Will China lead the world in making the first hydrogen infrastructure a reality?
Just yesterday, Sam wrote about the environmental clean-up measures that are taking place in China. These clean-up measures are necessary because China is on the development fast-track, so to speak. The country is being built up at an extremely rapid pace, much like the United States was during the Industrial Revolution. The buildup in China can be seen clearly in Shanghai, as the pollution levels in that city are similar to those found in Los Angeles, California, which happens to have the worst air quality in all of the United States.
China plans to do something about their environmental concerns before it is too late, according to this article from the Detroit Free Press. Might China be the first country to install a hydrogen infrastructure in a city? Possibly, and a date as early as in 2010 is mentioned in that same article. As automakers push forward hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, an infrastructure will be necessary in order to fuel those vehicles. If the target dates of 2010 from companies such as General Motors - which sells lots of cars in China - is to believed, then the 2010 date for the refilling stations would make sense. That is, if you believe the hydrogen as a fuel source makes sense in the first place. Speaking of the General, they have at the very least shown proof that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could in fact be made, and can travel lengthy distances on a single tank, as Sam witnessed first hand.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
A.Brien 1:33PM (5/17/2007)
I like hydrogen fuelcell vehicule but why a refuelling station? It's better a water tank then
the hydrogen is made onboard the vehicule by
electrolysis.
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PeakVT 1:52PM (5/17/2007)
Ok, so a very poor country that is having problems meeting its current electricity needs, and that is basically building a new coal-fired plant every week, is going to leapfrog to be the leader in hydrogen-fueled private transportation by 2010?
Not likely.
China is making a huge mistake by following the US down the path of auto-centric urbanization. But the US hasn't figured that out yet, so I suppose it's a bit much to expect China to.
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Joseph 4:07PM (5/17/2007)
The Chinese government isn't stupid.
They're not going to put billions of dollars into hydrogen, which isn't quite a proved technology.
(On Gm's website, they say their Chevy Equinox fuel cell is designed for only 50,000 miles of life)
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JamesWB 4:37PM (5/17/2007)
A.Brien - that was a joke right?
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Nathan 8:44AM (5/18/2007)
Peak: China's also leading the world in the number of nuclear reactors being developed, though, and since the only sensible method of hydrogen production is through high-temperature thermochemical reactions, nuclear reactors are almost necessary for a hydrogen economy (since the hydrogen production uses waste heat rather than electricity). For that reason, China is getting a lot of attention from the H2-friendly auto makers.
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Fabio 8:58AM (5/18/2007)
What I don't get is: if logic and math say that a hydrogen economy doesn't make sense ( http://www.physorg.com/news85074285.html ), then what in the world drives research about it?
There must be something I'm missing.
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Chris M 10:49PM (5/18/2007)
A.Brien: Were you aware that electrolysis takes electrical energy? Lots of it? Where is that much power to come from on a car? Electrolysis is only 60% efficient and fuel cells only 50%, so if you put 50 Kwh of electrical energy into your "onboard electrolyzer" it would only produce enough H2 for the fuel cell to make 15 Kwh. Better to use a standard charger and battery at 85% efficiency.
Fabio: Various groups push the H2 economy for various reasons. The oil company loves H2 as they hope to sell the pricy new fuel, they have the fossil fuels that are the cheapest source of H2, and it distracts attention away from other alternatives that might reduce oil consumption more quickly. Researchers and engineers that are getting big fat grants for H2 development programs have to favor it - their jobs depend on it. Politicians that don't know any better favor it, especially after listening to the oil lobby.
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