As in years past, fuel-cell powered vehicles are the technology of the future, according to a report published on Thursday by the U.S. National Academies.
The first "production" fuel-cell car, Honda's FCX Clarity, will soon go on lease in Japan, as well as California.
Click here for our comprehensive FCX Clarity photo gallery
Despite a great deal of technical progress, the study concludes that fuel-cell vehicles will only make a significant dent in oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions with decades of co-ordinated government policies and commitment from industry.
The primary barriers to adoption are high costs and the absence of an infrastructure to distribute hydrogen, the report, which was commissioned by Congress and sponsored by the Department of Energy, said.
Fuel-cell vehicles use hydrogen as a fuel and emit only water vapour and heat. In a fuel-cell, the hydrogen passes through a membrane to produce an electrical current to power the car.
In 2003, President Bush announced a US$1.2 billion initiative to encourage development of hydrogen production technology and fuel-cell vehicles. Fuel and auto companies have invested by creating cars and setting up a handful of fuel stations in America.
The authors said that the best-case scenario would result in 2 million fuel-cell vehicles in the U.S. by 2020. Adoption could increase rapidly thereafter if products were competitive on cost, the study found.
To move completely off oil and onto hydrogen fuel would require a hefty investment: US$55 billion from United States government and US$145 billion from industry between 2008 and 2023. "To put these numbers into perspective, the government subsidy for ethanol fuel could grow to US$15 billion per year by 2020," according to the report summary.
How much hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles reduce greenhouse gas emissions depends on how the hydrogen is made. The Shell station in Los Angeles serving hydrogen fuel, for example, uses an electrolyser that converts electricity made from renewable sources to hydrogen, but that approach doesn't scale to very high volumes, according to Shell.
The National Academies recommended a "portfolio approach" of pursuing different transportation technologies, including fuel-cells, biofuels, and enhanced fuel efficiency.
Like this article? Click below to send it to your mobile for free!
xtrnms
19/07/2008 11:28 AM
none of this is going to happen until the oil companies milk the planet 100% dry of oil so they can maximize the fat wallets of their multi-billion dollar executives with even more dirty money. Only when they can see massive profit losses because its too expensive to buy for the average Joe will they change to another fuel source. Wait 50+ years for petrol to be $100-$500 (or more) a litre and then come back here for an update.... the prices will be comparable.... it's not going down regardless of the fuel type.
Report offensive content