Power and transport have to wait for clean fuel cell energy
Date: 17-Sep-99
Country: UK
"Fuel cell development in the last 10 years has been a technical push,"
Dan Rastler of the U.S.-based Electric Power Research Institute said.
"The technical factors are now largely understood and there are pathways
to closure. But as projects are introduced there is a need to have a
clear picture of their markets."
Fuel cells use hydrogen to make electricity through a chemical reaction
not unlike a battery but create little or no pollution - depending on
the source fuel.
The technology is ideal for the development of small-scale power
stations, said Bernard Baker, chairman of U.S. based Fuel Cell Energy,
formerly Energy Research Corp .
GOOD FOR SMALLER POWER PLANTS
Quiet and clean, direct fuel cell technology was suited to 250 kw power
stations which can be located close to users like hospitals or factories
- gaining 65-70 percent fuel efficiency when able to utilise normally
wasted heat.
"The main question mark for any fuel cell application is the cost.
Initial costs will be higher, but we can make it up on fuel efficiency,"
Baker said.
Small gas turbines tend to operate at 30 percent efficiency while large
modern central power plants combining gas turbines and steam work at
about 50 percent.
Deregulation in the U.S. would open up the market within the next two to
three years and Baker's company was expanding its production capacity.
"This will not transform the electricity industry, but if you can
capture 3-4 percent of the market it could be extremely attractive," he
said.
Competition was not so much between different types of fuel cells but
overcoming engineers' support for traditional gas turbines. Reliability
over time was largely comparable.
Rastler agreed that the near term challenge was for retail energy
service providers in the U.S. using power stations of 400-500 kw range.
Longer term challenges still remained for storage and vehicle
applications, he said.
TRANSPORT USE MORE PROBLEMATIC
Fuel cell use for transport was seen as a less easy fit and much further
down the line.
Their application was held back by the lack of hydrogen, the best fuel
for more efficient high temperature type fuel cells and whose only
by-product is water.
Natural gas, gasoline or methane are being tested as substitutes. They
create polluting emissions - but less than conventional combusion
engines or gas turbines.
Tests in the United States are on course for the design of an 80 mile
per gallon (mpg) vehicle capable of carrying six people by 2004, Steven
Chalk of the U.S. Department of Energy said.
Currently the technology is only about halfway efficient enough to make
it economically competitive.
It has taken more than 10 years to bring together standards for natural
gas powered vehicles and much work still needed to be done on
harmonising regulation before they can be viably marketed, Jeffey
Seisler of the European Natural Gas Vehicle Association (ENGVA) said.
The ENGVA brings together major industry players including as
DaimlerChrysler AG Ford , BMW AG and British Gas .
Natural gas had the advantage of a supply pipeline infrastructure in
Europe and the U.S. but large numbers of vehicles will be needed to
support the building of filling stations.
Even though lower pressures were needed for liquified natural gas (LNG)
cylinder storage in vehicles and equipment was rigorously tested, people
still feared an explosion from a fire or crash, Seisler said. That fear
was greater with the use of hydrogen, he added.
