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Hydrogen vehicles take a less-polluting road trip: Two-week trek shows off hydrogen's potential as an alternative fuel(News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 16--A futuristic caravan of hydrogen-fueled vehicles stopped Friday to refuel at Duke University, pausing for a couple of hours to let students and other Durham residents see what all the talk is about. The Hydrogen Road Tour is a two-week trek from Maine to California designed to show off hydrogen's potential as a zero-emissions alternative to petroleum fuel for the nation's cars and trucks. The U.S. Department of Transportation is co-sponsoring the tour with several trade groups and nine car makers. The Bush administration has invested $1.2 billion since 2003 in a program aimed at putting 2 million hydrogen vehicles on the road by 2020. Next stop: Grigg Hall, UNC-Charlotte, 8-9 a.m. today. WHO MADE THE DEMONSTRATION CARS? BMW, Chevrolet, Daimler, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. The cars feature different technologies. Most, including Honda's FCX Clarity, which has been leased to a few drivers in California this year, features a fuel cell with an electric motor. One car -- a BMW 7 Series -- is equipped to burn either gasoline or liquid hydrogen in its internal combustion engine. The BMW's hydrogen is chilled to 400 degrees below zero. HOW DO THE FUEL-CELL CARS WORK? They use a chemical reaction with oxygen and hydrogen gas to produce electricity. A fuel-cell kilogram of hydrogen, compressed to 5,000 pounds per square inch, has roughly the same energy content as a gallon of gas. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES? Hydrogen fuel cells are pollution-free, but the complete environmental picture depends on how the hydrogen is produced -- whether from nuclear or renewable energy sources or from fossil fuels -- said Richard G. Newell, a professor of energy and environmental economics at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. A mobile refueling tanker traveling with the tour carries hydrogen made with hydroelectric power. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR HYDROGEN AS A NEW FUEL? It will probably take decades, Newell said, before we can hope to see a lot of hydrogen cars on the road. For one thing, there can't be a mass market for the cars until the nation has a massive network of hydrogen fueling stations. "Significant scientific, economic and practical hurdles must be surmounted before hydrogen becomes a cost-effective part of the energy system," Newell said. To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsobserver.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |