Return Of The Hydrogen Car?

In its push for putting zero-emission cars on the road, the Department of Energy is launching new programs to study the infrastructure needed to run vehicles on hydrogen.

"Recently, there's a renewed focus on getting these technologies out on the road and into the hands of consumers," said Daniel Dedrick, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program Manager at Sandia National Laboratories.

In early June, Sandia signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with private research firm SRI International to collaborate on testing alternative fuels like natural gas and hydrogen in vehicles, breaking ground on a new testing facility called the Center for Infrastructure Research and Innovation (CIRI). Earlier, DOE announced a public-private program called H2USA aimed at getting government researchers to work with automakers to bring cheap hydrogen to the masses.

Though battery-electric cars have lately driven fuel cells out of the spotlight, some technical advances in these systems have drawn more attention from manufacturers like Ford and General Motors. Much of the cost savings came from using less platinum, a precious metal catalyst that helps pull electrons off hydrogen gas to generate an electric current. Current fuel cell designs use one-fifth of the platinum needed in their predecessors.

On the fuel side, the boom in cheap natural gas has lowered the cost of hydrogen. Methane, the major component of natural gas, can form hydrogen via a process called steam reforming.

That leaves infrastructure as the missing link. Unlike with an electric car, most people won't fill their fuel-cell-powered cars in their garages, and corner gas stations aren't likely to add hydrogen pumps anytime soon.

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