As the world population is increasing, global energy consumption is expected to grow drastically in the next couple of decades. That means more energy production, which gonna required the burning of more fossil fuels. That will ultimately increase in emission of greenhouse gases. And with the rapid draining of fossil fuel reservoirs, they are about to go empty someday in the future. So, To avert some of the worst effects of climate change, many industries are taking initiative towards alternative fuels (Like Hydrogen Fuel Cell) to end the dependency on fossil fuels. Among them, Automobile Industry seems to be shifting so fast. With the recent technological development, the popularity of Electric vehicles has seen an incredible boom over the past few years.
According to Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance Report, the annual passenger EV sales were 450,000 in 2015. Which later jumped to 2.1 Million in 2019. And Because of the pandemic it dropped to 1.7 Million in 2020 but will continue to rise as the situation gets normal. Big players like Toyota, Volkswagen, and GM are joining tesla in the journey of the EV market. Cars like Tesla Model3, Nissan Leaf, Renault Joe, and Wuling Hongguang Mini EV are the top-selling Electric cars of 2020 globally. And By 2030, electric cars will contribute 28% of the new electric vehicle sales worldwide. And experts say there will be a rise in the existing EV model from 370 of now, to 500 in 2022.
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| Image:cafcp.org |
Although there is a wide range of choices for the EV models in the market, But when it comes to powering Electric cars there are only two commonly available options. One is battery technology and the other is a Hydrogen fuel cell for powering Electric vehicles. Many people are familiar with battery technology. Thanks to the man who revolutionized battery technology. But, when it comes to Fuel Cell powered EV technology, not many people know about it. And yes, some people don’t like it too. Despite being Unpopular, Fuel Cell technology has the huge potential to be the next reliable energy source. But why we don’t have it yet? , And before that, what does this Hydrogen Fuel cell technology really is? And How far are we, in terms of its technological and infrastructural development? Let’s Find Out.
When we talk about Electric cars, there is one thing that comes to everyone’s mind is Tesla. It is obvious because of the popularity of the company in recent years. Things like real-life Tony stark sending Tesla Roadster into space have caught everyone’s eyes. To understand the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, Let’s go back to the conventional Gasoline Cars. In the case of Gasoline cars, an IC engine is used to generate power that drives the car. These engines convert fossil fuel into mechanical energy. Nowadays electric cars, these engines are replaced by electric motors to generate power. And a pack of batteries is used for the source of electricity that drives the motor.
The first hydrogen fuel cell was developed by Francis Thomas Bacon in 1932 and was named the bacon fuel cell after him. This fuel cell is one of the most developed fuel cell technology of that time and is also used in different NASA projects since the 1960s, including the Apollo moon project and the space shuttle program.
How does Fuel Cell work?
A Hydrogen fuel cell is a device that takes Hydrogen and Oxygen to generate electricity. Similar to the battery cell, a Fuel cell is composed of anode and cathode sides, separated by an electrolyte membrane. The anode and cathode sides consist of the hollow areas in which hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen gases are filled and a catalyst plate placed between each side of the electrolyte membrane.
The Hydrogen atom is composed of one positive charge or proton and one negative charge or electron. The catalyst placed between the anode and the electrolyte membrane splits the hydrogen atom into proton and electron. And since the electrolyte only allows the positive charge to penetrate through it. It will block the electron at the anode side. And, these unstable electron travels through the external circuit to follow the proton to the cathode side, resulting in the generation of electricity. Once all the electron arrives at the cathode side, it combines with a proton to reform into a Hydrogen atom, which again reacts with atmospheric oxygen at the cathode side to form water. The generated electricity is then used to run the electric motor which drives the car.
Hydrogen manufacturing:
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| Steam reforming process of hydrogen production. |
Although Hydrogen is the most abundant element, it is very reactive. It only exists in compound forms like water, methane, etc. So, to get pure hydrogen, we have to go through different processes. Hydrogen can be achieved by a method called the steam reforming process, by reacting natural gas with the steam of water in presence of Nickel and ferrous oxide as catalysts. Steam reforming is the most common method of hydrogen production, it is used in different production industries like Steel production and oil refinery industries. The downside of this process is that it is widely inefficient and emits a large number of greenhouse gases.
Another way to produce pure hydrogen is by Electrolysis. The word electrolysis may remind you of a chemistry lab experiment from high school, where you used to create a chemical reaction between electrodes using low voltage in various electrolyte solutions. Similar to that process, electrolysis is used to split the compound into its constituent elements using an electric current. But in this case, the compound is water and is split to form Hydrogen and Oxygen. The produced hydrogen is then stored in the Hydrogen fuel station for refilling the Hydrogen fuel cell-powered EVs. The electricity required in the process can be provided from renewable sources for completely green energy.
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| Electrolysis process of hydrogen production. |
This process has the advantage over the steam reforming process as it emits zero carbon, but, this process is not that efficient. By the time that hydrogen is manufactured, transported, distributed, and transformed to electricity and then mechanical work 70% of its energy is already lost. This challenge is mitigated somewhat by the fact that hydrogen is very energy-dense. The specific energy of compressed hydrogen is 39000 watt-hr/Kg, whereas the specific energy of lithium is around 265 watt-hr/Kg. which is convincing for the trucking and aviation industry to shift towards zero-emission hydrogen energy, as a long-distance vehicle requires more energy sources. Using a battery for that range will increase the weight of the vehicle. But with fuel cell technology, there will be desirable weight and size of the vehicle.
According to the Alternative fuel data center of the U.S Department of Energy, the Hydrogen cell Electric vehicle can be refueled much faster compared to battery-powered EVs. The average time to fill the 5Kg of Hydrogen is 3.7 minute whereas the fastest charging battery-powered EVs takes around half an hour. Companies like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai seem to be showing initiative towards hydrogen fuel cell electric cars in the past few years. In the coming days, we may see other manufacturers especially the long-distance vehicle manufacturers joining the initiative towards Hydrogen fuel cell cars in the coming years.
Challenges
There is no denying that the hydrogen fuel cell can act as a direct replacement for gasoline cars and can hold some advantage over the battery-powered electric car. But, at this stage, we are not close enough in terms of technological advancement to replace it completely. There is still some perfection to be made in this technology. The main downside of this technology is the cost. For example, the catalyst used in the fuel cells is made up of platinum material which increases the overall cost. In the U.S. market, the cost of a new Hydrogen cell vehicle is around 60,000 Dollars which is near twice the lowest trim Electric vehicle in the market. Which is the main reason that fuel cell car is not that popular as electric car right now. The development in infrastructure for Hydrogen fueling stations is crucial for the development of this technology,
As of 2020, there are 550 operational Hydrogen fuel cell stations worldwide, of which 275 of them in Asia followed by 200 in Europe and 75 in North America. Since the hydrogen has to be kept at a very high pressure of 10,000PSI at the refilling station. It requires quite an expensive infrastructure, therefore, the Cost of refueling a Hydrogen fuel cell car is around 7 times more than the cost of recharging an electric car of the same range. New development undergoing in terms of fuel cell technology and the storage of hydrogen fuel seems to be a bit more affordable but, it will take time for scaling the infrastructure for the industrial level.