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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
provide testimony on hydrogen, hydrogen-fueled combustion and fuel cell
vehicles, and regulatory encouragement for incorporating hydrogen fuel into the
consumer-based energy economy. I direct the National Fuel Cell Research Center
at the University of California, Irvine, and serve as a Professor of Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Environmental Engineering.
The National Fuel Cell Research Center was established by the U.S. Department
of Energy and the California Energy Commission in 1998, along with a strategic
alliance of industry, to accelerate the growth of fuel cell deployment in the
nation and around the world. The principal focus of the Center is the
development and deployment of stationary fuel cells systems for home,
commercial, and industrial power, and for the fueling infrastructure in support
of hydrogen powered vehicles. The stationary fuel cell represents a major role
in the hydrogen fuel economy of the future.
To investigate the future, the National Fuel Cell Research Center last
December deployed the first commercial hydrogen-fueled fuel cell vehicle into
the United States, and commissioned a hydrogen refueling station. Over the next
six months, the Center will deploy two addition hydrogen refueling stations in
Orange County. The Center conducts the anchor research for the U.S. Department
of Energy for the design of stationary fuel cell systems in order to provide
energy efficient and environmentally responsible co-production of electricity
and hydrogen as a vehicle fuel.
Until a few months ago, the hydrogen future was emerging at a controlled pace
with international competitive forces creating both hydrogen-fueled vehicles,
and a hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Both are remarkable in their own right as
they represent dramatic paradigm shifts for the public: the power plant under
the hood on the one hand, and the fuel to power the vehicular population on the
other. We are witnessing and experiencing both in parallel.
The gasoline engine has evolved over ninety years to become a reliable, safe,
and inexpensive power plant. The gasoline fueling refining and distribution
infrastructure has also experienced nearly a century of development to where we
today park a vehicle with 20 gallons of liquid fuel in our home garage, often in
the presence of natural gas flames that heat water, furnaces, and clothes
dryers. We are in the 1920's of the hydrogen fueling infrastructure and fuel
cell engine.
The frenzy generated since the State of the Union address has dramatically
accelerated the otherwise controlled and competitive emergence of the hydrogen
future. While exciting, this acceleration demands a parallel commitment on the
part of Congress to provide key leadership and thereby assure a successful,
sensible, and safe evolution of these two new paradigms. Allow me to identify
five examples of Congressional Leadership Opportunities:
1) Assure a robust and active university research program that both advances
the state-of-the-art in fuel cell research and trains the undergraduate and
graduate students necessary to the meet the demands of a growing hydrogen and
fuel cell industry.
2) Prioritize the evolution of environmentally sensitive and efficient renewable
technologies for large scale hydrogen generation.
3) Recognizing that renewable energy will not be sufficient, facilitate a
twenty-year technology development and deployment roadmap for energy efficient
and environmentally responsible fossil fuel based technologies for hydrogen
production.
4) Assure U.S. leadership in the development and deployment of stationary fuel
cell/gas turbine hybrid technology that can co-produce electricity and hydrogen
at efficiencies exceeding 70 percent, operating on either natural gas or coal.
5) Establish a path to establish national standardized codes and standards for
the public utilization of hydrogen.
(1) University Programs.
The National Fuel Cell Research Center has over twenty graduate students, a
staff of twelve, and over fifteen faculty. Through its outreach, over one
hundred faculty from around the country participate in the "Universities
for Fuel Cells" program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the
U.S. Department of Defense.
The fuel cell was invented in 1839, over one hundred and fifty years ago. The
first significant use of fuel cell technology was lead by NASA in the 1960's to
power space vehicles. Similar to a car battery, fuel cells are fed a continuous
flow of hydrogen fuel and oxygen. As a result, they produce a continuous and
efficient flow of electricity with virtually no noise and near zero emission of
criteria pollutants.
Due to the investment of Congress and industry in fuel cell technology, we
are now witnessing the emergence of commercial stationary fuel cells to power
homes, commercial buildings, and industry, and the introduction of commercially
designed automobiles. We also see the emergence of fuel cells for laptops and
bio fuel cells for implantation in the body. The future is, indeed, remarkable
and exciting.
The irony is that, while the fuel cell is emerging to become pervasive
throughout society over the next two decades, little attention is given to the
fuel cell in today's engineering curriculum, and in today's university research.
It is tantamount to the emergence of the transistor in the early 1960's. As a
result, our graduate students are peeled out of our program by industry before
they can conclude their theses and dissertations.
The "Universities for Fuel Cells" program is designed to bring
together key researchers from Universities and National Laboratories in order to
focus on critical technology areas that are in need of research and development
in order to hasten the advancement of fuel cells. The specific focus areas are:
(1) materials, (2) systems and controls, (3) power electronics, (4) fuel
processing, (5) manufacturing, and (6) simulation. Among its activities,
Universities for Fuel Cells hosts workshops to prioritize needed R&D topics
for the U.S. DOE, NSF and other state and federal agencies, and to establish
collaborative R&D efforts between universities, national labs, industry and
agencies. A long-term goal of this effort is to strengthen the university
research community so that it may play a role as a full partner with industry
and provide attractive career options for our most talented graduate students.
If the national effort to capitalize on the full potential of hydrogen
economy is to be successful, a leadership opportunity for Congress is to assure
that federal mandates incorporate university contributions. University research
not only brings fundamental research advances in engineering, the physical and
biological sciences, social and business sciences in supporting the fuel cell
and hydrogen future, but also assures that an educated workforce is developed to
fill the requirements of industry and assure a strong U.S. presence in national
and international fuel cell and hydrogen markets. The current solicitations in
support of the hydrogen future do not include substantial university research
opportunities. An example and model of a successful engagement of universities
in support of a national mission is the recent Department of Energy Advanced
Turbine Systems Program. [Congressional Leadership Opportunity #1]
(2) Hydrogen Production From Renewables
The hydrogen future portends an opportunity use a fuel that produces only
water as a by-product.
This is the public perception by many and reflects a vision conveyed by the
President in the 2003 State of the Union.
In reality, water is not the only by-product. For fuel cells (either mobile
or stationary) directly fueled by hydrogen, this statement is almost true. In
addition to water, a small amount of nitric oxide (a criteria pollutant
associated with the formation of photochemical oxidant in urban air sheds) is
emitted. Emissions may also include degradation products of the fuel cell stack.
For hydrogen used in combustion engines, the nitric oxide emission will be an
order of magnitude higher and comparable to the best engines operating today on
conventional natural gas and liquid fuels.
In addition to these by-products that some might argue are minor, there is no
argument that major pollutant and greenhouse gas by-products can be emitted in
the generation of hydrogen.
While abundant, hydrogen is not available for use without a process to
extract and transport the hydrogen from the point of generation to the point of
use. If not addressed by Congress, the hydrogen generation to meet future
demands will dramatically reduce U.S. energy efficiency, increase fuel
dependence, and dramatically increase U.S. environmental impacts. No one of
these outcomes is desirable. Congress has the opportunity to assure that a more
desirable route emerges.
For example, the most energy and environmentally benign generation of
hydrogen is the electrolysis of water using electricity from renewable sources
such as wind, sun, and water, captured by wind turbines, photovoltaic cells, and
hydroelectric turbines. For these technologies, air pollutant emissions will be
associated only with the transport of the hydrogen to the point of use. For
transport by diesel truck, emissions will include NO, carbon monoxide (CO),
hydrocarbons (HC), and particulate (PM). For transport by pipeline, emissions
will be associated with the electricity needed to power compression of the
hydrogen to elevated pressures.
I commend the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewables and the direction of
Assistant Secretary David Garman on the planning and early initiatives in this
area. Technology and policy to incentivize and sustain a major deployment of
renewable energy for the production of hydrogen, and the use of pipelines to
transport the hydrogen to the point of use should serve as a major focus for
Congressional leadership to assure an environmentally responsible hydrogen
future. [Congressional Leadership Opportunity #2]
(3) Hydrogen Production From Fossil Fuels
The most optimistic projections of renewable energy technologies, however,
will not produce the hydrogen demanded by societal demand. The rule of thumb for
a most optimistic projection is 1/3 of the total hydrogen by renewable sources,
and 2/3 from non-renewable sources such as natural gas, petroleum, coal, and
nuclear.
The principal non-renewable source for hydrogen today is the reformation of
natural gas. In well-designed systems, the by-product emission will be limited
to carbon dioxide (CO2). While not a criteria pollutant species, CO2 is a
greenhouse gas and most closely aligned to global climate change. In reforming
natural gas for the generation of hydrogen, care is required to assure that the
overall emission of CO2 (gm/kw-hr) is equal to or preferably less than the
direct fueling of a combustion engine. The goal should be a substantial
reduction. But in the absence of Congressional leadership, the reality may well
be a substantial increase.
To assure fuel independence and to tap a major source of hydrogen, coal is
the principal candidate. Today, the use of coal as a source of hydrogen would
substantially degrade the environment. Technologies are under development to
reverse this consequence, and the recently announced $1B program by the
President to produce an environmentally sensitive coal plant for the
co-production of electricity and hydrogen is one example. Under the Department
of Energy "Vision 21" program, remarkably energy-efficient and
environmentally responsible designs for the co-production of electricity and
hydrogen have been established for both natural gas and coal. Leadership from
Congress is required to assure that these early Congressional investments in
Vision 21 are nurtured and sustained to assure the development of natural gas
and coal technologies that are both energy-efficient and environmentally
responsible in the co-production of both electricity and hydrogen.
[Congressional Leadership Opportunity #3]
(4) Stationary Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine Hybrid Technology
To maximize the energy efficiency promise of a hydrogen fuel economy, we must
foster a key technology: the hybrid marriage of a stationary fuel cell and a gas
turbine engine. The fuel cell produces electricity directly and also emits, as a
byproduct, a high-pressure and high-temperature stream of water vapor and air
which is used to turn a turbine generator, producing still more electricity.
This so-called "hybrid" technology has a synergism of performance
never before witnessed in engineering. Rather than the 30 to 40% conversion of
fuel energy-to-electricity (to which we are accustomed with conventional
combustion technologies), conversion efficiencies approaching 80% appear
possible. In addition to the high-electrical conversion efficiency,
co-production of hydrogen is a major attribute of hybrid technology. The
leadership of the Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy, under the
direction of Assistant Secretary Carl Michael Smith, to develop and demonstrate
this technology will likely change the manner by which electricity is generated
in the future, and the manner by which hydrogen is produced.
Stationary fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid technology is a major key to:
U.S. Fuel Independence. Hybrids provide a unique opportunity to generate
electricity at remarkably high efficiencies, co-produce hydrogen, and utilize
either natural gas or coal with zero emission of criteria pollutants and the
production of a pure CO2-sequesting ready stream. The range of application
extends from distributed generation (up to 50 megawatts) to the Vision 21
Central Power (exceeding 300 megawatts).
U.S. International Product Dominance in Future Energy Markets. Recent U.S.
demonstrations with 200kW class units have confirmed the credibility of such
systems. Based on these successful U.S. Department of Energy initiatives, three
countries (three in the Pacific Rim alone) have been inspired to initiate
multi-year development projects for hybrid technology. The United States has not
established a hybrid technology road map.
Capturing the U.S. leadership in hybrid technology will require Congressional
leadership. [Congressional Leadership Opportunity #4]
(5) Codes and Regulations.
Codes and standards for hydrogen have been developed for industrial
applications of hydrogen, but not for public use of hydrogen. With the emergence
of hydrogen into the public domain, attention is required to assure that codes
and standards evolve in a timely fashion to assure public safety.
To place this into perspective, the public use of hydrogen divides into four
principal areas: generation, distribution, dispensing, and utilization.
Generation. In the hydrogen consumer economy, hydrogen generation will occur
at the site of dispensing ("on-site generation") or at large sites in
remote locations (e.g., coal fired power plants, wind-farms) and the hydrogen
transported by truck or by pipeline to the point of use.
For large generation sites, the hydrogen generation will occur in classical
industrial zoned locations and be operated as classical industrial plants. As a
result, current industrial codes and standards are likely sufficient.
For the on-site generation sites such as hydrogen fueling stations (and
perhaps even home garages some day), safety codes and standards do not today
exist.
Distribution. Distribution is the transport of hydrogen from the point of
generation to the point of use. In the case of automobile refueling, the point
of use would be the dispensing station. On-site generation, by definition, does
not require distribution. As a result, no additional codes or regulations are
required.
For large generation sites, transport of the hydrogen by truck or pipeline
will be necessary. In both cases, codes and standards have been established. Due
to the substantial expansion of the trucking (number of trucks, frequency of
use) and pipelines (expanding from an existing 17 miles, for example, in
southern California to hundreds of miles) associated with the hydrogen future,
expanded codes and regulations will undoubtedly be appropriate
Dispensing. Dispensing ("automobile refueling") is a very
public-intensive activity, particularly with the evolution of the
"self-serve" era. Codes and regulations are in an embryonic stage, and
requirements for standardization (for example, one "nozzle" for all
vehicles; one hydrogen fuel state for all vehicles), while critical to the
success of hydrogen deployment, are also in an embryonic state.
"Dispensing" is the first of two areas in which Congressional
leadership is immediately required to assure (1) an efficient evolution of a
robust market, (2) the evolution of a safe market that is accident scarce versus
accident prone, and (3) the evolution of an internationally competitive market.
Utilization. Utilization is the second of the two areas in which national
leadership is immediately required for the same reasons noted above. Utilization
encompasses the use by the public of vehicles fueled with hydrogen, and during
many years of transition (ca. two decades) the interaction of the public driving
conventional gasoline powered vehicles alongside hydrogen-fueled vehicles, and
the parking of hydrogen-fueled vehicles in home garages, public parking spaces
and parking structures.
Up until January 28, the codes and standards for the public hydrogen economy
were emerging following the traditionally successful process of industrial
working groups and professional societies. While this continues, the State of
the Union acceleration of the hydrogen future creates a need for Congressional
Leadership to assure that the acceleration of the otherwise multi-year process
does not compromise the final product, and the engagement of individual states
in the creation of codes and standards does not adversely complicate the market
or place the public at risk. The President's leadership has opened the window of
opportunity with the Hydrogen Initiative as outlined in the 2004 budget, but the
time to act is limited and the opportunity will rapidly erode. Already, states
are introducing legislation. [Congressional Leadership Opportunity #5]
In conclusion, I thank the committee for the opportunity to comment and to
state my sincere encouragement of the committee in this important work.
Regulations are often perceived as obstacles. However, a consistent, rational
regulatory structure, which is predictable for industry and consumers, serves
not as an obstacle but rather a well-lighted pathway to our shared energy
future. Thank you for listening to my testimony today and I welcome the
opportunity to respond to your questions.
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