past five years, though, there’s been a resurgence of battery electric vehicles, which rely solely on battery power. Examples include the Nissan Leaf, the GM Spark and the Kia Soul. After 40 to 60 miles, the batteries are depleted and need to be recharged by plugging into a residential circuit or 220-volt, purpose-built charger at a commercial center or workplace. Charging time depends on the voltage, the charger technology and the battery “state of charge” (i.e., how much the battery has been depleted) but generally requires one to six hours to fully charge the vehicle. </p>
<p>A BEV is attractive because its range satisfies the majority of trips taken by the public, recharging at home is convenient, and driving is vibration-free and quiet. The size of the vehicle is relatively small, providing good maneuverability and relatively easy parking, and there are no air pollutants during driving. BEVs also have the potential to balance the electric grid by charging overnight when grid resources are under-utilized. </p>
<p>Working against BEVs is the time required to recharge the vehicle and the range anxiety – that is, concern over limited driving range – experienced by drivers, which effectively reduces the useful range of the vehicle. Also, charging can stress the electric grid and there are cases where there is no charging infrastructure available, particularly for people who live in apartments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69154/original/image-20150115-5170-snf7qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">General Motors debuts the battery electric Bolt, which promises to have a 200-mile range and cost about $30,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GM</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following California’s zero emissions vehicle mandate, BEVs were first commercialized in the 1990s but the market waned in the 2000s. With a number of passenger cars available for sale or lease, the market is being tested today to assess public demand for this limited-range, but convenient vehicle. Advances in battery technology have the potential to increase range.</p>
<h2>Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs)</h2>
<p>Hybrid electric vehicles are a BEV with a gasoline combustion engine on board to generate electricity and move the car in conjunction with the electric motor. They can provide the same 300-mile range people expect with a conventional gasoline vehicle. And with advanced software controls, the combustion engine interacts with the batteries to achieve high efficiencies and low emission of pollutants. </p>
<p>HEVs have been offered for sale in the United States since 2000, with the Prius, first introduced by Toyota in Japan in 1997, a prominent example. In 2012 and 2013, the Prius was the best-selling vehicle in California with over seven million vehicles sold, reflecting consumers’ remarkably positive acceptance of the vehicle.</p>
<h2>Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)</h2>
<p>PHEVs are a HEV with added battery capacity that can provide an electric drive range of between ten and 60 miles. The Chevy Volt, for example, can drive nearly 40 miles on battery power before a gasoline generator kicks in. This allows the convenience of recharging the batteries overnight at home and a daily electric range that the majority of the US public does not exceed. And the PHEV provides the 300-mile range which the driving public is accustomed to.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69159/original/image-20150115-5206-787pi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A plug-in Prius has a larger battery and has an all-electric range of about 10 miles before going into hybrid mode.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Toyota</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)</h2>
<p>Fuel cell vehicles are hybrid electric vehicles with two major differences. A fuel cell, an electrochemical device that takes a fuel, such as hydrogen, and oxygen from the air to generate electricity, replaces the gasoline engine under the hood. The fuel cell has remarkably high efficiency (three times that of the conventional gasoline automobile) and zero emission of air pollutants when driving. The product of the reaction is water, which is exhausted through the tailpipe with nitrogen and some oxygen remaining from the air. And instead of a gasoline tank, there are hydrogen storage tanks. The refueling time of a fuel cell vehicle is comparable to a conventional gasoline automobile and fuel can be sourced domestically. </p>
<p>Some of the challenges associated with fuel cell vehicles are the limited number of hydrogen fueling stations nationally. California has the most hydrogen fueling stations in the US, with 51 projected to be operating by the end of 2015, over 70 by the end of 2017, and 100 by 2020. Sixty eight stations are considered the initial minimum to support acceptance of fuel cell vehicles in the State. </p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>The market is discovering that the BEV is an attractive complement (not replacement) to the conventional gasoline vehicle. The gasoline-powered HEV and PHEV are emerging to meet environmental regulations while maintaining the overall driving experience of range and size the market is accustomed to. </p>
<p>The cost of the vehicles and the cost of driving the vehicles are, for all practical purposes, competitive and compelling. Depending on the cost of electricity and the cost of gasoline, the cost per mile can favor one or the other. The PHEV provides the customer with the option of using either electricity or gasoline.</p>
<p>The fuel cell electric vehicle is emerging as a natural evolution of the hybrid and plug-in electric hybrid. As a result, one can foresee that the BEV and the FCEV represent the next-generation alternatives to the conventional and hybridized gasoline vehicle for fulfilling light-duty transportation needs. The BEV provides convenience and maneuverability, and the FCEV provides range, flexibility in vehicle size, and rapid fueling. Both vehicles achieve fuel independence, a separation from geo-politics, and attractive <a href="http://www.apep.uci.edu/3/Research/pdf/SustainableTransportation/WTW_vehicle_greenhouse_gases_Public.pdf">environmental attributes</a>.</p>
<p>The purchase cost and operating cost of battery electric and fuel cell vehicles are comparable today. It’s likely that the cost of hydrogen will decrease in the future due to market competition and advances in technology and that the cost of electricity will increase. That means the per-mile cost of operating a fuel cell electric vehicle, compared to a battery electric vehicle, will likely become lower.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Samuelsen receives funding from U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board, California Public Utilities Commission, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Southern California Gas, Southern California Edison, Honda, Toyota, General Motors</span></em></p>In an effort to jumpstart adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles, Toyota Motors earlier this month made more than 5,600 patents available to other carmakers. A few days later, General Motors introduced…Scott Samuelsen, Professor, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Environmental Engineering, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/272472014-05-29T17:13:46Z2014-05-29T17:13:46ZHeat subsidies leave hydrogen and fuel cells out in the cold<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49799/original/cww6v88g-1401370067.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Time to put some heat into the hydrogen industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-106975334/stock-photo-fire-flames-on-a-black-background.html?src=pp-photo-145669814-6">Flames on a black background, Olga Nikonova</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The inhabitants of a frequently cold and windy country like the UK need to heat their homes, even in what is loosely termed “summer”. This is achieved mostly by natural gas-fed boilers – but this dependence on gas is unsustainable in the long term if the country aims to meet its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.</p>
<p>In 2013, the government published a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-heating-meeting-the-challenge">heat strategy</a> and this year it extended the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-use-of-low-carbon-technologies/supporting-pages/renewable-heat-incentive-rhi">Renewable Heat Incentive</a> from non-domestic buildings to also include homes. This provides a subsidy to people installing low-carbon heating technologies, with the aim of building up new markets and supply chains, pushing down costs and expanding the take-up of low-carbon heating.</p>
<p>But the list of technologies for which a subsidy is currently available – <a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Ground-source-heat-pumps">heat pumps</a>, <a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Wood-fuelled-heating">biomass boilers</a> and <a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Solar-water-heating">solar thermal heating</a> – excludes hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, despite studies that show they could contribute to hitting emissions targets in 2050.</p>
<p>Heat pumps are the most controversial inclusion in the list, as currently they generate more emissions gas boilers when the electricity needed to operate them is taken into account. This inconsistency stems from the the fact that the subsidy’s aim is to contribute toward the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/package/index_en.htm">EU obligation</a> of generating 20% of energy consumption from renewables by 2020, rather than to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>The ambient heat used by heat pumps counts towards this EU obligation, while the emissions from the electricity generation are overlooked. This policy will increase UK emissions in the next few years if many people swap their gas boilers for heat pumps.</p>
<h2>Enter the fuel cell</h2>
<p>Our team of scientists from UCL and Imperial College London <a href="http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/energy/news/fuel-cells-hydrogen">published a report</a> that challenges the orthodoxy displayed by these slim selection of technologies, exploring the potential for <a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/tech/hydrogen">fuel cells and other hydrogen-powered technologies</a> to contribute to the heating market.</p>
<p>Fuel cells, which generate electricity from chemical reactions, are already in use around the world for heating. Although they have mainly been viewed in Britain as a future power source for vehicles, in fact more commercial fuel cells have been sold for heating than for any other use. Sales of residential fuel cells <a href="http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/1889744/fct_review_2013.pdf">have been doubling annually</a> in Japan, Korea and in Europe. At the same time fuel cell costs have fallen substantially in recent years, to the extent that they will be sold without subsidised in Japan from 2015.</p>
<p>These fuel cells are powered by natural gas, which is reformed into hydrogen within the fuel cell. If these were used in the UK, the net carbon emissions would be lower than using heat pumps for at least the next ten years. This is because emissions from electricity generation (0.48kg CO<sub>2</sub>/kWh) are currently much higher than those from natural gas (0.19kg CO<sub>2</sub>/kWh). This gap will gradually close as more renewables are built and coal power stations are retired.</p>
<p>Further into the future, it might be possible to pipe hydrogen to homes and businesses as a low-carbon alternative to natural gas. Hydrogen could replace natural gas in modern, efficient <a href="http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/heating-water-and-electricity/guides/how-to-buy-the-best-boiler/condensing-boilers/">condensing boilers</a> or power fuel cells. This would avoid some of the disadvantages of alternative technologies such as heat pumps, which have high up-front costs, perform poorly if installed badly, and take up a lot of space in homes and buildings.</p>
<h2>Left on the margins</h2>
<p>Hydrogen can be produced from numerous fuels, reducing the reliance of the UK on oil and gas from abroad. As they operate apart from the national grid, fuel cells provide decentralised electricity generation, reducing load on the grid and providing power even during blackouts. Fuel cells could also help to avoid costly changes to the electricity networks in the future by generating electricity at peak times, in the event that the use of heat pumps and electric cars becomes more widespread.</p>
<p>Despite the potential benefits, hydrogen and fuel cells have consistently been excluded or marginalised in government technology assessments, which instead focus only on those technologies in the Renewable Heat Incentive, together with <a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Micro-CHP-micro-combined-heat-and-power">combined heat and power systems</a> and <a href="http://www.chpa.co.uk/what-is-district-heating_191.html">district heating</a>. Most UK-focused studies used to support policy papers have also not considered hydrogen and fuel cells.</p>
<p>The fact is that without government support in the early development stages, no low-carbon technology will be successful. Policies to address market failures for low-carbon heat technologies generally don’t include fuel cells and hydrogen – despite the fact that in other countries such as Japan, such support has provided the springboard required for the technology to reach commercial maturity. While the Renewable Heat Incentive does have a procedure for supporting new technologies, there is no prospect of this being used to support either fuel cells or hydrogen in the near future. </p>
<p>There is a big opportunity for Britain to develop a successful hydrogen and fuel cell industry for heating: the UK has a strong scientific and engineering research base, and support at home would enable UK companies to capture a share of fast-growing global supply chains.</p>
<p>The potential of hydrogen and fuel cells – to provide homes and businesses with secure, low-carbon heat and – means that it’s high time they were considered in government roadmaps and policies, on a level playing field with other low-carbon technologies, and brought in from the cold.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Dodds receives funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), to support research on energy system modelling, hydrogen systems and bioenergy. This includes funding from the UK Energy Research Centre and from the EPSRC Hydrogen and Fuel Cell SUPERGEN Hub.
</span></em></p>The inhabitants of a frequently cold and windy country like the UK need to heat their homes, even in what is loosely termed “summer”. This is achieved mostly by natural gas-fed boilers – but this dependence…Paul Dodds, Senior Research Associate, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187072013-10-15T23:38:05Z2013-10-15T23:38:05ZJelly-making protein could help make cheap fuel cells<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33065/original/hw9dn8wx-1381828749.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Get your fill of energy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">kfoodaddict</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New research shows that a catalyst made from gelatin, the same protein used to make jelly desserts, helps fuel cells be more efficient. This may offer a cheap alternative to the expensive metal-based fuel cells.</p>
<p>In a fuel cell, energy released from a chemical reaction (most commonly hydrogen and oxygen combining to form water) is converted into electricity. Many carmakers like Toyota are racing to find a commercially viable fuel cell. If they are able to, cars of the future will spit out only water, instead of the carbon dioxide, water and other pollutants that today’s fossil fuel powered cars do.</p>
<p>Researchers from the UK, Japan and China, led by Zoe Schnepp at the University of Birmingham, reported their new catalyst in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C3TA12996A">Journal of Materials Chemistry A</a>. To make the catalyst, they mixed salts of magnesium and iron with gelatin to create a foam. Heating this foam to 800 °C in a process called calcination degrades the gelatin and oxidises the metals, producing a sponge which contains metal nanoparticles (which are a million times smaller than a human hair). Any remaining metal is washed off with acid, leaving behind a porous structure made of carbon.</p>
<p>This porous structure is an advantage for the catalyst. The network of pores and bubbles inside the catalyst provides a very large surface area for chemical reactions to occur. The more places there are for hydrogen and oxygen to react to produce water, the more efficient the catalyst is.</p>
<p>The choice of metal salts proved to be important too. The identity of the metals used determined the size of the pores formed, and thus affected how well the reactions occur. The two metals used react differently during calcination: the magnesium is converted to nanoparticles of magnesium oxide, while the iron bunches together into much larger particles of iron carbide. This meant that the ratio of magnesium to iron can be used to tune the pore size.</p>
<p>During heating iron carbide converts the carbon around it to a thin sheet, which happens to be good for a fuel cell reaction. Nitrogen atoms from the gelatin become embedded in this thin sheet of carbon, and previous results have shown this makes the catalyst even more effective. </p>
<p>When Schnepp compared commercial platinum catalysts with her catalyst, she found they did just as well. Crucially, the new catalyst is also as durable as the platinum ones. Platinum is too expensive to be used for commercial fuel cells. In recent years, there have been many efforts to find a cheaper and better alternative. Schnepp’s catalyst needs cheap gelatin and plentiful metal nitrate salts, making it one of the best alternatives yet.</p>
<p>By exploiting the properties of biological polymers, Schnepp and colleagues have found simple route to a structurally complex and useful material. Simplicity, as Steve Jobs would say, is often the first step to a great product.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Bissette does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows that a catalyst made from gelatin, the same protein used to make jelly desserts, helps fuel cells be more efficient. This may offer a cheap alternative to the expensive metal-based fuel…Andrew Bissette, PhD student, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.