Filed under: Hydrogen, Green Daily, Japan

The Big Japanese Three automakers are all working on fuel cell vehicles. This is no surprise, especially to anyone who remembers that, between 1998 and 2004, two out of every three fuel cell patent applications were filed by Japanese companies. What might be a surprise is how big the domestic fuel cell market there might be in fifteen years.

Japan Today reports that the Fuji-Keizai Group research firm has estimated there will be a 99-fold increase in the Japanese domestic fuel cell market between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2025. 99 fold? That’s ginormous. No, wait, it’s bigger than ginormous. In money terms, it means going from 16.3 billion yen in fiscal 2009 to fuel cell demand that “may reach 990 billion yen for automobiles and 507 billion yen for housing in fiscal 2025.” A big uptick will happen around 2018, which is when Fuji-Keizai predicts fuel cell vehicles will be “in competition with hybrid gasoline-electric and electric cars.” There’s a lot of unknowns to this story, but the numbers are ginormous, indeed. Thanks to Roy B. for the tip!

[Source: Japan Today]

Report: Japan’s fuel cell market could grow 99-fold by 2025 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mandated increases in the production of maize-derived ethanol will lead to land-use changes that boost carbon dioxide emissions enough to make the fuel a worse environmental option than burning gasoline, according to a new analysis.

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Here’s a blast from the past. I want to take you back to 1999 when the Gillette Mach 3 Challenger motorcycle broke the land speed record running on hydrogen peroxide and aluminum and hit the record mark of 365 miles per hour at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

In the past, I’ve talked many times about the merits of hydrogen peroxide or H2O2 as a potential future fuel for cars. It is already being used in race cars, race motorcycles, rocket ships, jetpacks and for some batteries.

Recently I’ve talked about the merits of water or H2O plus aluminum creating hydrogen for cars. In fact, many times over the past 4 years I’ve talked about this same subject. But, the last time I had talked about H2O2 plus aluminum creating hydrogen for vehicles was 2007.

Now, high purity hydrogen peroxide (90-percent plus) as opposed to low purity (10-percent) that you buy at the pharmacy, can be corrosive and unstable and must be handled with extreme care. In fact, some would argue that H2O2 is not safe enough to put directly into a vehicle other than a race car, rocket ship or jetpack. Tell that though to the Chinese who produced a prototype called the Habo No. 1 which did use hydrogen peroxide for fuel.

But, what if instead, hydrogen peroxide and aluminum (instead of silver or platinum) were used at the fueling pump to create hydrogen on demand for cars? Or at least it could be produced nearby and the resulting hydrogen could be piped or trucked only short distances.

In this regard, the people who handle the hydrogen peroxide would be the trained professionals who deliver it to the fueling stations or at the nearby off-site production locations. As in splitting H2O, the only byproduct of splitting H2O2 is a little steam and heat.

Anyway, I keep coming back to this point because I see potential in the idea but not a whole lot of development. Any hydrogen fuel producers want to take me up on this challenge?

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The Melbourne Taxi 2020 Concept was created by Damian Lucaciu, a student designer from the RMIT University, Australia. The project involved the computer design of a green alternative fuel vehicle that would help clean up the streets of Melbourne.

The eco-friendly Taxi 2020 Concept was designed to be both green, (using hydrogen fuel cell, lithium ion batteries and electric motors), and passenger and driver friendly. This plug-in hybrid would not only run on hydrogen but could be plugged in and recharged using a traditional wall socket or at special recharging stations strategically placed around Melbourne.

As an additional bonus, the Taxi 2020 has a set of small solar panels mounted on the rooftop to recharge the vehicle using the sun’s energy. Granted this may be a bit of overkill because of the hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid capabilities already in place, but as a student design project, this gives additional options for recharging.

For the driver, the Melbourne Taxi 2020 Concept uses GPS, a SmartCard system, and night riding capabilities. For the passengers, there is an entertainment system, disability accommodations and a focus on curbside access.

For safety and fuel efficiency, the aluminum frame covered by a polycarbonate outer shell makes the vehicle lightweight, impact resistant and has high optical qualities for driver visibility. Of course, London will have their hydrogen fuel cell black taxis in place for the 2012 Olympics, which are working vehicles and not just design concepts.

But, the Melbourne Taxi 2020 lets enthusiasts, industry insiders, automotive engineers and others see the possibilities that hydrogen fuel cell cars will be playing within the next 10 years.

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Last week, as part of the 2010 MIT Energy Conference, the institute opened the doors to its energy research projects. Press and other interested parties got a first look at technologies that could one day make renewable energy abundant, cheap and more deployable. These cutting-edge technologies were presented by a handful of MIT faculty and students who showed some innovations in the solar, hydrogen and energy storage areas that are on the road to commercialization.

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In April 2008, I talked about Boeing putting the first manned fuel cell powered aircraft into flight. And there have been many times in the past 4 years (yes, the blog is that old), that I’ve talked about hydrogen powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

A new liquid hydrogen-powered UAV which is also a high altitude long endurance (HALE) aircraft called the Boeing Phantom Eye is getting ready to be demonstrated. According to Boeing Phantom Works president Darryl Davis, “The essence of Phantom Eye is its propulsion system. After five years of technology development, we are now deploying rapid prototyping to bring together an unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] with a breakthrough liquid-hydrogen propulsion system that will be ready to fly early next year.”

The important aspects of the Boeing Phantom Eye include its 150 ft. wingspan, 450 lb. payload capability, 65,000 top altitudes and the ability to stay aloft for 4 days. This makes the Phantom Eye a military aircraft that will be useful for surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance and communication.

But, wait, there’s more (as they say on those cheesy commercials on TV). Boeing is also working on a larger HALE called the Phantom Ray, which will be able to carry a 2,000 lb payload and stay in the air for 10 days. Both the Phantom Eye and Phantom Ray will be propelled by clean hydrogen fuel, fly higher than most typical UAVs and keep military personnel out of harm’s way, while recovering critical intelligence on the ground.

When one thinks of government agencies like NASA and the U. S. military, green energy rarely comes to mind. But, this is the direction both are moving towards and this lead by example philosophy is what we need more of in order to fully realize a hydrogen-based transportation system in the near future.

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The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) is said to be the world’s largest demonstration project for hydrogen cars and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Some of the member companies of the CEP include Aral/BP, Berlin Public Transport (BVG), BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM/Opel, Hydro, the Linde Group, Total, Vattenfall Europe and the Volkswagen Group.

Now, the CEP will have the support of the Toyota as well. In 2004, the first CEP hydrogen fueling station went online in Messedamn, Berlin, Germany.

In September 2009, I had talked about the H2 Mobility plan for Germany and how 8 major companies signed a memorandum of understanding to expand the current 30 hydrogen fueling stations in Germany to the point of where serial production of hydrogen cars could start in 2015. The members of the H2 Mobility plan include Linde, Daimler, EnBW, NOW, OMV, Shell, Total and Vattenfall.

The CEP is currently in the 2nd phase of development which ends in 2010. Toyota is joining this phase which includes allocating 5 FCHV-adv fuel-cell hybrid vehicles to go along with 10 GM HydroGen 4 minivans and models from 5 other manufacturers to total 40 hydrogen-powered vehicles mostly in Hamburg and Berlin.

These vehicles will also accompany a fleet of H2 buses and 3 new hydrogen fueling stations to be constructed in the above named cities. The third phase of the CEP project will start in 2011 and conclude in 2016. This phase will be preparing and implementing the major commercialization of hydrogen cars and H2 fueling stations.

This commercialization will start in Germany, then expand outwards to the rest of the European Union Hydrogen Highway system and is concurrently expected to spread to Japan, the U. S. and other pro-hydrogen countries as well.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hydrogen, Mercedes Benz, USA

Here in the United States, Mercedes-Benz’s product portfolio starts off with the C-Class sedan. Those familiar with the alphabet may realize that there are at least two available letters before ‘C’ that would theoretically allow the German automaker to offer something a bit less expensive before graduating up the ranks to the likes of the E-Class and S-Class, in all their assorted variations.

Wouldn’t you know it, Mercedes has seen fit to fill those two pre-C-Class slots with an A- and B-Class across the pond, and we’ve been hearing rumblings for quite some time that one of these models might make its way Stateside before too long. Those rumors continue today with this report from Automotive News, which suggests that a compact car and a small SUV may soon be in the offing in the U.S.

Mercedes-Benz plans to launch the next version of its B-Class in Europe in 2011, and that’s the likely candidate for conversion to be sold here in the States. Included amongst the powertrain options will reportedly be some kind of fossil fuel alternative, perhaps either an electric version or one powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

So, when might we expect all this to go down? Depends. Says Joachim Schmidt, sales and marketing chief at MB, “The behavior of Americans depends on fuel prices. Nevertheless, we see a trend also toward fuel-efficient cars.”

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req'd]

Report: Mercedes to launch B-Class-based hatchback, CUV in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A recent discovery in understanding how to chemically break down the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into a useful form opens the doors for scientists to wonder what organism is out there — or could be created — to accomplish the task. Scientists have figured out a way to efficiently turn carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using visible light, like sunlight.

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Filed under: Hydrogen

Continue reading Thousand Oaks, CA to get two Ballard-powered fuel cell buses

Thousand Oaks, CA to get two Ballard-powered fuel cell buses originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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