Fuel Cells: An Introduction and

Update

April 30,
30, 2008

Jennifer Gangi
P
Program Di
Director,
t F Fuell C
Cells
ll 2000
Breakthrough Technologies Institute, Inc.
 Fuel Cells 2000 / BTI
ƒ U.S. nonprofit organization
ƒ Established in 1993
ƒ Promotes fuel cells from public
i t
interestt perspective
ti
ƒ Leading nonnon--aligned source of fuel
cell information
ƒ Databases, reports, newsletters
ƒ www.fuelcells.org
What is a Fuel Cell?
 Fuel Cells - Defined
Fuel (H2) + O2 / Catalyst (H2)O + Heat

Fuel cells
combine
hydrogen and
oxygen
electrochemically
l t h i ll
to produce
electricity. The
only by-products
are water and
useful heat
heat.
Fuel Cells - Concept

Increase voltage to
useful levels
- Bundle
B dl or ‘‘stack’
t k’
many electrode /
electrolyte
assemblies
together
Fuel Cell System
 A Family
y of Technologies
g
Type Efficiency Operating Temp.
Solid Oxide 45-65% 800°C
Molten Carbonate 50%
% 650°C
Phosphoric Acid 40% 200°C
Alkaline 50-60% 80°C
Direct Methanol 40% 80°C
80 C
Polymer (PEM) 40% 50°C
Regenerative
 An unmatched combination of
benefits
ƒ Electrochemistry, not combustion
ƒ Fuel Cells let us stop burning carbon
• Low / Zero Emissions
• High Efficiency
ff Æ Low CO2
• Wide Range of Applications / Distributed
Installation
• High Quality, Reliable Power
• Quiet
• F l Flexible
Fuel Fl ibl
• Economic Benefits
• Lightweight battery alternative
 Benefits
ƒ 80%+ efficiency in combined heat and power
ƒ 35
35--60% electrical
e ec ca e efficiency
c e cy
ƒ Higher in hybrid configurations
ƒ Validated by US EPA in 2005: 93 93.8%
8%
ƒ PAFC, anaerobic digester gas
ƒ CO2 reductions - Savings of ~ 3900 Tons per
MW per year
ƒ Fuel cell power plant creates less than one ozoz.
of pollution per 1,000 kWh of electricity produced
– compared to the 25 lbs. of pollutants for
conventional combustion generating systems.
(UTC)
Fuel Cell Emission benefits
 Putting Cars on Road
ƒ 10 states and DC have fuel cell
cars and/or buses on the road in
testing and demonstration
ƒ FedEx, DHL and UPS
demonstrations (USPS, too)
ƒ Honda leasing two vehicles in
CA to regular people
ƒ GM leasing100 vehicles in CA,
NY and DC (Thursday)
ƒ 15 states offer tax incentives for
H2 and fuel cell vehicles, 6
states offer grants/loans
 Every Automaker in the Game

Ford Hyundai
Toyota

Honda GM Nissan
 Bus Demonstrations Worldwide
ƒ CUTE: 9 cities in
Europe
ƒ Australia
ƒ Iceland
ƒ Tokyo
ƒ CA, MI, FL
AC Transit reports 2x mileage
mileage,
excellent performance
 Filling Them Up
ƒ 17 states and DC have H2
refueling stations (CA has
32)
ƒ Recent openings in CA CA, IL
and FL
ƒ 3 states offer grants/loans
for H2 infrastructure
ƒ 5 states offer tax
incentives for H2 Shell H2 station in DC
infrastructure
ƒ More planned!
Many Other Vehicles
 Forklifts
Current demonstrations at:
•Wal-Mart
•FedEx
•GM
•Raymond
R dC
Corporation
ti
•Michelin
•Ace Hardware
•DoD’s DLA sites
Demos leading g to
increased trials,
orders for more units
Micro Fuel Cells
 Micro/Portable Fuel Cell Applications
ƒ Consumer electronics:
ƒ Cell phones, PDAs, laptops, music players
ƒ First Responder:
ƒ 2-way radios, communications centers
ƒ Defense ((soldier power):
p )
ƒ Communications, computing, sensors, UAVs
ƒ Industrial & Specialty applications:
ƒ Battery
B tt charging
h i stations
t ti
ƒ Handheld data terminals
ƒ Inventory/warehouse management
ƒ Satellite Phones, surveillance

Major companies working on this – Motorola,

Motorola NEC,
NEC
Casio, Toshiba, plus many start-ups and fuel cell
companies
 Power Generation Systems
•Thousands installed worldwide
•Used for primary or backup power
•Huge reductions in greenhouse gas
and other emissions
Brooks AFB •Very reliable – installed at hospitals,
banks, schools (emergency shelters)
•Scalable for any power need (1kW –
MW installations)
•Perfect
P f t fit for
f developing
d l i countries
ti –
no grid needed (IFC funding program)
Central Park Police
Station – in 2003 kept
running during city-wide
blackout
 A Fuel Cell is There?
•Sheraton hotels in NJ
NJ, NY and CA
•4 Times Square, NY (NASDAQ sign)
•McDonald’s, Deer Park, NY
•Yale University, West Point, Hofstra (many
other colleges)
•Breweries – Kirin,, Asahi,, Sapporo,
pp , Sierra
Nevada, Foster’s
•NY Aquarium, Doorly Zoo
•Pepperidge Farm
Farm, Whole Foods
•Yosemite and Cuyahoga National Parks
•Mohegan Sun Casino
 Road to Renewable
ƒ Anaerobic digester gas –
landfills, wastewater treatment plants,
p
breweries capturing and recycling
waste gas (contains hydrogen)
ƒ Solar/Wind
S l /Wi d electrolysis
l t l i –
several hydrogen stations around
world
ƒ Home Energy Stations –
Honda/Plug Power on 4th generation
ƒ Grassroots – homeowners
installing PV/hydrogen systems
 State Fuel Cell and Hydrogen
P li and
Policy dDDemonstration
i DDatabase
b
 State Fuel Cell and Hydrogen
Policy and Demonstration Database
Includes:
•All state policy - incentives,
incentives tax credits
credits, grants
grants,
RPS, interconnection standards, initiatives,
roadmaps,
roadmaps partnerships
•Stationary fuel cell installations
•Hydrogen fueling stations
•Vehicle demonstrations
•Searchable
•Continually updated as new information comes
available or legislation passes
Available at www.fuelcells.org
 Recent Studies
ƒ Comparison of Transportation Options in a Carbon-
Carbon-Constrained
World: Hydrogen, Plug-
Plug-in Hybrids and Biofuels by C.E. (Sandy)
Thomas - determined that “the hydrogen-
hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle is the
onl option that can achie
only achieve
e the goal of red
reducing
cing greenho
greenhouse
se gases b
by 60%
or more below 1990 levels in the transportation sector.”

ƒ Analysis of the Transition to Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles and

the Potential Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure Requirements by
Oak Ridge National Laboratory - concludes that hydrogen can be
produced at a highly competitive price compared to gasoline from natural
gas, biofuels or other feedstocks
feedstocks..

ƒ Road to a Cleaner Future by the American Lung Association -

concludes that $ $142 billion in human health and g global warming
g reduction
benefits would result from converting the entire California motor vehicle fleet
from gasoline vehicles to zero-
zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) technologies
(including fuel cells) in the 2010-
2010-2030 timeframe.
 Thank you

Fuel Cells 2000

1100 H Street,
St t NW
Washington, DC 20005
www.fuelcells.org
jennifer@fuelcells.org
jennifer@fuelcells org