hydrogen still in the eco-car race - battery power storage

BERLIN-Berlin (AP)—
Hydrogen, one of the richest elements on Earth, was once considered a green energy answer to oil
Driving a car: easy to produce, everywhere, no pollution when burning.
Hydrogen Energy was defeated by a lot of obstacles.
Fear of highly flammable gas explosions, the difficulty of carrying fuel in large heavy fuel tanks in vehicles, and the lack of a refueling network.
Vehicle manufacturers turn to biofuels, electricity or natural gasElectric Hybrid
But it turns out that hydrogen has never been completely out of the game.
Now, scientists and entrepreneurs in Israel claim that putting hydrogen energy into smaller, lighter containers brings it one step closer.
Hydrogen is not a metal or composite cylinder with compressed gas that looks like bulky diving gear, but is packaged into glass wire and once it comes out of the lab, it will only be a little thicker than human hair.
The 370 glass capillary tubes are bound in a glass tube called a capillary array, about the width of the straw.
Scientists say 11,000 such arrays will fuel 400 kilometers of cars. 240 miles)
, The space and weight of the fuel tank currently installed on a few hydrogen fuel vehicles is less than half.
C. chief scientist Dan Eliezer said: "We have shown new materials that can store more hydrogen than any other system . "En Ltd.
The company is based in Geneva, Switzerland, where Israelis are developing their inventions.
Scientists have not tried to improve the standard fuel cell, which is not much different from the fuel cell invented more than 150 years ago.
The fuel cell generates electricity from the chemical reactions of hydrogen and oxygen, producing only by-product water vapor.
The fuel cell can be compared with the engine of the standard car, while the capillary array can be compared with the gasoline tank.
The system was unveiled in a presentation by the German Federal Institute of Materials Research and testing for the Associated Press in Berlin, which has been testing the materials since 2008 and announcing system security.
The representative of Italy also attended the meeting.
Headquartered in general insurance, the company has invested $10 million in the project.
While its supporters call the technology a breakthrough, it is unlikely to gain traction without injecting a lot of capital to expand development.
It also needs the support of a distribution system and major car companies that have invested billions of dollars in their tightly protected research projects.
David Hart, director of E4tech, said the automotive company "still invests heavily in hydrogen and fuel cells," and hundreds of researchers are working on the technology, a business and energy consultancy in London.
Automakers declined to give details of their research or funding.
The glass capillary seems to be an "interesting" technology and it would be "very important" if it could provide the energy the company claims, Hart said ".
But if that means building a new refueling infrastructure, "it may still not be the right answer for cars," he said . "
Like electric vehicles, the driving force behind hydrogen research is the need to get rid of oil and control greenhouse gas emissions caused by climate change, especially carbon dioxide generated by industrial and transportation.
Transportation adds about 13% of man-made carbon to the atmosphere.
Zero hydrogen emissions.
It can be produced from water through electrolysis, and can also be harvested as waste from nuclear reactors and chemical plants.
"In terms of saving carbon dioxide, you do more in terms of renewable hydrogen," said Danny Dick, a biofuel expert at the Innovation Observatory of the British consulting group.
"So in the end, hydrogen should be the direction of things.
"For now, automakers are still focusing on battery power.
At the Geneva motor show last month, almost all major manufacturers showed off their latest electric vehicles or plans to produce them.
One of the few hydrogen-fueled cars on the floor was barely noticed.
This is not always the case. U. S.
President George W.
Bush allocated $1.
2 billion, used for hydrogen research, and said in his 2003 State of the Union address: "The first car driven by a child born today can be driven by hydrogen and pollution-free energy.
The Obama administration basically canceled the project.
In Europe, the content of hydrogen is also very low. priority.
For example, the government of the Netherlands recently announced 5 million euros ($6. 75 million)
Subsidies for hydrogen, but subsidies for electric vehicles are eight times the original. Buyers of plug-
Cities like London and Amsterdam are charging for planting --
The pillars on their streets.
"All subsidy schemes are undertaken by the power company.
It is taking it away from hydrogen, "said Robert van den Hoed of Ecofys, an independent Dutch renewable energy consultancy.
The main reason is the cost.
Electric cars are roads
When the hydrogen car is still in the experiment, it is ready and put into production.
Nissan's new electric vehicle, Leaf, will be available in the United States for about $25,000, including government rebates.
Honda has produced a hydrogen fuel vehicle worth driving on the road-the FCX Clarity, but it is not for sale.
In the United States, there are only 50 available for lease, $600 per month;
Honda said it plans to increase its fleet to 200 this year.
Honda declined to put a sales tag on clarity, but some experts said the market price would be $1 million per vehicle.
Toyota, the leader in electric vehicle technology, plans to hit its first hydrogen fuel vehicle in 2015.
On December, BMW, a German luxury carmaker, ended its trial run of 100 hydrogen.
Fuel the internal combustion engine and go back to the lab for more research.
Spokesman Tobias Hahn said: "We have learned everything we want to learn from this huge live test . " BMW is now working on the next generation.
"We are still committed to hydrogen for a long time.
Hahn said in Munich, "moving to alternative terms for sustainable mobility," adding that the biggest problem is --board storage. Among U. S.
GM produced a test fleet of 100 Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell vehicles and tested 5,000 people in 25 months.
Like BMW, Chevrolet is pulling out of the technology upgrade.
Combination of plugs
Electricity and hydrogen could be the greenest
Friendly solution.
"The fuel cell hybrid looks good.
"Options," Hart said.
"This is not-or.
Probably both.
"Public transport is also trying hydrogen.
20 fuel cell buses were deployed at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
The European Union has cooperated with 31 industries to establish
Frits van Drunen said that as of last year, hydrogen buses had been tested for a year on regular passenger routes in 10 cities, and that the new generation of buses would be operational later this year, who is responsible for the GVB project of the Dutch public transport network.
"We predict that by 2017, the prices of these buses will be the same as those of diesel buses," said van Drunen, who was interviewed at GVB hydrogen fuel station in Amsterdam.
At the BAM experimental base in Berlin, researchers guide a remote
Controlled model trucks around laboratory floors powered by fuel cells and three hydrogen
The filled array is combined, about the thickness of the thumb.
Similar devices light up a panel with 20 LED bulbs.
Researchers say the device can be built into the power supply of a laptop or even a mobile phone.
Kay Hortz, research director at BAM, said.
If the En system can be developed as a replaceable rack, it can be on the road within two to five years, which can be replaced at a gas station.
Eventually, he said, the car will be able to refuel with a nozzle like the gas pump today.
"Of course, some engineering is needed for both systems, but there are already some ideas.
He said: "BAM has no financial interest in the capillary array project. Moshe Stern, C.
The chief executive of En said electric vehicles will dominate the market in the next few years, but cheap and unlimited supply of hydrogen will make it a power source for the future.
Within a few years, perhaps a decade, he said, hydrogen fuel will shift the world's energy balance from oil to oil.
"The real revolution is not a technological revolution, but a political one," Stern said . ".
"We are Israelis.
"We know what it means to be blackmailed by oil," he said . ".