Hydrogen ICE Prius hybrid leads the way in Michigan
One truth about the hydrogen economy (other than that it's constantly 10-20 years away) is that no one really knows what it's going to look like. All of the technology involved (hydrogen production, fuel cells, etc.) is constantly being revamped and further developed. An article earlier this week from the Oakland Press does a good job of coving a lot of the issues, but the fulcrum of the story is a modified Prius hybrid, which Sam wrote about a few weeks ago. The Prius was changed by Energy Conversion Devices Inc. of Rochester Hills, Michigan and uses a new low-pressure hydrogen fuel tank and a hydrogen internal combustion engine. Even though writer Bob Gross uses this Prius as the entry and exit points of the article, there are not a lot of technical explanation of the tank and hydrogen ICE. I went hunting for more info on the ECD website, and found a video (scroll down a bit) of the hydrogen ICE Prius from 2003. Not much, but it's something.
Aside from the Prius, Gross talks about green ways to produce hydrogen (photovoltaic material on top of service stations that can produce electricity and then hydrogen through electrolysis. Overall, the sources in the story say we're a lot closer than 10-20 years away from the full-on hydrogen economy, and they're working to make it happen.
[Source: The Oakland Press / Bob Gross]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RayRay 2:06PM (11/03/2006)
"no one really knows what it's going to look like"
Please don't let it look like the Prius. Yuck!
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Howard Lee Harkness 3:01PM (11/03/2006)
"Gross talks about green ways to produce hydrogen"
There are no economical green ways to produce hydrogen. Photovoltaics are not ready for prime time, and are unlikely to ever be more than a minor player in the energy game. Same with wind power. The only way to produce hydrogen economically (other than from methane conversion) is with nuclear power. Nuclear power is neither green nor renewable.
There is no scenario using hydrogen for commercial energy that would not be safer, more efficient, and more economical if you just left out the hydrogen part. Hydrogen makes sense in applications where the energy/weight ratio is the ONLY important factor, e.g. rocket fuel. Using hydrogen to power cars is insanely stupid.
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Phil L. 3:54PM (11/03/2006)
Barring future fundamental technical breakthroughs, hydrogen as a energy *source* simply makes no sense (though it can be a very useful energy *form*), as Howard noted above.
Which essentially makes this Prius a natural-gas powered vehicle (which is where virtually all industrial hydrogen supplies come from).
Given that the steam reforming of natural gas to create hydrogen isn't pollution-free, has anyone done any research to see if it simply makes any sense to simply burn natural gas in the Prius' ICE engine? What the the energy and emissions tradeoffs? This would seem to be a far more useful discussion.
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