EU Research Fosters Development of Fuel-less Car
31 May 2000
Brussels - No noise, no pollution, no motor, high efficiency this could
be the car that people will be driving in fiveyears if a new promising
technology to fuel private cars and busses makes its way to the market.
In fact, the so-called fuelcell car already exists as a prototype produced
by several big motor vehicle manufacturers. This technology was presented on
Monday by EU research commissioner Philippe Busquin who is confident that
"we are making real progress on the way to a means of transport that
combines the comfort of a normal car (or bus) with zero pollution".
The commissioner is equally impressed by the good cooperation between academia
and industry in Europe and hopes that putting such a vehicle on the road
will convince policy-makers and industry that they arelooking at a viable
and sustainable new way of transport.
According to EU projections for world energy demand, a worldwide
economic growth of 3.3% in a business-as-usual scenario would double energy
demand between 2000 and 2030 and double energy-related CO2 emissions from
6.3 to 13 Billion tons of Carbon. Two-thirds of this increase can be
attributed to developing industrial countries. This would clearly hamper
the sustainability of Europe's development and prosperity. The European
Commission has therefore supported fuel cell research since 1988. In fact,
the budget spend has developed from 8 million Euro in the Second Framework
Programme (1988-1992) to 54 million Euro in the Fourth Framework Programme
(1994-1998). In the currently running Fifth Framework Programme
(1998-2002), 28 million Euro have been allocated so far.
As with all new technologies there are however drawbacks that will have
to be addressed: at the moment these cars are still much more expensive than
traditional cars and have a range of 450 km for cars and about 200 km for
busses. Also those new cars need hydrogen to work, which is flammable
and, when accidentally coming into contact with air, can explode. Scientific
risk assessments and test conducted by the EU's Joint Research Centre in
Ispra have however, come to the conclusion that this risk is neither
unacceptable nor unmanageable and can be compared to the risks involved in the
use of gasoline. Finally, a political decision needs to be made concerning
the supply and distribution (pumping station network, quality standards, tax
incentives) of hydrogen. The great advantage of hydrogen is that it can be
produced from many sources, such as natural gas, oil, methanol, bio-ethanol,
solar and wind energy, and even coal. This gives considerable flexibility to
the energy/hydrogen provider, makes energy supply less dependent on one source
and gives a political choice to states, regions and communes as to how
sustainable their energy and fuel supplies should be.
Automotive manufacturers have clearly recognised the potential of fuel
cells and are undertaking major efforts to reduce the current high cost for
car engines of about 5000 Euro per Kilowatt to 50-100 Euro per Kilowatt,
which is the cost of a conventional car. The first commercially viable
production of such fuel cells is scheduled for 2003/2004; a private car would
then cost a maximum of 10 % more than a normal car.
At the moment, the hydrogen is stored in a tank either as a very cold
liquid (-250 °C) or in compressed form (300 bar). Much research effort is
now invested into storing hydrogen in tiny carbon tubes, which would mean a
safe on board storage with a much larger range.
Roughly speaking, the fuel cell technology works as follows: Hydrogen is
pumped into the fuel cell, which is a stack of polymer membranes and graphite
or stainless steel plates, using an electro-chemical reaction to make electricity
and, in the case of power stations, heat. The only substance emitted in the
process is water vapour. The fuel cell works very much like a battery except
that it does not store energy. In the case of power stations supplying
electricity and heat can be done with great efficiency: 60-85% compared to
about 40% for conventionally fired power stations Hydrogen fuelled car have an
efficiency of 35 % compared to 20-24 % in normal cars.
The new technology was presented in Brussels during a conference on
European fuel cell research where several cars and busses could be seen in
action.