Report From Orlando Hydrogen Event 2/18/2005

[corbett]

Photographs from the day are available at

http://home.earthlink.net/~cmckconsulting/2182005

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When I stepped out my front door to catch the 10:00 bus to the airport, I quickly noted how the weather would be just about ideal for the historic event yet to come, the groundbreaking of Florida’s first hydrogen filling station and the launch of Florida’s Hydrogen Highway. Since the morning’s theme was to be clean transportation, it only seemed fitting that I do my part by using a combination of mass transit and shoe leather to travel to the event instead of my gasoline-powered automobile.

I also was eager to attend because I knew that having Governor Jeb Bush as keynote speaker would assure at least moderate press coverage. However, when I arrived and saw a huge Ford Sustainable Mobility Technologies tractor trailer sitting just north of the event entrance, I knew that the best was yet to come.

As I strolled along the mulch and sod entry way and claimed my preprinted nametag, I glanced at the agenda card handed to me and quickly noted that several other significant names appeared after Governor Bush’s, including those of Bill Ford, CEO of Ford, Gregory Vesey, CEO of ChevronTexaco, Dale Oliver, Regional VP of Progress Energy and Florida State Senator Lee Constantine! I nearly did a cartwheel on the spot. I knew right then and there that the day’s event would be more than a bunch of lip service married with a few photo ops.

Wishing to eschew my typical partisan rhetoric in the interest of moving Florida and North America away from fossil fuels, I hung on every word of each speaker’s prepared remarks, hoping to find political middle ground. I didn’t have to listen too intently! I quickly learned that from the angle of Florida’s government, genuine revenue is being directed to this project. Governor Bush mentioned several times that monies which the Florida legislature has directed toward the project have been matched roughly 2:1 with federal dollars, totaling around $10 million so far.

He never uttered the words but as I listened between the lines of Jeb’s speech, I heard a sub text aimed at the Governor of each other state which is trying to forge ahead as the nation’s leader in hydrogen-based transportation: “Governor Pataki, Governor Richardson, Governor Schwarzenegger, Florida will be a major player in hydrogen-based clean transportation.”

Jeb didn’t stop there, though. He even addressed an area of strife with his brother. While not mentioning the White House specifically, Governor Bush noted that since he is a staunch opponent of new drilling for oil and gas off the Florida coast, it would be hypocritical of him not to use the good graces of his office to help Florida find other sources of energy. That was a most welcome remark.

The fact that Florida’s initiative has real funding and real momentum was gratifying to hear but merely the appetizer. Yes, when Bill Ford stepped to the podium and spoke about his company’s conviction that hydrogen is the only way to go, spending around $2 billion on research and development to make it happen, I knew that the rubber truly had hit the road. It was abundantly clear that the chicken-and-egg paradox of moving away from petroleum to hydrogen was fading – that you can’t convert to a different fuel without vehicles to use the fuel and no automaker will produce hydrogen cars without readily-available fuel.

Consider, a man of Ford’s power and stature doesn’t need to put himself out there, speaking to a crowd of about 200 people gathered around a make-shift stage with a mulch and sod floor below to crow about clean transportation. He very easily could have limited himself to huge auto shows with multi-million-dollar budgets, catered meals and flashy video presentations. Instead, he spoke with eloquence and zeal in the middle of a vacant lot near Orlando International Airport. That fact spoke volumes to me.

As impressed as I was with Mr. Ford, though, I was truly bowled over by the next speaker, Gregory Vesey, CEO of ChevronTexaco, a true powerhouse (pun intended) in the global energy market. His words resonated with the vibrato of a man who controls vast stores of fossil fuels yet to be burned yet with a hint of genuine belief that investing in hydrogen for consumer use now would yield first-to-market cachet. Mr. Vesey didn’t stop there. In place of platitudes about the balance between profit and protection, he declared ChevronTexaco’s commitment to doing their part to help build truly self-contained hydrogen fueling stations. Yes, he said that trucking in hydrogen to be dispensed to vehicles was less than ideal. He wants ChevronTexaco hydrogen stations to manufacture their own fuel on site.

That was very significant because it means that his company at least has realized that the environmental community won’t be truly happy about burning hydrogen as a transportation fuel unless it is as green as possible. While I still had the impression that Mr. Vesey would have preferred that his trip to Orlando from Houston include 18 holes of golf instead of a speech to 200 bureaucrats, environmentalists and politicians, I left with a profound sense of hope that, unlike ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco has decided to work with us rather than against us.

Next up was Dale Oliver, Regional VP of Progress Energy. Progress’ record thus far of offering green tags or other options to consumers to pay extra to derive a portion of their commercial and/or residential electrical power from renewable sources has been spotty at best. Nevertheless, Mr. Oliver expressed pride that Progress Energy will play a significant role in Florida’s move to clean transportation. When he spoke about his strong ties to the Central Florida community and Progress’ commitment to put its money where its mouth is by using Ford hydrogen-powered vehicles in its daily operations, my interest was piqued. During 2004’s tragic hurricane season, Progress did an outstanding job of restoring electrical service in relatively short spans of time considering the unspeakable devastation which most of the state suffered. Many of their line workers, as well as those crews whom Progress imported, worked 18 hours a day for weeks at a time to help Florida come out of the dark. That commitment was impressive and I heard in Mr. Oliver’s words a similar pledge to help Florida move away from fossil fuels.

The final speaker of the event had perhaps the greatest portion of zeal in his address, Florida Senator Lee Constantine. Known to the environmental community throughout the Southeast as a stalwart supporter of conservation efforts, he has his hands in several of Tallahassee’s cookie jars as they relate to clean transportation. At Governor Bush’s behest, he has proposed legislation in the Florida Senate to help assure a continued steam of state monies into construction of the Hydrogen Highway and committed his bottomless energies to help his counterparts in the Florida House see fit to do likewise. Perhaps most significant in that legislation is a statewide standard for building codes for hydrogen filling stations, right down to the nozzle which connects to the vehicle.

In conclusion, then, I can say without exaggeration that the event covered every topic necessary to put Florida on the road to using hydrogen as the next-generation transportation fuel. While I am certain that we will encounter many roadblocks and impediments in the coming months, I am equally certain that the hydrogen die is cast in Florida. Sure, we could be much farther along than we are but the wheels of change turn slowly and convincing entrenched industries captained by the likes of ChevronTexaco and Ford to change their tune to become not just allies but team players in uncharted territory is an accomplishment which cannot be overstated.

I commend the Florida Department Of Environmental Protection for sponsoring the event. I commend Governor Bush for crossing the aisle to tap Florida Senator Constantine as legislative point person on many important logistical issues. I commend Ford Motor Company for sending its CEO along with two demonstration vehicles and an engineer to speak about their street-legal products ready for immediate use. I congratulate ChevronTexaco CEO Gregory Vesey for sounding more like BP’s John Browne and less like ExxonMobil’s Lee Raymond. I congratulate Progress Energy for committing instead of procrastinating. Lastly, I offer yet another round of applause to Florida Senator Constantine for placing yet another feather in his environmental cap, this time with perhaps the strongest bipartisan support of any of his recent efforts.

This environmentalist believes that 2005 is off to a good start as regards clean transportation in Florida. For my part, I commit to regular follow-up reports on the fueling station as construction begins. It is, after all, a mere 3½ miles from my home and right along a convenient bus route.

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Photographs from the day are available at

http://home.earthlink.net/~cmckconsulting/2182005

[amandabeech]

1. Was there any discussion of from what feedstock the hydrogen will

be produced and what energy source will be used to separate the hydrogen from the other elements present in the feedstock?

If so, was there any discussion of the energy efficiency of such processes?

[corbett]

2. Minimal Discussion

The impression I got from the ChevronTexaco CEO was that he sees reformation of natural gas which is delivered by pipeline as well as electrolysis of water as being the preferred on-site production methods. Efficiency of such was not mentioned.

In addition, the traveling Ford engineer who fielded questions about the fuel cell Escape sedan mentioned Ford's wish to offer self-contained home electrolysis units with an intake nozzle designed to connect to a garden hose. Efficiency of such was not mentioned.

Of course, there are truly 100% green methods of creating hydrogen from water and for my part, I will continue to advocate such. However, I maintain that the fact that ChevronTexaco has recognized that having the environmental community on board for the whole process is important speaks volumes.

[jpak]

3. The electrochemical efficiency of hydrogen production via electrolysis

is ~80-85%

(one unit of electrical energy yields 0.85 units of hydrogen energy).

PEM H2 fuel cells are equally efficient (~80-85%) in converting hydrogen back into electricity.

The overall efficiency of using electrolysis to produce H2 for fuel cells (H2 as a storage medium) is ~70%.

In practice, the overall efficiency is somewhat lower as some electricity is needed to run compressors and gas handling equipment.

Humboldt University has a PV-powered-electrolysis-H2-fuel-cell system used to run their aquarium pumps.

It's fully automated and has operated for years without human intervention.

http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc/trinidad.html

The Wave of the Future...

[hunter]

4. Humboldt's solar aquarium pump system doesn't really apply to cars...

From the Humboldt aquarium web page:

System Components

• 7-kW (actual maximum output) photovoltaic array (192 M75 Siemens modules)
  
• 6-kW electrolyzer that produces 20 standard liters of hydrogen per minute (maximum) at 100 psig
  
• Three 500-gallon tanks for hydrogen storage at 100 psig
  
• 1.5-kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell Computer control system that performs automated control and monitoring
  

It's a nice demonstration project, but the same could be easily accomplished with much less expensive off-the-shelf solar control systems, inverters, and lead-acid batteries.

This system is entirely impractical for cars. The 1.5-kW fuel cell would power a two horsepower motor. Three 500 gallon tanks hold the hydrogen. Even when it is compressed to 5000 psig, hydrogen still takes up a lot of room. Compressing hydrogen gas wastes energy and increases leakage.

I'm convinced that hydrogen is a terrible motor fuel, especially if we make it from natural gas or coal. Natural gas and coal contain carbon, and it is the carbon in fuels that makes them easy to handle. Throwing this carbon away (usually into the atmosphere as CO₂) to make a pure hydrogen fuel makes no sense.

If excess natural gas is available to make motor fuel, it can be compressed and used as it is, or efficiently converted into something like dimethyl ether (DME), which is a bottled gas very similar to propane. Converting natural gas or coal into hydrogen for use directly as a fuel is, at best, very slightly less polluting and potentially more efficient if the overall mass of the hydrogen fuel cells, drive trains, and storage systems can be reduced.

DME works very well as a fuel for diesel engines. It is easier to use than compressed natural gas (CNG). The combustion stresses in a DME fueled engine are more similar to a gasoline engine than a diesel-oil fueled engine, which means these engines are potentially quieter and more robust than conventional diesels.

DME or CNG fueled diesel engines do not produce soot or smoke like conventional diesel or biodiesel engines, and the primary pollution problem is oxides of nitrogen, which can be minimized with existing technologies.

CNG is now used in many urban bus fleets, and DME could be used in a very similar fashion.

Hydrogen powered busses and automobiles would require major upgrades to the fueling infrastructure, and the advantages over CNG or DME would not be great. Hydrogen powered vehicles would be more expensive and provide much less service than many other types of "alternative fuel" vehicles.

[jpak]

5. I agree

The Humboldt project doesn't apply to automobiles - it applies to to managing electrical output from utility-scale PV and wind turbine systems.

Many moons ago, an EPRI study concluded that intermittent output from renewable energy systems would not present grid management problems if renewable generating capacity comprised <20% of total grid generating capacity. Renewable capacities greater than 20% total capacity, however, would require storage systems within the grid.

One of the goals of the Humboldt University project was to investigate the feasibility of using hydrogen as a storage medium to buffer imbalances between PV electrical output and end-use demand.

It succeeded pretty well in that regard.

Off-the-shelf lead -acid batteries are impractical for large-scale electrical storage systems. Furthermore, lead-acid batteries, even if well managed, don't last more than 5-7 years in domestic PV systems.

PEM hydrogen fuel cells, however, have extremely long operational lifespans.

NASA has demonstrated PEM cell operating lifetimes in excess of 50,000 hours (~57 years). This significantly reduces the life cycle costs of fuel cell/H2 storage systems relative to lead-acid batteries.

Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cells (URFC - PEM fuel cells that "run in reverse") produce hydrogen through electrolysis as well as consume it to produce electricity. This eliminates the need for a separate electrolyzer and will further reduce the cost of these systems relative to other chemical energy storage systems. A URFC/lightweight storage system currently holds the world record for chemical battery energy density (~450 watt-hours per kg).

For utility applications, the size of hydrogen storage tanks is less of a consideration than for automotive applications. Hydrogen storage tanks can be distributed throughout the grid. They can be coupled on-site with fuel cells appropriately scaled to meet the end-use needs. The propane industry currently uses thousands of storage tanks (large and small). Oil and petrochemical industries also utilize low-pressure tanks for hydrogen storage. Low-pressure hydrogen storage doesn't present a real technical problem for future utility applications.

URFC coupled with low-pressure hydrogen storage systems for utility applications are the Wave of the Future (IMHO anyway).

[NNadir]

6. This is amazing. Sandia national labs set a target of 81% for 2010.

Maybe they can just call you and be there right now.

Why don't you give them a call?

Here's the link to help you track them down and to give them a leg up on your spectacular understanding of energy:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/review04/hpd_p11_ingersoll.pdf