Hydrogen Highway Hits Dead End

[tonybelding]

Ballard seems just about ready to give up.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=356bed57-656b-4ffd-b3b0-f7f5a96ace29

 

[vfx]

Sounds like a good stab into the bloated hydrogen behemoth.

 

[JRP3]

Here's a fuel cell that doesn't use hydrogen and could be cheaper to build since it doesn't use platinum:

Hydrazine hydrate—a compound of nitrogen, hydrogen, and water—is liquid, which makes it easier to store and deliver than gas. And it contains no carbon, so cars using it would still be environment-friendly. But perhaps the main advantage of the new fuel cell is simply that it's cheaper.

In hydrogen fuel cells, platinum serves as a catalyst membrane that breaks down hydrogen molecules into ions and electrons. The electrons provide the current that powers the car's motor. Platinum is used because it's the only metal catalyst that can survive corrosion by hydrogen ions for any length of time.

But the membrane in the Daihatsu fuel cell has to cope only with more-benign hydroxide ions, allowing engineers to use cheaper catalysts such as cobalt or nickel.

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20071020/note11.asp

Hydrazine hydrate is a compound of hydrogen, nitrogen, and water, with molecular symbol: H2NNH2OH2O. It is a colorless liquid that has been used as a part of jet aircraft fuel.

The Daihatsu engineers contend that hydrazine hydrate is much better than hydrogen because it (1) has higher output, (2) is easier to store and deliver, (3) has no carbon dioxide emissions, and (4) is less expensive to use.

It is less expensive to use than hydrogen because hydroxide ions uses cobalt or nickel as the electrode catalyst to break down the hydrazine hydrate molecules rather than platinum to break down hydrogen molecules. Cobalt and nickel are both much cheaper to use than platinum.

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/15170/1066/

 

[vfx]

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-energy-subsidies-20131014,0,1024399.story?page=3

California is spending nearly $15 million to build 10 hydrogen fueling stations, even though just 227 hydrogen-powered vehicles exist in the state today.
It's a hefty bet on the future, given that government officials have been trying for nine years, with little success, to get automakers to build more hydrogen cars.

 

[TonyWilliams]

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California will partially get their wish for 2015-2017 model years, when 300 mile range Zero Emission Vehicles with fast refueling will get 7 credits per vehicle. After 2017, that credit drops to 3 credits per vehicle (expect lobbying to extend the 7 credit provision).

Toyota, Honda and others absolutely will provide extremely limited hydrogen cars then, just enough for CARB-ZEV mandates to be allowed to sell bazillions of oil cars in California and other CARB states (expect increased lobbying / law suits to continue "traveling" credit provisions so they can continue to sell ZEVs only California after 2017, where the grossly subsidized hydrogen stations are).