Vehicles, fuel-cell

Cars are the most popular transportation means in developed countries such as the United States and Canada, and their popularity is increasing rapidly in developing countries such as China. To some extent, cars make the routine commute more convenient and comfortable if roads are not heavily congested. In the United States, most of fhe crude oil is used by cars. What other fuel will power cars becomes an urgenf issue as the world crude oil reserve decreases with time. In addition, cars are based on low-efficiency internal combustion engines (ICEs) with gasoline as the fuel, and emit harmful NO, SO, and a lot of CO2 (a greenhouse gas, or GHG). Heavy use of cars has seriously deteriorated the air quality in many urban areas worldwide. 

Gasoline can be represented by octane (CgHjg). It combusts in the ICE according to Reaction 6.1. 

The average atmospheric temperature between 1981 and 1990 increased by 0.48°C over the previous 100 years. If the temperature keeps increasing at this rate, it has been estimated that the average atmospheric temperature will increase another 2-4°C by 2050, causing a significant portion of the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic to melt. If this happens, many coastal cities like New York, Tokyo, Sydney, and Shanghai may be submerged in water. 

Global warming, deterioration of the air quality, and near depletion of the crude oil reserve all point to reducing or even abandoning the use of vehicles 

Fuel cell cars displayed by Toyota, Honda, and Nissan during the 2011 Tokyo Fuel Cell Expo. 

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See also Electric Vehicles Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Vehicles Office Equipment Storage Storage Technology. 

See also Automobile Performance Electric Vehicle Fuel Cell Vehicles Gasoline Engine Hybrid Vehicles. 

See also Batteries Capital Investment Decisions Consumption Economically Efficient Energy Choices Electricity Electric Power, Generation of Faraday, Michael Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Vehicles Magnetism and Magnets Oersted, Hans Christian Tesla, Nikola. 

See also Batteries Capacitors and Ultracapacitors Electric Motor Systems Emission Control, Vehicle Environmental Problems and Energy Use Flywheels Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Vehicles Flybrid Vehicles Materials Transportation, Evolution ofEnergy Use and. 

Many of the world s major automakers, prompted by both this consumer demand and progress in reducing the inherent cost and size of fuel cells, are now committed to developing and commercializing fuel cell vehicles. 

The problem is that hydrogen, even at 10,000 psi (or 690 bar), requires five to ten times the volume of today s gasoline tank, depending on the fuel cell vehicle s real world efficiency. Packaging volume is compromised even further because pressurized tanks require thick carbon fiber walls and are, therefore, nonconformable. Moreover, they may cost several thousand dollars more than a conventional gasoline tank. 

See also Efficiency of Energy Use, Economic Concerns and Engines Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Vehicles Hydrogen Methanol Synthetic Fuel. 

Engines Fuel Cell Vehicles Fuel Cells. 

Ahmed, S. (1997). Partial Oxidation Reformer Development for Fuel Cell Vehicles. Proceedings of the. 12nd Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference. Paper 97081 (August). 

Howard, P. E. (1996). The Ballard Zero-Emission Fuel Cell Engine. Prese. At Commercializing Fuel Cell Vehicles, InterTech Conference (September). 

Moore, R. M. Gottesfeld, S. and Zelenay, P. (1999). A Comparison Between Direct-Methanol and Direct Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles. SAE Future Transportation Technologies Conference. Paper 99FTT-48 (August). 

NECAR 4—DaimlerChiysler s Sixth Fuel Cell Vehicle in Five Years. (1999). Press Release. March 17. 

James, B. D. Baum, G. N. Lomax, F. D. Thomas, C. E. Kuhn, I. F. (1996). Comparison of Onboard Hydrogen Storage for Fuel Cell Vehicles. Washington, DC United States Department ofEnergy. 

Ogden, J. Steinbugler, M. and Kreutz, T. (1999). A Comparison of Hydrogen, Methanol, and Gasoline as Fuels for Fuel Cell Vehicles. Journal of Power Sources 79 143-168. 

By 1999, General Motors, Daimler-Clirysler, Toyota, and Nissan all had demonstration fuel cell vehicles operating on niethanol, with plans to start introducing vehicles into the market by 2005. Auto makers have shown a preference for methanol over gasoline primarily because of the likelihood of the sulfur content in gasoline poisoning some of the catalysts used in the fuel cell. 

See also-. Aviation Fuel Batteries Engines Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Vehicles Military Energy Use, Historical Aspects of Rocket Propellants Storage Technology. 

As crude oil reserves dwindle, the marketplace will either transition to the electrifying of the transportation system (electric and fuel-cell vehicles and electric railways), with the electricity being produced by coal, natural gas, nuclear and renewables, or see the development of an industry to produce liquid fuel substitutes from coal, oil shale, and tar sands. It might also turn out to be a combination of both. The transition will vary by nation and will be dictated strongly by the fuels available, the economic and technological efficiencies of competitive systems, the relative environmental impacts of each technology, and the role government takes in the marketplace. 

General Motors, Oakland Township, MI Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Vehicles... 

As a constituent of synthesis gas, hydrogen is a precursor for ammonia, methanol, Oxo alcohols, and hydrocarbons from Fischer Tropsch processes. The direct use of hydrogen as a clean fuel for automobiles and buses is currently being evaluated compared to fuel cell vehicles that use hydrocarbon fuels which are converted through on-board reformers to a hydrogen-rich gas. Direct use of H2 provides greater efficiency and environmental benefits. ... 

Small engines may incorporate the fuel cell as a power source. Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen in a way that generates electricity, which drives a motor. Leading automobile manufacturers have already developed fuel-cell vehicles. 

Iceland, an island nation with abundant hydroelectric and geothermal power sources close to where people live, is using natural power sources to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen. In April 2003, Iceland opened its first hydrogen filling station for fuel-cell vehicles. If this initiative proves successful, perhaps the rest of the industrialized world will eventually convert to a hydrogen-fueled economy. 

Hermann, I., Lindner, M., Winkel-MANN, H., DuSTERWALD, H. G., Microreaction technology in fuel processing for fuel cell vehicles, in Proceedings of the VDE World Microtechnologies Congress, MICRO.tec 2000,... 

Jacobson MZ, Colella WG, Golden DM. 2005. Cleaning the air and improving health with hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Science 308 1901-1905. 

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