Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation and the UK’s Intelligent Energy have been collaborating for years on building demonstration fuel cell vehicles. Two of the most successful of the partnership’s products have been in creating fuel cell motorcycles and scooters namely the Suzuki Crosscage motorcycle and Suzuki Burgman fuel cell scooter.

In 2005, the Suzuki Ionis hydrogen car prototype was rolled out at the Tokyo Motor Show. In 2006, Intelligent Energy started showing off its prototype ENV motorcycle which was supposed to have rolled out in production that same year. As this time-frame lapsed it was apparent to Intelligent Energy that they needed to partner with an established, well-branded vehicle manufacturer such as Suzuki (with mass production techniques and a supply chain already in place) which could put the Intelligent Energy fuel cells into a range of vehicles such as scooters, motorcycles, cars and trucks.

Now, fast forward to today. Suzuki and Intelligent Energy have formally announced a joint venture of a company they will each have a 50/50 stake in called SMILE FC System Corporation. Like in their past partnership Intelligent Energy will get access to a well-known and branded vehicle manufacturer and Suzuki will have access to world class and leading edge hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Going forward the SMILE FC System Corporation plans to put production fuel cell cars and other vehicles on the road. This will make them another manufacturer committed to the long game of selling hydrogen vehicles for profit starting sometime in the near future and continuing this trend for the long haul.

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Several years ago I heard from Steve Williams with his proposal that the automotive parts and repair chain Pep Boys lead the charge in converting vehicles with internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen and providing H2 fueling stations at the stores themselves.

This unique idea had piqued my interest and now I’ve heard from Mr. Williams again with an update to what is happening with Pep Boys:

“Several years back I presented you with the idea of Pep Boys – which is headquartered here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – offering its customers the service of converting their cars to run on hydrogen plus providing them with places where they could readily refuel. With Pep Boys having automotive service centers located all throughout the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico, it’s what I recognized as being a ready-made infrastructure.

“However, due to backwards-minded Philadelphia-area, or Pennsylvania-based politics or whatever it is, the idea was never able to take hold, and all these many long and frustrating years it was as if the heads of Pep Boys Corporation themselves were under gag orders never to discuss it. And I would presume primarily due to that.

“But it was just publicly announced on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 (please see e-mail attachment) that the Pep Boys Corporation – pending shareholder approval – has been sold off to a Los Angeles-based interest: Gores Group.

“So perhaps this creates an opportunity where Pep Boys can finally reconsider what I first presented to them with way back in 2004 – unless politics there right now is as bad as it is here when it comes to going forward with the hydrogen economy. I’m certainly hoping that’s not the case and that this presents a new opportunity where the idea I first had way back in 2004 can be considered once more.

“In any event, I thought I should pass this news onto you since you’re based there, and Pep Boys is soon to be.”

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MOF

One of the problems with rolling out hydrogen cars and a fueling infrastructure in the short term is coming up with cheap, lightweight and low pressure hydrogen fuel storage tanks. The hydrogen fuel tanks that are available now are either heavy and expensive such as metal hydride tanks or they are under high pressure from 5,000 psi to 10,000 psi.

Some people perceive the high pressure tanks as being dangerous (which is debatable since we have yet to see one explode). A larger issue is that it takes a lot of energy to compress hydrogen to 10,000 psi which drives up the price of this fuel.

Well, the Berkeley Lab, also known as the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) plus General Motors are trying to come up with a new kind of hydrogen fuel tank based on Metal Organic Frameworks or MOFs to deal with this issue. I’ve talked about MOFs several times in the past.

Hydrogen fuel tanks using MOFs, in theory anyway, will be cheap to build plus store and release hydrogen under low pressures. The basic idea is to build a framework of carbon with “exposed metal cations” on different parts of the surface of the structure.

Another trick is to get this exposed metal to bind to as many hydrogen molecules as possible and then releasing them upon demand. The project is being funded by the U. S. Department of Energy to the tune of $2.1 million. With any luck, this tune will turn into a sweet melody a few years from now enabling one more peg to fall in the resistance to hydrogen cars in the marketplace.

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HyEngine

Over the past year I’ve exchanged a few emails with Jonas Grooten of HyEngine Solutions. Instead of working on fuel cells, HyEngine converts vehicles with internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen.

Here is what Jonas Grooten had to say in his last email:

“My colleague, Olivier Vanhaelen, asked me to give you an update about our projects. Our HyRacer project is currently finished. We have implemented our 1.6 L Honda engine into a Honda Civic, which can now drive completely hydrogen powered with the same performances as when it drives on petrol (both 82 HP without use of turbo or compression). Thanks to our patented technology, we also do not have any backfire-problems.

“Our technicians are currently working on our next project: The HyMega. The HyMega will be a small logistical application for indoor & outdoor use. For this, we are converting a 700cc engine which will deliver about 15 HP.

“Furthermore are we currently developing a kart engine. By implementing an H2 ICE in a kart, we want to provide 0-emission kart engines which will maintain all the aspects of karting as we currently know it (vibrations, sound). We expect this project to be finished by the end of February.”

While many companies are investing their time, energy, resources and money into fuel cell vehicles, HyEngine is taking a practical and cost-effective approach of converting internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen.

Here’s a PDF that explains in more detail what HyEngine is doing.

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The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) is running a promotion called “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge.” This is part of the Startup America initiative that makes it easier for small start-up companies to use technology developed by the DOE’s 17 national laboratories plus the Y-12 National Security Complex.

On the front of the DOE’s Innovator Challenge page are 14 startup companies that are using government technology to create products for businesses and consumers. Visitors to the website are able to “Like” the most promising products.

Voting ends Monday, February 6 at 8:59 a.m. EST so there is still time to give a thumbs up for your favorite. Currently in the number 2 position according to votes is a company called Element One.

This company has developed hydrogen safety technology to detect leaks. Hydrogen by nature is colorless and odorless and adding a color or odor to hydrogen could damage the durability of fuel cells used in the transportation industry. So Element One has found an alternative.

According to Susan Leach of Element One, “We have patented the only available coatings for the detection of hydrogen that change color reversibly or non-reversibly as desired to give both current and historical information about leaked hydrogen. Our detection products will change the paradigm in the way hydrogen leaks are detected, achieving a new level of safety in existing industrial and emerging consumer environments. These technologies could be used in new devices to alleviate concerns about hydrogen safety in consumer environments with the introduction of hydrogen cars.”

There is a video on the DOE website that explains in more detail the merits of this process of visual detection of hydrogen leaks especially as it has to do with the H2 car industry. This product adds a new level of hydrogen safety to an emerging industry where concerns have been voiced for many years.

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The last time I had talked about the Town of Hempstead (part of Long Island, NY) was back in February, 2009. At that point they were installing their first hydrogen fueling station and fueling up a GM Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle which was part of the automaker’s Project Driveway program.

But, now the Town of Hempstead has decided they want more. The town has wanted a cleaner and greener way to produce the hydrogen gas for fueling its cars and buses. So, they have gone ahead and installed a 100 kw wind turbine that will electrolyze water and create the needed hydrogen.

According to the Town of Hempstead, “The wind turbine, which is located the township’s Conservation and Waterways Department in Point Lookout, stands 121 feet tall. The ‘windmill’ is capable of generating up to 180 megawatts of power per year. Powered by winds off the Atlantic coast, the turbine will provide an almost continuous source of energy that will facilitate a water-to-hydrogen process.

“The resulting hydrogen fuel is dispensed from Long Island’s only hydrogen fueling station, located adjacent to the turbine. Ultimately, the hydrogen fuel is utilized to power Toyota fuel-cell vehicles operated by the town, as well as a hydrogen/natural gas bus. The town is negotiating with another major fuel-cell vehicle manufacturer to secure additional cars.”

Now, one would think that a wind turbine this size could do more than power a couple of hydrogen cars and a bus. And this is true. The excess energy is being put back into the local grid to help power homes and businesses cleanly and greenly. The Town of Hempstead is ahead of the curve in regard to clean energy, lowering their carbon footprint and advocating for hydrogen cars as a clean source of future transportation.

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Hydrogen Prius Plug-in

One of the last times I had talked about Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and their inventive professor Dr. Clifton Ricketts was in April 2007. At that time Dr. Ricketts was figuring out how to break his own land-speed record for hydrogen cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

This time, however, the goal is a little different. Dr. Ricketts along with some students a MTSU are converting a Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid vehicle to run on hydrogen, solar power and cellulosic ethanol.

During Spring Break this year while other students are headed for Daytona Beach, these students will be taking a road trip from Savannah, GA to Long Beach, CA.

According to the Farm Credit Services website, “The trip will begin in early March in Savannah, GA in a converted Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid. On each 750-mile leg of the trip, the first 100 miles will be powered by solar energy, followed by 200 miles of hydrogen gas power. The next 350 miles will be fueled by 85 percent cellulosic ethanol, with the last 100 miles coming from on-board regeneration of the solar-powered batteries.”

Now, when we are talking about solar power we are also talking about hydrogen power since ¾ of the Sun is made up of hydrogen gas (the rest is helium plus trace amounts of other elements). So, this car in essence is doubly powered by hydrogen.

So, what is next for Dr. Ricketts? In 2013 he plans to make the same trip in a vehicle powered by hydrogen from water and solar energy without the use of ethanol.

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A UK firm called RE Hydrogen has invented a hydrogen compressor that is 30-percent the cost of others on the market. This means that not only can the compressors be smaller but the complimentary electrolyzers can be smaller and less costly as well.

According to The Engineer, “Small-scale hydrogen production is a potential way to capture and store energy from renewable sources and provide fuel for hydrogen-powered vehicles in place of large-scale infrastructure, as well as for industrial usage.

“RE Hydrogen has already developed an electrolyser that operates at up to 5KW at atmospheric pressure and is more than 90 per cent cheaper than most conventional models. Its latest compressor is designed to increase pressure from 1 to 350 bar in a single step.

“Most conventional devices would either require around five stages of compression with cooling in between to get up to the levels needed for storage or need the hydrogen to be produced at a higher pressure increasing the cost of the electrolyser.”

If low cost home hydrogen fueling stations can be developed this will significantly decrease the need for a nationwide buildup of larger hydrogen fueling stations across the highways of the nation. As EV and PHEV advocates say, most drivers on a daily basis travel less than 30 – 40 miles including to their jobs.

Home hydrogen refueling would offer the same advantages plus quicker refueling times. The compressor created by RE Hydrogen also has implications for larger hydrogen fueling stations as well since with this new, less expensive technology, more companies will be taking smaller risks in buying the equipment (especially fleet owners at first) and it will take less time to recoup their initial investments.

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I’ve talked many times over the past years about the German H2Mobility plan. Germany and the surrounding countries have been planning a European Union Hydrogen Highway system for the past decade. Part of this H2 highway system has included the United Kingdom.

Well, now the UK has decided to get more focused on the 2015 deadline when the major automakers say they will start rolling out hydrogen cars. And thus the UKH2Mobility Program has been formed.

The goals of UKH2Mobility according to the United Kingdom government website are:
“Analyse in detail the specific UK case for the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles as one of a number of solutions to decarbonise road transport and quantify the potential emissions benefits;

“Review the investments required to commercialise the technology, including refueling infrastructure; and

“Identify what is required to make the UK a leading global player in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle manufacturing thereby paving the way for economic opportunities to the UK, through the creation of new jobs and boosting of local economies.”

Car manufacturers along with the gas and utility companies plus other companies involved in the creation of the needed hydrogen infrastructure have joined the UKH2Mobility program and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to share their technological achievements without borders.

In the past couple of years the UK Hydrogen Highway has already started to take shape. The UKH2Mobility program will give what is already in progress a boost to make sure that the United Kingdom is a major player when demand starts to pick up quickly for hydrogen products and services.

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In September 2008, I had first talked about South Africa trying to market platinum for fuel cells worldwide. You see, South Africa mines about 80-percent of the world’s supply of platinum and would like to continue selling this expensive metal long into the future.

But, it hasn’t been until recently that South Africa has actually started using hydrogen fuel cells themselves. And now they have taken another symbolic and practical step in this direction.

According to Mining Weekly, “Platinum miner Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) expects to put a fuel-cell powered mine locomotive through its paces in the first half of this year.

“The locomotive will initially be tested on surface at Amplats’ Dishaba mine, which is situated in the Limpopo province … The point of the demonstration will be to show that fuel-cell powered locomotives can provide superior efficiency and productivity and offer zero-emission underground transport.”

Amplats is the world’s largest producer of platinum, so it’s only fitting that they would be using a locomotive fitted with a platinum-bearing hydrogen fuel cell to mine, well, more platinum.

The only problem with this scenario is that South Africa is getting into the platinum fuel cell business a little late. I’ve talked about at length over the past 5 or so years about all of the research and development going into creating platinum-free fuel cells, since platinum is the most expensive material in fuel cells used in the transportation industry.

But, if no quality replacement can be found for platinum in fuel cells, then South Africa is in a unique position to capitalize on their abundant natural resource, create jobs and money and help create cleaner air while doing so.

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