GM, Chrysler, Shell and DOE Sign Hydrogen Car Deals

Hydrogen is the deus ex machina that is going to save America from its reliance on foreign oil, deliver a cleaner and safer environment and make the country richer in the process. At least, that is what the cheer-leaders in the energy segment are saying when they aren't talking about oil at $60 or more a barrel. The idea of hydrogen powered cars to a step closer to commercial reality this week when GM and Daimler Chrysler both signed deals with the Energy Department to put some demonstration hydrogen vehicles on the road this year. Shell Hydrogen LLC signed an additional deal to put five hydrogen fueling stations in the Washington-New York corridor and in California. The change is needed, but it won't happen overnight and is long overdue.

Indeed, the hydrogen car has been sitting on the launch pad for thirty years. UCLA professor Al Bush (now deceased) had a group of engineering students convert a car to hydrogen in 1972 (a Gremlin donated by GM with a Ford "Boss" 351 engine, also donated). The car won the Urban Vehicle Design Competition for lowest emissions -- as well it should, since burning hydrogen results in energy and water vapor. Professor William Van Vorst, also of UCLA, ran with the idea during the rest of the 1970s and is still active in the field today. He and Professor Vasilios Manousiouthakis, chairman of the chemical engineering department, are designing and building a hydrogen fuel station at UCLA.

These better-late-than-never efforts are the very first small steps in commercializing a technology that is long overdue. But it isn't enough to build a better mousetrap, otherwise no one would need a marketing department. Only the tiniest fraction of consumers will give up internal combustion of gasoline for hydrogen the very first year. The bugs need to be worked out first, and no one wants to be the guinea pig. Only the real technophiles will do this. And so, the deals just signed make sense.

To prove to consumers that the cars work, GM will put some fuel cell demonstration cars on the roads of DC, New York, California and Michigan spending $44 million in the process. DOE will get the other half under the deal that expires in September 2009. DaimlerChrysler will wrap up 10 years of research this year and put a fleet of 100 fuel cell cars on the road before the end of this year at a cost of $70 million. Meanwhile, Shell Hydrogen LLC will build the first hydrogen fuel stations, and literally thousands upon thousands are needed. No one will buy a car they can't refuel.

And the fuel itself remains a problem. As noted above, burning hydrogen gives off energy and water vapor. And although water vapor is a greenhouse gas, physicist Bob Park at the University of Maryland says that the amount burning hydrogen would release is dwarfed by the amount in the air caused by evaporation of water in the environment. The real problem is making the hydrogen. Right now, most is made by changing molecules of natural gas around -- still a hydrocarbon dependency. Another way is electrolysis of water, which is taking the H₂ out of H₂O using electricity. Currently, 70% of US electricity comes from fossil fuels. So, hydrogen doesn't really get the country away from hydrocarbons without more nuclear, solar and wind power -- all of which need further development before they can take over from more traditional electricity generation. Which makes the wasted years since 1972 all the more regrettable.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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