Key words: fuel cell vehicles, fuel cells, hydrogen economy, hydrogen as fuel, fuel cell industry, hydrogen industry, fuel cells research

As we enter the new millennium, environmentally friendly energy sources will soon become a necessity with the threat of global warming. Dependence on foreign petroleum reserves will also force the utilization of alternative energy sources. One alternative energy source is hydrogen fuel cells which can power cars, factories, cellphones, and your home. A stationary hydrogen fuel cell powered a building at Yellowstone National Park and was also used on the Space Shuttle. The scientific principle of fuel cells is as follows. Electricity is provided by the conversion of chemical energy via catalytic sites on the fuel cell to electric energy. Oxygen from air plus compressed hydrogen gas H2 is required. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) cells are the latest technology in automotive fuel cell technology. Hydrogen is split on one side of the membrane by a catalyst and migrates to the other side to combine with oxygen to form water as the byproduct. Electrons are released in the process and conducted along the PEM. One fuel cell does not produce enough voltage to power a vehicle. When enough cells are combined in "stacks", enough voltage is produced to power cars and busses. Why aren't hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the market to individuals? In order for such vehicles to become practical and economical, a hydrogen economy must develop. There currently aren't enough hydrogen production facilities that are widespread to sustain this. Plug Power a company in Latham, NY manufactures stationary hydrogen fuel cells and has a hydrogen generation facility. The production and storage of hydrogen is costly and there are also some technical problems yet to be solved. Hydrogen is an extremely light gas and must be compressed. It would require a great amount of space to accommodate the approximate 300 mile driving range that consumers expect. Currently platinum is the most effective catalyst for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and it is costly. Recent progress has been made in developing biological catalysts. This page was developed by Frank Fotia, an intern in the Science Library.

Selected Internet resources

US Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells

This is an excellent informative website that encompasses many aspects of hydrogen fuel cells and the hydrogen economy. It includes pages on current challenges and developments pertaining to hydrogen fuel cells. There is n animated demonstration of how a fuel cell works. The feasibility of a Hydrogen economy is discussed with short term, mid term, and long-term transition plans. There is an education page that teachers may access to incorporate Hydrogen Fuel Cells and renewable energy sources into their curricula. There is a current events section that has postings of press releases that are about Hydrogen Fuel Cells and the Hydrogen economy.

2004 Annual Progress Report Department of Energy Hydrogen Program http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/annual_report04.html

This is the latest and most comprehensive report on the government's hydrogen program. It is a technical report describing developments in hydrogen fuel cells at the department of energy. Among the various topics described are algal H2 production systems, photoelectrochemical hydrogen production, hydrogen delivery systems, the discovery of metal hydrides by molecular modeling, proton exchange membranes, and research towards the development of new catalysts.

NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory:
http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/

This is an excellent web site that describes this laboratory's projects concerning hydrogen fuel cells. Of interest are links that are available that provide methodologies for the calculation of life cycle assessments of hydrogen production via natural gas steam reforming and renewable production via wind/electrolysis. This web site also includes links for students and teachers. This page has links to downloadable publications of the DOE on fuel cells and hydrogen as a green energy source.

General Motors: Fuel Cell Vehicles Pages
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/400_fcv/fc_work.html

This web site has the best animated graphics we have seen demonstrating how fuel cells work. It is very informative to both the layman and technical person. The animated graphic demonstrates how chemical energy via oxygen and hydrogen are converted to electrical energy.

US Fuel Cell Council:
http://www.usfcc.com/

This industry association web site includes an excellent News & Resources page that includes newsletters of the fuel cell industry. This site has links to downloadable brochures, glossaries and fact sheets pertinent to fuel cells. The site also includes market studies and industry surveys that are downloadable. There is also a page on the non-vehicle applications including commercial and residential electrical power. Portable power applications are also discussed. Motorola expects to power cellphones with fuel cell technology and expects them to run 10 times longer than current cellphones. The hydrogen would be supplied via cartridges of methanol. In the section "About Fuel Cells" there is a list and description of the many types of fuel cells.

The National Hydrogen Association:
http://www.hydrogenus.com/

This website of the National Hydrogen Association is a members only site which means that not all of the links are accessible, but it does provide information on the hydrogen industry. It also explains the many ways in which hydrogen is produced. It includes links on information of the latest conferences and research that has come out of recent conferences such as the New York State Hydrogen Energy Roadmap and the NHA Annual Hydrogen Conference that recently took place March 29-April 1, 2005 in Washington. Overall this website is very current and up to date reporting the latest technological and political developments.

Fuel Cells 2000: The Online Fuel Information Resource:
http://www.fuelcells.org

This source has much to offer despite its somewhat outdated title. It includes a "fuel cell library" with information on just about every aspect of hydrogen fuel cells from vehicle applications in cars and buses to residential power applications. The fuel cell library page of this website has entries up to 2003. It also has links to animations on how fuel cells work, reports on hydrogen fuel cells, types of fuel cells and myths about hydrogen and the list goes on. Most of what it contains is technical and for people in the industry but easily understood by readers with a minimal science background. There is a technology update section on the homepage that is up to date as well as links to the "Fuel Cell Vehicle World Survey" and "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Hydrogen and Fuel Cells". This is a highly recommended website with extensive information on fuel cells.

Schatz Energy Research Center of Humboldt University:
http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc/fc.html
The page on Fuel Cells and the Solar Energy Hydrogen Project are of interest. The Solar Energy project demonstrates a stand-alone system powered by solar energy and hydrogen fuel cells. The fuel cell page is educational and describes how fuel cells work. The Schatz Energy Research Center focuses on renewable and nonpolluting sources of energy, which include solar and wind energy that can be used in conjunction with hydrogen fuel cells.

Schatz Energy Research Center of Humboldt University/Hydrogen Fuel Cell Animation:
http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc/animation.html
This is a direct link to an instructive graphic fuel cell animation by the Schatz Energy Research Center of Humboldt University. For ease of access the link is listed separately.

SAE International Fuel Cell Technology Showcase:
http://www.sae.org/fuelcells/fuelcells.htm
This website by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) lists many books on fuel cells but unfortunately even the downloadable ones are only available for a fee. The most interesting link of this website is the link about the brief history of fuel cells. This is the most complete page that we have seen available online concerning the history of fuel cells. Most of the websites have not covered the history of fuel cells.

Periodical Articles (semi-technical, general interest and scholarly newsletters):

Ashley, Steven (2005, March) On the Road to FUEL-CELL CARS,
Scientific American 292(3) 62-69.

A very up to date and objective article that discusses current developments in fuel cell technology such as operation at low temperatures and the efficiency of PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cells. This article has an excellent diagram on how fuel cells work. The authors give a realistic overview of current obstacles to fuel cell technology such as hydrogen storage issues, infrastructure issues and the high cost of catalysts used in PEM's and states that hydrogen fuel cells cars many not be practical until 2015. Of local interest, Scientific American informs that there is a hydrogen generation facility in Latham, NY an interest of Plug Power, a company that manufactures stationary hydrogen fuel cells.

Burns, L.D., McCormick, J.B., Borroni-Bird, C.E. (2002, Oct) Vehicle of Change,
Scientific American 287(4) 64-73.
This article is very pro-hydrogen fuel cell as it was written by two leading researchers at GM. The authors give good descriptions as far as design aspects of future hydrogen fuel cell cars as well as providing some statistics on efficiency. Some figures of interest are that the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cell cars will approach 55% while the efficiency of internal combustion engines is expected to top out at 30%. One kilogram of hydrogen gas energy is equivalent to one gallon of petroleum gasoline energy. The authors fail to state the incredible amount of volume one kilogram of hydrogen occupies and the energy that must be put in to compress the volume so that it is practical on a vehicle. The authors describe the flat skateboard design that will be the basis for future hydrogen vehicles. The authors that the hydrogen vehicle is years away and they do mention that an infrastructure to support such vehicles has hindrances that must be overcome but do not go into great detail. The authors predict that there will be a significant increase in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle between 2010 and 2020. Overall the article is very visionary but does not go into details as to what the obstacles are. The article has excellent diagrams and gives good examples of how hydrogen fuel cell vehicles operate.

Behar, Michael (2005, Jan) Warning: The Hydrogen Economy may be more distant than it appears,
Popular Science 266(1) 64-68.
This article gives a realistic if not pessimistic view of the current technological and logistical obstacles to a hydrogen economy. The authors provide interesting statistics to support their point of view. One interesting statistic is that it would take 10,000 psi (lbs per square inch) of hydrogen to power a vehicle for 300 miles and even at such high compression it would take up about four times the space that gasoline would. The article mentions that producing hydrogen will actually raise CO2 emissions if it is extracted from natural gas. The authors suggest that a good first step on the road to a hydrogen economy would be to start by utilizing fuel cells in power plants and private residences.

Wald, Matthew L. (2004, May) Questions about a Hydrogen Economy
Scientific American 290(5) 66-73.
This article gives a realistic overview of the possible environmental impact of a hydrogen economy and other major hindrances to its implementation in the near future. Although hydrogen fuel cell vehicles emit only water vapor the processes involved in producing hydrogen can emit carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. The authors present excellent graphs with data on greenhouse gas emissions for various vehicle power sources. Presented is a graph of "well to wheels"energy efficiency. The problems of storing and delivering hydrogen are also discussed in a section in the article.

The Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter April 2005 Vol. XX no. 4 ISSN 1080-8019
http://www.hfcletter.com
This is a newsletter which is available online with the latest developments in the hydrogen and alternative energy fields. This issue describes the showing of some hydrogen concept cars at the International Auto Show in Geneva, Switzerland and a wind power derived hydrogen pipeline.

Lloyd, A.C. (1999, July) The power plant in your basement
Scientific American 281(1) 80-87.

(No author) (2005,Feb 12-18) Bacterial Future for fuel cells
New Scientist 185(2486) 16.
This is a brief communication that explains the use of bacterial enzymes to convert hydrogen ions to hydrogen gas. If the reverse process is done splitting hydrogen gas to hydrogen ions which occurs in nature, then the man made enzymes could be used in fuel cells. Currently, platinum is used in fuel cells for this process. The high cost of platinum is just one of the obstacles of affordable fuel cell vehicles. Someday man made catalytic enzymes could take the place of platinum.

Selected Periodicals (Scholarly Publications):

Mintz, M., Molburg, J., Folga, S., Gillette, F., (2003) Hydrogen distribution infrastructure,
AIP(American Institute of Physics) Conference Proceedings 671(1) 119-130.

This article describes economic analyses and models for the prediction of hydrogen costs. Tradeoffs in economies of scale between process and distribution technologies are taken into account. The article also gives detailed descriptions of several possible hydrogen infrastructures that will be necessary to support fuel cell vehicles. In their calculations "well-to-pump" and "total fuel cycle" costs are considered.

Walters, Leon, Wade, Dave (2003) Hydrogen production from Nuclear Energy,
AIP(American Institute of Physics) Conference Proceedings 671(1) 111-118.

This article investigates the details of the possibility of hydrogen generation from nuclear reactors as an environmentally friendly solution to the production of hydrogen. Currently the most efficient methods involve the cracking of methane gas which releases CO2 , a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The article describes current methods of hydrogen generation and develops an argument for producing hydrogen at nuclear reactors. The authors finally predict that a nuclear/hydrogen economy would be three or more decades away.

Darensbourg, Marcetta York (2005, February 10) Making a natural fuel cell
Nature 433(7026) 589-591.
This cutting edge communication describes the man made synthesis of the core of hydrogen producing enzymes in the laboratory. The enzymes which are hydrogenases are in effect miniature fuel cells. The core or active site of these hydrogenases is called the 'H-cluster' which is where the important electrochemical reaction takes place. Scientists have synthesized a close analog of the H-clusters in the laboratory. This is one step on the way to the replacement of costly platinum based catalysts in current day hydrogen fuel cells.

Tard, Cédric, Liu, Xiaoming, Ibrahim, Saad K. et al. (2005, February 10) Synthesis of the
H-cluster framework of iron-only hydrogenase. Nature 433(7026) 610-613.

These researchers were successful in synthesizing of an iron-sulphur framework of the active sites of hydrogenases. They did not build the natural molecule but an analog which gives a greater understanding of the 4FE4S H-cluster. This is a letter to nature which indicates very new and cutting edge research. This article gives the scientific details of previous communications. The structure of the H-cluster is determined by X-ray crystallography. Cyclic voltammograms of the electrochemical behavior of the synthesized complex are included.

Magetto, G., Timmermans, J.M., Vanmierlo, J. et al. (2004, September) Environmental rating
of vehicles with different alternative fuels and drive trains: a comparison of two approaches. Transportation Research, Part D (Transport and Environment) 9D(5) 387-399.

The use of two different rating systems to evaluate the environmental damage caused by different types of alternative fuels and different types of drive trains including electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles. Different types of pollution are analyzed and other effects on the environment such as photochemical air pollution, noise pollution and global warming as well as the effects on humans such as cancer and respiratory diseases. The emissions investigated include well to tailpipe emissions for the various fuel cycles involved.

Pucheng Pei, Minggao Ouyang, Qingchun Lu, et al. (2004, August) Testing of an automotive
fuel system. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 29(10) 1001-1007.

This paper describes an automotive test platform for fuel systems and reports some test results. One fuel cell system had an efficiency of 41% and produced 50kW of power. The test platform is capable of evaluating all components of fuel cell systems including the stacks, parasitic powers, and traction drive motors.

Scott, D.S. (2004, September) Fuel cells: chip of the future. International Journal of Hydrogen
Energy, 29,(11) 1089-93.

The author gives an interesting historical sociological perspective on the development of fuel cells comparing it to the stages of acceptance that the internal combustion and steam engine underwent in their development. Presented is an excellent chart comparing key aspects of the internal combustion engine, the storage battery and fuel cell power trains for automobiles.

Books:

Handbook of Fuel Cells: Fundamentals, Technology, Applications, 4 Volume Set
Wolf Vielstich (Editor), Arnold Lamm (Editor), Hubert Gasteiger (Editor)
ISBN: 0-471-49926-9 Wiley May 2003
Available online: http://www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/hfc/

Of interest are the on-line downloadable versions of Volume 1 Chapter 21 on Biochemical Fuel Cells and Volume 4 Chapter 58 on System design for vehicle applications:Daimler Chrysler. These two chapters are scholarly articles with the latest technological developments.

Edinger, Raphael and Kaul, Sanjay (2003) Sustainable Mobility: Renewable Energies for Powering Fuel Cell Vehicles
Science Library: Call Number: TL 221.13 E34 2003

Chapter 5 of this monograph describes the PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) Fuel Cell as well as the DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell). A brief history of fuel cell development, fuel cell electric vehicle types, and current projects in the automobile industry are discussed as well as data on total cycle greenhouse gas emissions for various types of vehicles including internal combustion gasoline and diesel. The data includes well to tank, tank to wheel and vehicle production of CO2 emissions. It is important to determine the total CO2 emissions for the entire process in order to determine the overall environmental impact of the process. A graph of power train efficiency of internal combustion engines and fuel cells is presented.

Cannon, James S. (1995) Harnessing Hydrogen: The Key to Sustainable Transportation
Science Library: Call Number TL 229 H9 C36 1995

Although this monograph was published in 1995 it discusses many of the challenges that must be met before a complete conversion is made to vehicles that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Economic considerations and analyses are discussed including the life-cycle cost of hydrogen and the hydrogen vehicle fuel cycle. Also covered are efficiency, economic, safety and environmental issues. There is a chapter on hydrogen storage as well as a chapter on the production and the distribution of hydrogen. The book concludes with a chapter on international hydrogen vehicle programs.

Government Documents:

The path to a hydrogen economy : hearing before the Committee on Science, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, first session March 5, 2003.
Location Gov Docs : J 85 Y 4.SCI 2 :108-4
Available online through Minerva: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS45881

This testimony is 483 pages long and discusses the FreedomCAR and Hydrogen Initiatives. Witnesses are David G. Garman, Alan C. Lloyd, Joan Ogden, Larry Burns and Donald Huberts. It includes technical graphs including current energy flows in the nation. Discussed are budget issues as well as the possible commercialization of vehicles by 2015. Interesting reading if one has the time.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (1997 March)
Alternative fuels for vehicles fleet demonstration program: prepared for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; prepared by EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc. Volume 1 Report 97-4
Science Library: Call Number TJ 163.25 U6 N54X NO. 97-4
Of interest is the section on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells 3-49 to 3-53

Testimony of David K. Garman before the Committee on Science of the US House of Representatives, March 3, 2004 "Hydrogen Fuel and FreedomCAR Initiatives." http://www.eere.energy.gov/office_eere/congressional_test_030304a.html

This recent testimony of the DOE discusses a plan for the implementation of a hydrogen economy. Four transitional phases are described as part of the DOE's plan. They are: A Technology Development Phase, an Initial Market Penetration Phase, an Infrastructure Investment Phase, and a Fully Developed Market and Infrastructure Phase. We are currently in the Technology Development Phase. Projections suggest that this stage will continue until about 2015 when commercialization may be economically realistic. The DOE suggests using natural gas reforming and electrolysis from wind and solar energy as the transitional hydrogen production methods.

Testimony of Douglas Faulkner before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands, Committee on Natural Resources of the US House of Representatives, May 15, 2004 "Potential use of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the National Park System."
http://www.eere.energy.gov/office_eere/congressional_test_051504.html

The use of clean fuel technologies in National Parks such as hydrogen fleet vehicles and stationary hydrogen fuel cells promotes these technologies and educates the public. So far a 4.5 kW PEM fuel cell powered a building at the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Some significant hurdles to the development of a hydrogen economy are presented as well.

Updated May, 2005