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DEAR EARTHTALK

Dear EarthTalk: What’s the latest on hydrogen powered fuel cells? Not long ago they were touted as the energy source of the future, but news has been scant of late.

NDEED, AROUND THE TURN of the millennium, the development of hydrogen fuel cells to power our transportation sector I for the auto industry (Ballard Power, Plug Power) became the darlings of investors in the 1990s and 2000s, but in the intervening two decades hybrids and EVs EV drivers just need an electrical outlet, one of the most ubiquitous pieces of “infrastructure” in our world, to recharge their cars’ batteries for with renewable, non-polluting started to take over the auto the next 80-200 miles. power was all the rage among sector instead of cars powered by But if you do happen to drive environmentalists and techies hydrogen, and fuel cell makers one of the 300 fuel cell vehicles alike. Fuel cells combine shifted most of their attention to sold (or leased) in the U.S. in hydrogen and oxygen via an electrochemical reaction to make electricity, with water as the only

“exhaust.” The first crude fuel cells were invented in England in the 1830s, but the technology really gained momentum in the 1960s when NASA developed them for the space program.

Unlike traditional batteries, which need to be regularly recharged, fuel cells operate continuously as long as they have a steady supply of oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen is available anywhere and anytime from the air around us. Hydrogen, though also one of the planet’s most common elements, isn’t easily separated from the compound molecules the aviation industry. So, what recent years—Toyota Mirai or it is usually part of. So, either happened? Why aren’t we all Honda Clarity, to name a few, gasification or electrolysis are driving around in fuel cell cars you’ll have to find a hydrogen used to separate the hydrogen today? refueling station to keep the out. But this requires copious One major hurdle was the road trip alive. And if you don’t amounts of energy, which lack of a refueling infrastructure. live in California, home to 43 is most often derived from Internal combustion cars and of the nation’s 48 hydrogen fossil fuel sources, calling into trucks (and hybrids) can get refueling stations thanks to the question just how sustainable gasoline at just about every forward-looking state’s Clean fuel cells actually may be. other corner and highway exit Transportation Program, a fuel

Start-ups working on fuel cells across the country. Meanwhile, cell vehicle probably doesn’t

— J. GORMAN, COLUMBIA, SC

Consider yourself lucky to see a Toyota Mirai or any other “FCV” (fuel cell vehicle) out in the wild — there are only about 300 on the road in the U.S., with the vast majority of those in California. make a lot of sense.

While fuel cells may not have lived up to their initial hype as the future of the automotive transportation sector, they are playing an increasingly larger role in powering various aspects of the aviation and aerospace industries, where hydrogen production and refueling operations can be relatively centralized. Another growth area for fuel cells is stationary applications. Our existing natural gas distribution system could be modified to pipe hydrogen into our buildings to feed fuel cells to take care of our energy needs. While fuel cells alone may not be the answer to our environmental problems, they are proving to be one of the arrows in the quiver of those trying to be part of the solution. ✦

CONTACTS: Fuel Cell Basics, fchea.org/ fuelcells; “Why We Still Can’t Deliver on the Promise of Hydrogen Cars,” thedrive. com/tech/33408/why-we-still-cantdeliver-on-the-promise-of-hydrogen-cars; “Hydrogen Fuel is Getting Buzz, But Here’s Why It Hasn’t Gone Mainstream,” news. usc.edu/trojan-family/why-hydrogen-fuel-isnt-mainstream-as-fossil-fuel-alternative/; “What Ever Happened To Fuel Cells?” powermag.com/whatever-happened-to-fuel-cells/.

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