FUNDING FUEL CELLS
Fuel cells face the same challenge as PVs—obtaining sufficient funding. According to a survey published in the Breakthrough Technologies Institute's Fuel Cells at the Crossroads, respondents believe the energy industry will undergo profound changes over the next few decades, resulting in some form of hydrogen economy. But the U.S. federal government must provide support if it hopes to lead the fuel-cell industry and turn this vision into reality.
In the U.S., private-sector investment in fuel cells peaked at $1.1 billion in 2000 and fell to less than half that in 2002. Also, federal funding grew slowly from a mere $114 million in 1996 to $159 million in 2002. Venture-capital funding averaged $17.6 million annually over the last six years, mainly in the stationary and portable sectors.
While the U.S. is seen as the leader in the stationary and portable sectors and competing for the lead in the mobile sector, the lead is very tenuous. Europe's and Japan's commitment to fuel cells through heavy funding gives European and Japanese companies significant advantages over U.S. companies.
Honda and Toyota are actively pursuing fuel cells for future automobiles. Honda has designed and built its own hydrogen fuel-cell technology (Fig. 3). In a different approach, Toyota's FCHV-5 fuel-cell hybrid vehicle generates electricity from hydrogen derived from Clean Hydrogen Fuel (CHF), using Toyota's original CHF reformer. CHF can be produced from crude oil, natural gas, or coal, and it has a low sulfur content. The FCHV-5 will be useful in areas that lack a hydrogen-supply infrastructure.
Not to be outdone, U.S. companies are researching and producing both concept and real models for testing. DaimlerChrysler showed its concept Jeep Treo in Tokyo last year and delivered 60 fuel-cell-powered Mercedes A-Class cars—the F-Cell—to government fleets in Europe, the U.S., and Singapore. The U.S. Postal Service is testing Ford delivery trucks powered by Ballard fuel cells. Ford also has fuel-cell-powered and fuel-cell/electric hybrids. And, GM is designing and building its own fuel cells for stationary applications and cars and trucks. By 2010, GM will have a commercial version of a GM fuel-cell car available at competitive prices.
What about future jobs in fuel cells? In 2002, the U.S. fuel-cell industry employed approximately 4500 to 5500. The study predicts that by the year 2021, there could be as many as 188,648 or as few as 119,861 jobs, depending on capitalization. Base capitalization, reflecting the status quo or current expectations for market development, might put the job count at 168,189, with 67,276 direct jobs and 100,913 indirect jobs. Over time, employment in the transportation sector could surpass the stationary sector. Many stationary products have already been released, but significant cost reductions will be necessary to penetrate the market.
General Motors' Fuel Cell Development Center is creating 100 or more new research and engineering jobs. The new facility will develop fuel-cell stacks, fuel processors, electrolyzers, and the systems around them into products for both stationary and transportation uses. GM plans on using stationary fuel cells to power parts of the building (see "Dow Chemical, GM See The Future In Fuel Cells," p. 84).
The portable sector is expected to take off more rapidly than the transportation and stationary sectors because products for portable applications, such as long-lasting supplies for portable computers and camcorders, are near commercial viability. Christopher Hebling, director of the Fraunhofer Institute's energy and technology department, says that mass-produced hydrogen-based cells could be cheaper than rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in a few years.
Fraunhofer, which partners with high-tech startups such as German fuel-cell manufacturer Masterflex, is working on direct replacement cells that would fit right into laptop computers, powering them for 10 hours on a single stretch (Fig. 4). Rechargeable metal-hydride containers would hold enough hydrogen for each use, and the water output would be converted into what Hebling calls "damp air."
Getting a competitive price will take some time. "In the beginning of the market entry, the price [of each hydrogen-based cell] will be around 3700 Euros. As soon as a sufficient series production starts, the price should drop to around 1000 to 1500 Euros," explained Masterflex spokesman Stefan Schulte. "It is not possible to make a five-year forecast. However, we will produce 50-W fuel cells as well as 100-W and 200-W systems this year."
Two Japanese companies will have non-hydrogen products available toward the end of this year or in 2005. Toshiba expects to commercialize its direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for handheld products in 2005 and for portable PCs by the end of 2004. The 100- by 60- by 30-mm DMFC puts out 1 W for about 20 hours of operation on a single 25-cc fuel cartridge. Hitachi plans to release an AA-size DMFC cell in 2005.
Meanwhile, the generation and storage of hydrogen remains an issue in cutting the costs of fuel cells. "Biomass material-based fuel cells are a better solution than hydrogen power fuel cells since hydrogen is expensive and dangerous to handle," notes Technical Insights analyst Al Hester. "More research should be devoted to ethanol since it is environmentally friendly and based on renewable resources."
According to "Ethanol to Power the Future of Hydrogen Fuel Cells," a report by Technical Insights, conversion of biomass materials like ethanol or methanol into hydrogen is a more cost-efficient way to power fuel cells. Intermetallic compounds could be used beneficially in fuel-cell electrodes to oxidize ethanol.
While this biomass-hydrogen argument may not be settled right away, a half-dozen or more other fuel-cell technologies have varying degrees of viability. As one NREL researcher said, there are as many political or special-interest issues behind technology choices as there are technology issues. But regardless of the issues, the future can't afford to wait another 30 years for alternate energy.
See associated figure