Hydrogen vehicle fuel consumption

Transport scene setting and fuel consumption of hydrogen vehicles In 2005, in total there were 45.4 million passenger cars, 1.8 million LDVs and 87 000 buses on the roads in Germany (Prognos/EWI, 2005). It is assumed that the number... 

The overarching drivers for the development of hydrogen technologies are climate change and reductions in oil consumption with additional benefits in emissions reductions. The use of hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles can reduce oil use and carbon plus other emissions in the transportation sector, while hydrogen can enable clean, reliable energy for stationary and portable power applications. 

The best prospects for hydrogen would appear to be in niche applications that do not represent a major fuel consumption, or where the power requirement is a small fraction of the vehicle s propulsion power. An example of this is the air-independent propulsion system on board the German Class 212 submarine. The particular requirements of this vehicle allow the use of heavy hydrogen storage as a metal hydride. 

Finding 6-2. A transition to a light-duty fleet of vehicles fueled entirely by hydrogen would dramatically reduce U.S. oil consumption and imports. 

Our analysis shows that by far the most effective strategy to reduce petroleum consumption is increased new vehicle fuel efficiency. A secondary strategy involves the substitution of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and other alternative fuel or advanced vehicles. These two strategies implemented together could yield significant motor vehicle emission and fuel use reductions in the 2020 to 2030 time frame. 

In recent years the concept of a fuel cell propulsion system has gained in attention as a result of the need to reduce the fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Since the fuel cells suitable for vehicle application (polymeric electrolyte membrane fuel cells) are fuelled by hydrogen, and deliver power as long as fuel and air are supplied, they potentially can provide the range capabilities of an internal combustion engine when used in a power system, but with clean and quiet operation. Therefore, the fundamental benefit of this type of propulsion consists in the possibility to adopt pollution-free electric drive-trains, without the drive range limitations typical of traditional electric vehicles. 

The prognosis, then, for road transportation is for a varied mix of propulsion systems and fuels as conventional petroleum becomes less plentiful and prices rise. Internal combustion engines operating with synthetic liquid fuels (hydrocarbons, alcohols and bio-diesel) are expected to appear in increasing numbers, often supported by hybrid electric drives to reduce fuel consumption. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles may become popular when more durable and affordable batteries become available. This would allow the power source to be part liquid fuel and part mains electricity. Some of the major obstacles to be overcome with hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are ... 

In addition to the advantage of fuel consumption and emission there are important pre-conditions for the market introduction of fuel cell vehicles high customer acceptance and sufficient hydrogen infi-astructure availability. 

For example, suppose that cars are powered with hydrogen or fuel cells instead of gasoline and that carbon dioxide reduction laws are enacted requiring all vehicles operated in the city to be carbon dioxide free. The current annual consumption of gasoline in Tokyo is equivalent to about 600,000 tons of hydrogen. In order to provide this quantity of hydrogen, about 60 small reactors with a thermal output of 100 MW will be required. Owing to the safety features of... 

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