BMW greenwashing? Do they really make a pollution consuming engine?
When we first heard about the new mono-fuel BMW Hydrogen 7, we were rather impressed by the extremely low emissions numbers posted by the model when tested at Argonne National Laboratory. The fact that BMW was able to reduce the emissions, boast better range and make more power as compared to their previous-generation Hydrogen 7 was pretty cool. According to Dr. Thomas Wallner, lead engineer in Argonne's hydrogen vehicle testing activities, "[The Hydrogen 7's] engine actively cleans the air. Argonne's testing shows that the Hydrogen 7's engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain components, such as Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG's) and Carbon Monoxides (CO's), are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the car's engine."
So, because air is required for the hydrogen combustion, and there are pollutants already present in the air, at times the exhaust from the BMW is cleaner than the air it took in. Does that warrant BMW referring to their hydrogen-burner as a "pollution-consuming internal combustion engine?" Perhaps we're just picking nits, but that sounds a wee bit like greenwashing. It's not like the overall air is cleaner after going through the system, after all. Read their entire press release after the break.
Press Release:
BMW SHOWCASES POLLUTION-CONSUMING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE VEHICLE AT 2008 SAE WORLD CONGRESS
Woodcliff Lake, NJ - April 14, 2008... BMW announces its latest milestone in its pursuit of the hydrogen future, the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel, featuring an internal combustion engine in the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel that produces near zero emissions while, at the same time, combusting ambient air pollutants. Based on the BMW Hydrogen 7 bi-fuel version (gasoline and hydrogen), the new mono-fuel vehicle's internal combustion engine is optimized to run solely on hydrogen and shares the performance, comfort, and safety qualities of every production BMW 7 Series. One of the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel vehicles is featured in the BMW Booth at the 2008 SAE World Congress being held this week in Detroit.
The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel is equipped with a 6.0-liter internal combustion engine (ICE) which has been engineered to run exclusively on hydrogen. This vehicle achieves near zero emissions, excellent engine performance, reduced fuel consumption and greater range compared to the bi-fuel Hydrogen 7. Since the consumed hydrogen has no carbon, the engine itself would produce no CO2, hydrocarbons, or other pollutants; however, the existing pollutants in the surrounding air are consumed by the engine, plus minute amounts of lubricating oil. The result is virtually undetectable exhaust emissions. New procedures for exhaust gas measurement and analysis, therefore, had to be developed together with experts at the Argonne National Laboratory, the only test laboratory in the USA capable of measuring such minute emissions.
"The mono-fuel Hydrogen 7 is the result of more than 25 years of hydrogen development by BMW," noted Tom Baloga, Vice-President of Engineering for BMW in the U.S. "It demonstrates BMW's support for a hydrogen infrastructure by producing an internal combustion engine that produces truly near-zero emissions while simultaneously cleaning the air of certain pollutants."
In BMW's view, hydrogen is the most logical energy carrier of the future for three reasons. First, it has no carbon and therefore hydrogen combustion generates no CO2, HCs and other pollutants. Second, it can be produced using renewable, clean technologies like solar, wind, geothermal, and bio-processes. Lastly,it can be produced in stable areas of the globe as necessary for energy security. Although today's hydrogen is mainly derived from natural gas, hydrogen can and will be "green" from renewable and clean sources in the future. Unlike batteries, which will likely also play an important role in future transportation, hydrogen vehicles can be refueled rather quickly for long trips, don't require powerlines across the landscape, and hydrogen can be generated and stored 24/7 when wind is greatest or demand for electricity is low.
The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel is a demonstration production vehicle, not a prototype. It was created to showcase the clean energy potential and feasibility of a dedicated hydrogen ICE. In addition, the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel delivers additional experience in the everyday use of hydrogen beyond what has already been learned with the nearly 100 bi-fuel Hydrogen 7 Sedans that have been used in a consumer test drive program since November 2006.
The Hydrogen 7's mono-fuel ICE exemplifies BMW's commitment to clean energy while maintaining the excellent performance BMW owners have come to expect. In fact, the tailpipe emissions are so infinitesimal, they pushed the limits of current emission testing technology.
Independent authorities, including Argonne, have confirmed the excellent results. Argonne conducted emission tests on BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel vehicles in early March 2008 and helped develop new sophisticated procedures necessary to detect the almost undetectable.
"The BMW Hydrogen 7's emissions were only a fraction of SULEV level, making it one of the lowest emitting combustion engine vehicles that have been manufactured," said Dr. Thomas Wallner, lead engineer in Argonne's hydrogen vehicle testing activities. "Moreover, the car's engine actively cleans the air. Argonne's testing shows that the Hydrogen 7's engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain components, such as Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG's) and Carbon Monoxides (CO's), are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the car's engine." This means that a hydrogen-powered ICE is not only incredibly clean by itself, but it actually removes certain air polluting gases from natural and man-made sources.
BMW and Argonne will hold a joint press conference about the ground-breaking results at the SAE Congress in Detroit at the BMW booth beginning at 1:30 pm (EST) on Monday, April 14th. Christoph Huss, Vice-President-Development Abroad, Type Approval and Traffic Management; Tom Baloga, Vice-President - Engineering US; and Wolfgang Thiel, Manager of Emissions Testing Equipment, will represent BMW at the press conference. Wallner and Don Hillebrand, Director of the Center for Transportation Research, will represent Argonne.
For technical details of the Argonne results please visit the following link: http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/HV/475.pdf
[Source: BMW]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
KarenRei 7:29PM (4/16/2008)
Gee, it doesn't directly emit significant quantities of pollutants that contain carbon atoms... ya THINK? It's not like they're burning a fuel that DOESN'T HAVE CARBON in it or anything. Naturally, as a consequence, they focus on carbon-bearing pollutants in their press release.
Imagine if they included other pollutants that don't contain carbon. You know, like NOx, source of that lung-irritating brown haze, or perhaps that insidious destroyer of stratospheric ozone...
*Hydrogen Itself*.
The richer you burn hydrogen, the less NOx you emit, but the more free hydrogen you emit. But few people are even bothering to measure emitted hydrogen yet, simply because it's not a traditional pollutant. But its effects can be expected to be devastating on stratospheric ozone. It's not catalytic, like chlorine and bromine ions are, but unlike CFCs, virtually all of it that gets emitted ends up in the stratosphere, and is very effective at reducing ozone there. It would also be expected to be emitted in far greater quantities.
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Kevin Nugent 7:40PM (4/16/2008)
Yeah that is misleading and brain washing in many ways. they don't specify what specific gases and their levels. the average person will think that the quality of the air on a a whole is improved when it is not so .
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A.Brien 9:00PM (4/16/2008)
I own a dodge neon 2005. If this bmw can be converted to hydrogen then my neon can too. It should be available today: Hydrogen or natural gas convertion for new or old car that have an internal combustion engine. It can be priced between 1000$ to 3000$, Just a high pressure tank hoses and fittings, some pump and switchs , etc. It would have save a war and 50 000 persons if some stupid car manufacturers or even a car parts suppliers had offered this on the markets before 9/11 2001.
Now we are facing the etablisment of world wide hard communism(2x revenues for the richs and 2x price for the honests workers each years...) on earth with the war on the last consumer that is hoping a good deal on some new and entertaining product: Home hydrogen made by solar panels or small windmills
that convert water to hydrogen then that feed the car tank for 0$ gasoline replacement.
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Chris M 9:29PM (4/16/2008)
A.Brien: Sorry, but the cost to convert a car to run on hydrogen is a lot more than 1 to 3 thousand! Quantum converted a Prius to run on H2, the conversion cost $80,000, and a substantial portion of that cost was the high pressure tanks. That conversion cost over 3x more than the price of the Prius, converting a Neon is just rediculous. The H2 Prius got a mere 80 miles per tank, an "H2 Neon" would be much less.
A natural gas conversion is a bit better, because it is more efficient (20% to 25% energy loss in converting methane to H2), natural gas is cheaper, and the driving range per tank is much better.
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meme 11:36PM (4/16/2008)
"Now we are facing the etablisment of world wide hard communism(2x revenues for the richs and 2x price for the honests workers each years...)"
First off, that's the opposite of communism. Communism is about the equalization of wages. The defect is that it tends to stifle economic activity, meaning that everyone ends up poorer.
Secondly, if you're trying to make a Democrat/Republican analogy, we've had 11 administrations since the end of World War II -- 6 Republicans and 5 Democrats. Under all of the Republicans, wealth disparity has increased, while under 4 of the 5 Democrats (Carter was the exception), it decreased. And is this really surprising? The Republicans push corporate deregulation and flatter income tax (easier on the wealthy, harder on the poor), etc; the dems, just the opposite.
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Snowdog 11:52PM (4/16/2008)
If they want to claim that, I want to see them run the tailpipe into the car, roll up the windows and go for an hour long drive. Otherwise STFU.
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jake 2:40AM (4/17/2008)
@Snowdog
I'd like to see that happen too, if it's true, it should be no problem right? I mean according to them the air from the exhaust is "cleaner" than the air outside, right?
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LM 1:36PM (4/17/2008)
Big deal the Honda Civic GX that runs on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) has made this claim since 1998 and it can be purchased new NOW for under 25k! Also CNG as a fuel is 30 to 50% cheaper than gasoline.
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-gx/
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Rex 2:16PM (4/17/2008)
BMW's hydrogen internal combustion engine is unlike another other hydrogen car being conceptualized today. The Hydrogen Education Foundation is excited to see a world-class auto-maker at the forefront of hydrogen technology. The change made to the Hydrogen 7 model to only use hydrogen, rather than either hydrogen or gasoline, exemplifies the progress being made from the auto industry to include hydrogen as a leading energy alternative. We are pleased to see AutoBlogGreen.com discussing the new model, but we are disheartened by the accusation that BMW is "greenwashing."
BMW is working to find alternative transportation solutions to guide us away from depending on oil. The Hydrogen 7 virtually eliminates harmful carbon emissions emitted from automobiles. If the air that is used in the combustion process is dirty, the BMW Hydrogen 7 does not make it dirtier, but instead releases CLEANER air back into the atmosphere. As stated in the article, this information was produced by Argonne National Lab after extensive testing - not a study done and released by BMW itself
The public has equal responsibility to adopt cleaner technologies so that the air used by the Hydrogen 7 is of cleaner quality from the get go. This is one of many hydrogen technologies emerging that will help assure our nation's clean energy future.
To address above questions - natural gas is a strong alternative in the short term, but it is still polluting and great strides are being made to improve efficiencies in hydrogen production. Moreover, Toyota just announced that they have a range of over 500 miles with their fuel cell Highlander, which is just as goodof a range as any vehicle today.
Lastly, below is a brief youtube clip of the BMW 7 being tested at Argonne, as well as a link to the report directly from Argonne National Lab (see slide 22 for emissions data):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxoFSxM8o8k
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/HV/475.pdf
To learn more about the benefits of hydrogen, we invite everyone to please visit www.h2andyou.org.
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Snowdog 8:13PM (4/17/2008)
My back of the envelop calculation puts burning hydrogen using about 4 to 8 times the energy. (Electricity->create/compress hydrogen, transport hydrogen, burn hydrogen in inefficient ICE) vs simply putting the electricity into the battery of an electric car and converting that into motion.
WTH would we waste this much energy? Hydrogen is a new age boondoggle.
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tiggeroush 8:12PM (6/08/2008)
I just build a system to add hydrogen to my Neon for less then $100. A $80,000 add on would have a payback time of about never. I see a few places selling this same $100 system I build for $1000.
Like this one http://www.hydrogen-boost.com/order.html
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