The Solar-Powered Home Hydrogen Fueling Station

photo-illustration: CSIRO; XPLANE.COM

When Green Wombat was in Australia recently, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Sukhvinder Badwal, a fuel-cell scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO. Badwal leads a team that is developing a solar-powered home hydrogen fueling station that can be installed in a corner of your garage. My story on the hydrogen fueling station appears in the current issue of Business 2.0 and online at CNNMoney.com. The piece is part of a package of Business 2.0 stories headlined "8 Technologies for a Green Future" and "Go Green, Get Rich." I'll be highlighting a few of those technologies in subsequent posts.

Back to the Australian home hydrogen-fueling station. It’s about the size of a filing cabinet and runs on electricity generated by standard-issue rooftop solar panels. The first version of the home fueling station is expected to produce enough hydrogen to give your runabout a range of nearly 100 miles (150 kilometers) without producing a molecule of greenhouse gas. The solar-fired fuel-station-in-a-box overcomes two big obstacles to the much-hyped hydrogen economy. One is the  multibillion-dollar expense of building national networks of pipelines and fuel stations to replace the corner Chevron (CVX). The other is the fact that today most hydrogen is produced by burning fossil fuel to create hydrogen gas—not exactly a clean and green process. The home hydrogen fuel station solves those problems in one package that  Badwal hopes will ultimately sell for about $500. Commercial trials are expected to begin in two years.

Meanwhile, Honda (HMC) also has been working a solar-powered hydrogen fuel station (photo at right) in Southern California that is designed to provide heat and electricity for the house as well as fuel for cars. Honda spokesperson Chris Martin told Green Wombat that solar hydrogen station is still being refined and the company has not yet announced a time table for the commercialization of the technology.

For Badwal, using renewable energy - solar panels or a small wind turbine - is key. Much of the focus on hydrogen cars has been in the West, with automakers BMW, DaimlerChrysler (DCX) Ford (F), General Motors (GM) and Toyota (TM) all developing fuel-cell vehicles. But Badwal believes the real impact of the home fueling technology could be in China and India, where efforts to combat global warming could be doomed by the explosion in the car-buying middle classes. "Once we factor in the growth rate in China and India, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel becomes quite uncontrollable," said Badwal, a soft-spoken scientist who works out of a sparsely furnished office at CSIRO's research facility in Melbourne. He sees the potential for CSIRO's hydrogen technology to be distributed to villages in the developing world, eliminating the need for big, expensive and dirty coal-fired plants. "Every country has renewable energy. China and India might make the leap in energy like they're doing with mobile phones," Badwal says. "This is a leap frog technology."

Comments

[Bob Crown]

I don't mean to sound like a naysayer, but a couple things immediately come to mind. How do you compress the hydrogen gas you generate at home? Without compression you'd have to have a container bigger than your car to hold to all the fuel you'd need to go 100 miles. What do you do if you are travelling across country (ie farther than the 100 mi.) if there are is no hydrogen station network. Are you sure this thing is really practical?

[Todd Woody]

A compressor is built into the unit. The home hydrogen fueling station's initial use will be for short trips - i.e. suburban errand-running and to fuel urban delivery vehicles. More details will be available when the full story is posted on CNNMoney later today.

[Curt]

These 100 mile estimates always seem to picture miniature cars. What about families? Is this technology going to provide enough power to take my family in our minivan to the shopping center and back if it's 30 miles away over hilly terrain? Where do these tiny cars fit into the normal family use? If they're not practical, quit wasting everyone's time and get back to the drawing board.

[Todd Woody]

The full story is now online at CNNMoney.com. money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/02/01/8398988/index.htm

[rbtbob]

Look into h2 storage in metal hydrides:

http://www.ovonics.com/eb_hy_hydrogen_sol.cfm

[Stroes]

I live at 7400ft and need oxygen. I make oxygen though a concentrator which did cost me $1200.
Hydrogen same as oxygen is available in the air free.
I believe this might help solving one of the world problems.
Do you have the name of a company, who manufactures a proto type?

[Lawguy]

I already use propane in my Yukon and it runs extremely clean and gets almost the same mileage, but at 50-60 cents per gallon less than gas. (It was much more of a savings back when gas was around $3.00 per gallon) I would love to have a home filling station for hydrogen, which is even cleaner than propane and the cost of the solar comppressor is certainly affordable. If they can make it produce enough hydrogen to make it workable around town, it would be almost perfect. However anyone who would want to use their vehicle with hyrogen would still have to install a conversion in it with a pressure tank and possbily split fuel system, which, unfortuantey, is much more expensve than the station itself. (from $3500 to $6000) Of course, those of us that already have conversions could and would switch to hydrogen in a second, considering we could save every cent now spent on propane.

[gforce]

It doesn't say how long it will take to generate enough hydrogen to fuel a car for 100 miles. With a typical small array of pv for about $500 it would take several weeks. And that is just the pv, not the balance of system.

Great!

[Todd Woody]

According to Dr. Badwal, the system will generate enough hydrogen per day to give a car a range of nearly 100 miles.

[other]

I wonder how efficient this approach is compared to using solar energy to just charge the battery for an electric vehicle.

[mark twain]

Fuel Cells still have engineering problems with energy density and, of course, cost and material availability.

PV have problems with energy output, cost, and material availability. Anyone who questions this should check out the business history of APWR--going great until their supplier said no more silicon for you.

Batteries? Are you crazy. There isn't enough copper, zinc, nickel, cadmium, lead, silver, for today's consumption, let alone to build 100M+ large batteries.

THERE IS NO MAGIC SOLUTION SCALEABLE TO WORLDWIDE PROPORTIONS.

[John Finlayson-Fife]

I don't know whether there is enough of all those metals to build 100M batteries. I would have thought that there is, and I'd ask for a reference, but batteries may not be needed. It sounds like EEStor has cleared the biggest hurdle for mass-producing EV-grade ultracapacitors -- making high-purity barium titanate on a production line.

Barium, Titanium, Oxygen. We've got plenty of that.

[John Finlayson-Fife]

"I wonder how efficient this approach is compared to using solar energy to just charge the battery for an electric vehicle."

Using estimates of water electrolysis efficiency of 50%, and fuel-cell efficiency of 40%-60%, you can expect the EV motor to receive somewhere between 20% and 30% of the electricity going into the system.

Lead-acid batteries have efficiencies in the 45-68% range if you include charging circuit losses.

So Watt-hours/mile for the hydrogen FCV would be about double that of EV.

Sources for estimates:
http://www.hyweb.de/Knowledge/w-i-energiew-eng3.html (section 3.4.1).
http://xtronics.com/reference/batterap.htm

[PEdro Vinagre]

There are other type of bateries on the way - that would certainly help out the 100M+ needs. Shame that the Canadian Goverment is shutting off one of the Two Lithyum Metal Polymer Batteries Factory.
Check this at http://www.avestor.com/ourtechnology.ch2 and also on a French site ( another one ? or just a representation of the first ??) http://www.batscap.com/la-batterie-lithium-metal-polymere/
By what I've seen they can retain 5 time the same power as a lead battery of the same weight. AND they don't have the same problems of leakage; I just would like to know IF, When and WHERE can I get the price of it...

[T Suomien]

What would be the ongoing maintenance on this system. If it uses simple electrolysis of water principle, would you need to be replacing anodes on a regular basis? Would this increase demand for water? In a country such as Australia where the federal goverment has just taken control of the nation's previously fractured water infrastructure due to waste and shortages, would every household in a desert country needing a tank of water every week put an unsustainable demand on what little water is available? How about in Arizona, California, where water shortages are already a problem and issue?

[T Suomien]

Ok, I went and read the "full" article. It is a reverse fuel-cell process. Fuel cells are notorious for requiring PURE water, distilled water is just a good start. Just how do they plan on supplying all the pure water for every household on the planet that might want to use this system? And as millions of fuel cell membranes clog up and need replacing? Where and how and how much for those? Makes a nice little filler article for the sleepy folk at CNN maybe, but are they really THAT asleep?

[Todd Woody]

Addressing T Suomien's comments: According to CSIRO scientist Sukhvinder Badwal, the home hydrogen fueling station uses standard tap water that has gone through an ion exchange filter. Different locations will have different water quality, of course, but he said the project has had no trouble using the metropolitan water supply in Melbourne, Australia. Obviously, not every home on the planet would have a home hydrogen fueling station.

In the prototype, the electrolysis unit needs to be replaced after 3,000 hours, though the team has managed to increase the lifespan to 5,000 hours.

As far as the water supply issue goes, the problem is not with devices like the home hydrogen fueling station but the way water is used - and wasted. In California, for instance, 80 percent of the state's water supply goes to agriculture, often at highly subsidized rates. There's little incentive for conservation on the part of growers. We are a state, after all, that grows rice and alfalfa in the desert.

[T Suomien]

Every 3,000 hours is basically every 4 months. Increasing the replacement cycle to 5,000 hours gets you to a little over half a year.

The REASON you need to replace it so often is because tap water, even filtered tap water, isn't pure. It will (and is expected to) clog up the fuel cell membranes. What is that membrane made of? How much does it cost. Talking about conservation of water is pretty specious logic in a thread advocating INCREASED use of water.

This is a dead-end 'suck up research resources' project. How about a means of converting seawater to hydrogen, liquifying it, and developing an infrastructure to transport and deliver liquid Hydrogen to and from filling stations? Liquid Hydrogen has a better set of characteristics as far as use in everyday transport than gaseous Hydrogen.

[Perry Henry]

This is a great idea, I'm anxious to read more.
If possible, I will gladly become a test subject, with contuning improvemnts I have no doubt this will work and work well.

[T Suomien]

You all do realize that these membranes that will need regular replacement are made of fluorocarbon polymers?

That this 'solution' will lead to even more water usage battles between agriculture (who need it to grow more and more ethanol-producing corn don't you know) and industry. Never mind the individuals who are currently paying more per gallon for drinking water than they are for gasoline.

This project is just a boondoggle by an entrenched bureaucratic grant-churning agency concerned more with releasing feel-good press than actually doing real, new, science.

This whole concept is not new. You don't need to volunteer for anything. You can buy this system today. Maybe not in a nice, delivered to your doorstep box, but all the parts are out there.

[Perry]

Well T, if I were a fatalist such as yourself,
I wouldn,t be here. Improvements will be made in solar panels and hydrogen generation/storage, and it will work.

[T Suomien]

Not a fatalist. I have every hope that hydrogen can be produced and used to power the world.

I am sick and tired of these 'Grant-Mills' that know their way all to well around goverment (my taxes) money, and how to waste it while looking busy. This is just a busy-work project. They are not 'improving' anything. Just bundling together existing technology into a means of funding their existence for another fiscal quarter.

I am all for improving solar panels, producing hydrogen with plankton for example, any work towards a solution that benefits more people than just the ones writing the optimistic press releases.

And I am REALLY tired of people who think ANY 'alternative' fuel makes sense just because it's 'alternative'. There are costs and tradeoffs with any power-source that should be considered and entered into the cost-benefit equation.

Lets see progress, not a rehash.

[Wes]

I for one think buying a car with no extra fuel or electricity costs except on long trips is a damn good idea, and represents a lot of progress. Perhaps something similar can be used at commerical stations in the future. Go ahead and keep filling up your Yukon with $3 gas, I'll take the fuel cell in a second.

As far as water shortages in California, gimme a break... exactly how many miles of coastline does the state have? It's called builing desalination plants.

[Richard Hassinger]

T Suomien brings up some good points, albeit in a very negative tone. I am not sure how much water is consumed in producing those 100 miles worth of fuel per day, but I would not expect it to be much more than running your dishwasher one cycle (especially since the filters don't need to be changed for months). We could use more info on those filters too, what they are made of, how much they cost, etc. Also some estimates on the MTBF (lifespan) of the whole unit, maintenance costs, etc. Do we need to get two for two cars (or coverage in case one fails), does it need to be plugged in (as well as the solar panel) and can it be fitted to provide hydrogen to one's house?

[ang]

Just to put things into perspective- let's not jump on the hydrogen bandwagon just yet. To review the 'peak oil' theory, we are currently (or very soon to be) at a point where even if we were to put all the world's fossil fuels into creating fossil-fuel free technologies, there would still not be enough energy in all that oil to recreate the same amount of energy in a different form. Solar cells are made from fossil fuels (plastics) and use fossil fuels in production. The only truly renewable resources we know of are actual living things. Much of a solar cell would be difficult to recycle and reuse, and require MORE energy imput to recycle it, however, horse power, wood, human power, etc. have the ability to constantly renew themselves and take part in a cycle. Even when wood has exhausted it's lifespan, as, say a house, it can be composted back into the earth, create soil, habitat for countless organisims, and eventually be used to grow food or more trees. 1 horse has the capacity to produce multiple horses to do even more work, humans have the capacity to produce endless amounts of ideas, power, and physical labor. (Think of the egyptian pyramids!)
In nature there is NO waste.
I believe these natural systems are what we should be studying, instead of finding more and more complex ways to create high technology that generates more waste and consumes more fossil fuels.

[RAFI]

Dear sir ,
we are looking for a company that can provide us solar power home hydrogen fuelling station.

waiting for your prompt reply.
Mr. Adnan

[Isaac]

I really don't think the civilized world is ready to go back to the 17th century with horse drawn carriages that's just ridiculous, HHO is the future deal with it, and the world is covered with 71% of water I don't think thats the problem. It's already been proven that hydrogen can be extracted from salt water why this perticular system needs distilled water is beyond me. We have the technology now electrolysis is simple anyone with a little basic knowledge can create there own hydrogen system at home and for that reason alone is why the infrastucture has'nt been implemented yet. Their not going to move foward with hydrogen unless it can be controlled and profited from. If any average joe could create their own fuel there would be economic collapse! The true American dream will always be smashed by the corporate fat cats. If we had are way, free energy would have been realized back when Tesla invented the tesla coil back in the 19th century over a hundred years ago! It's not a myth people free energy is real and it's sad that the greed of mankind will always prevail over the future of are children and are planet. Someone posted earlier about how are they gonna take their children to the shopping center in a minivan on hydrogen and my answer too you is how can't we.