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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:
Good morning. My name is Johannes Schwank. I am a Professor of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Michigan, and coordinate the hydrogen research
activities within the College of Engineering. I would like to thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you today to provide a perspective from the
University of Michigan concerning the importance of hydrogen-based energy
technologies and the important role the academic community can play in their
development.
Let me begin by commending the Congress and particularly the House Subcommittee
on Energy and Air Quality for its efforts to facilitate the better understanding
of the science and technology challenges posed as we move to a hydrogen-based
energy future.
Today, I would like to address the significant research challenges that we must
overcome if we are going to see a hydrogen-based economy. I will describe some
of the ongoing activities at the University of Michigan. And finally, I will
propose a plan for better leveraging the capabilities of our research
universities in solving the Nation's energy and environmental problems.
We find ourselves at the threshold of a worldwide shift from a fossil fuel
economy to a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen-based energy, its supply and its use,
will be a critical factor in economic growth, political stability, and the
protection of our environment. This may be one of the greatest scientific,
technical, and economic challenges our society faces in the coming decades. To
bring this transition about will require significant technical advances and
enormous investments in new materials, processes, and infrastructure. The
consensus in the industrial and academic sector is that we must find
economically and technically sound ways to produce, store, distribute, and
utilize hydrogen.
At this formative stage of the hydrogen energy economy, it is important to lay a
sound scientific and technical foundation, encompassing a wide spectrum of
hydrogen-related fundamental and applied research issues. We must better
understand the pros and cons of all our technology options, before deciding on
winning technologies. A broader approach placed at the beginning of the
product/process development spectrum is required. This can best be accomplished
by using the Nation's research university system. It is critically important
that the Nation invest in a basic energy research program at the university
level to address the inherent fundamental research challenges. Current federally
sponsored research efforts are a patchwork at best. There is no coordinated
research program presently in place. Although some universities, including the
University of Michigan, receive federal support for research projects that
address some aspects of hydrogen-based energy research, the scope and scale of
the federal effort to overcome the important technical challenges is sorely
inadequate. If we as a Nation are going to see the transition to a hydrogen
economy as envisioned by this hearing, securing our technical leadership
position in the world, then we must create a more comprehensive and coordinated
program. The magnitude of such a program should be on par with national science
and technology initiatives like the Information Technology Research initiative
or the National Nanotechnology Initiative. I will briefly illustrate three of
the key research challenges in front of us: hydrogen generation, hydrogen
storage, and hydrogen utilization.
Research Challenges
Hydrogen Generation
The first question is: how do we secure an adequate hydrogen supply? Pure
hydrogen does not occur naturally, and must be generated from other substances,
for example coal, petroleum, natural gas, biomass, or water. This costs us some
energy upfront that can come from a menu of possible sources: fossil fuel,
hydroelectric or nuclear energy, solar, wind power, geothermal, or tidal energy.
I submit that the jury is still out on which of these energy sources will
dominate future hydrogen production.
Let's look at our options for generating hydrogen. In the near term (perhaps
for the next 20 years), much of the hydrogen will be generated from fuels like
natural gas and gasoline. To convert natural gas or gasoline into hydrogen pure
enough for fuel cells requires rather elaborate chemical processes involving
catalysts. (A catalyst is a material that by its presence helps chemical
reactions to proceed more easily.) To deal with different fuel qualities and
compositions available in different parts of the country, better and more
durable catalysts are needed than are presently available. The discovery of
these new catalysts will require major advances in materials synthesis, surface
science, computational chemistry, and reactor engineering. At the University of
Michigan, we have a Department of Energy-funded research program to develop
better performing gasoline fuel processors to make pure hydrogen for fuel cells.
We are working to find ways to decrease the size and weight of the fuel
processor system by more than half to make it small enough to fit into fuel cell
powered passenger cars. This goal can only be reached by developing new
catalysts that are at least twice as good as the best catalysts available today,
and coming up with innovative system designs. (A list of energy-related research
going on at the University of Michigan is provided in the appendix.)
The alternative to processing fuels is making hydrogen from water, which is
in abundant supply on the planet. You may remember your high school teacher
doing an experiment called "electrolysis", where electricity is used
to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Lighting the gas bubbles coming out of
the water produced a nice bang. In the long-term future, when our oil supplies
start to dwindle, splitting of water may become important. To split water
requires the expenditure of energy upfront and, currently, is not economical on
a large scale. Major advances in technology may make this process economically
more attractive. We need to work on more efficient methods to harness solar,
wind, tidal, nuclear, and geothermal energy, new photocatalytic and photovoltaic
materials, and improved thermochemical or biological processes. Thermochemical
water splitting can be achieved using the heat from advanced nuclear reactors,
but more research will be needed to fully develop these methods. It seems
prudent to start now, while we can still count on fossil fuel supplies, on a
coordinated research and development program in water-based hydrogen generation.
Water, most likely, will become our long-term source for clean, large-scale
hydrogen production.
Further, while these and other technical issues need to be addressed, one
must also take into consideration the existing economic infrastructure. The U.S.
has an enormous investment in hydrocarbon infrastructure, from oil refineries to
local gas stations. We must find a way to use the existing hydrocarbon-based
infrastructure to transition within the next couple of decades to a hydrogen
economy. However, as long as we produce hydrogen from fossil fuels, we are still
emitting carbon dioxide into the environment. In essence, we would simply shift
the environmental pollution problem to a different location, without really
solving it. One possible solution to this problem could come from research into
carbon dioxide capture and sequestration, which becomes a more realistic option
in larger-scale, centralized fuel processing and hydrogen production facilities.
Hydrogen storage
Once we have figured out how to make hydrogen in an efficient and economical
way, the next question is how do we store and distribute it? Finding safe and
economical ways to store hydrogen is arguably the key to the commercialization
of fuel cell powered cars. Hydrogen can be stored as compressed gas, or as
cryogenic liquid. It can also be stored or adsorbed in solid materials, such as
carbon or hydride materials. However, none of the currently available methods is
adequate for our technical needs. While some progress has been made over the
last decade, the best hydrogen storage materials known today weigh at least
twenty times more than the hydrogen they are storing. In contrast, a typical
gasoline tank in a car weighs only a fraction of the weight of the gasoline
inside. There is tremendous opportunity in developing new materials with larger
hydrogen storage capacities. For example, at the University of Michigan, carbon
nanotubes, graphite nanofibers, and new metal-organic framework (MOF) materials
which show promise for hydrogen storage are under development. However, to bring
the storage capacity to technically acceptable levels will require a great deal
of fundamental research. To develop practical solid-state hydrogen storage
materials requires a much better fundamental understanding of the storage
mechanisms, materials properties, and synthesis and manufacturing methods.
Hydrogen utilization
Hydrogen is attractive, since it can be efficiently and cleanly converted to
electrical and thermal energy. One of the reasons for making and storing
hydrogen in large quantities is that we want to use it to power fuel cell
stacks. A reasonable characterization of hydrogen fuel cell technology is that
many of the engineering issues have already been solved. There are several
different types of fuel cells in existence, classified according to the type of
membrane material used. The operational temperature range of each of the fuel
cell types is limited by the type of material used in the membrane. You are
hearing about practical applications in this hearing. However, major obstacles
remain. Many unsolved fundamental research problems are in front of us, falling
into the broad range of materials science, electrochemistry, and electrode
catalysis. Current fuel cells are very expensive, but have problems with
durability. For example, we expect a typical household appliance to last for
many years without maintenance. Unfortunately, most of today's fuel cell stacks
do not even come close to this expectation of reliability, primarily due to
materials limitations. The catalysts on the electrodes are very sensitive to
impurities in the hydrogen. The fuel cell membranes, depending on type, have
their own, inherent weaknesses limiting their useful life. Fuel cell stacks pose
challenging sealing problems. Hydrogen has a tendency to leak through most
materials. These challenges represent a significant opportunity for materials
and catalysis research. At the University of Michigan, we are working on several
of these materials challenges, to develop a better understanding of failure
mechanisms, and to come up with better membrane materials and electrode
catalysts.
Besides use in fuel cells, hydrogen can be burnt in internal combustion engines.
However, since hydrogen has properties quite different from gasoline or diesel
fuel, more research is needed to better understand how hydrogen behaves under
engine operating conditions. The University of Michigan has one of the largest
automotive engineering research centers in the country and is conducting
research on the utilization of hydrogen in combustion engines. Laying the
research foundation for using hydrogen in today's transportation systems is
extremely important because so many jobs and industries are dependent upon these
systems. Use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines may, in my opinion,
facilitate the evolution to a hydrogen economy.
Given these formidable research challenges, I submit that the verdict is
still out which of the many energy utilization technologies (internal
combustion, fuel cells, batteries, or hybrids) will power stationary or mobile
systems in the future.
A Proposed University-based Energy Research Initiative
We believe that today we have a tremendous opportunity, even a responsibility,
to leverage the country's research universities in partnership with industry and
government to overcome the obstacles to achieving a robust and sustainable
hydrogen economy. What is needed is a university energy research initiative
specifically created to capitalize on the energy research expertise residing in
our Nation's universities. This initiative should be on par with such national
science and technology initiatives as the National Nanotechnology Initiative and
Information Technology Research Initiative. It is easily as important as these
initiatives and, I would argue, more important. While the DOE, the DOD and the
NSF all have some programs to support individual or groups of university
investigators, there is no strategically coordinated national initiative in
place that engages the country's research universities in the transition to a
hydrogen energy economy.
I propose that a university-based Energy Research Initiative (ERI) be
established at either the National Science Foundation or the Department of
Energy. The primary focus of the ERI would be hydrogen-based energy systems.
Regardless of the federal agency home, basic research funds from all of the
federal agencies promoting energy research should be used to supplement the
program. The Energy Research Initiative would competitively select a group of
6-10 universities across the country to undertake an integrated set of basic
research and education projects focusing on energy issues. Each center would
work in partnership with industry and government.
It is extremely important that promising developments and technologies move
quickly to implementation. To promote this, we propose that ERI basic research
activity be supplemented by "technology accelerator" seed funding to
encourage small businesses, in partnership with universities, to further develop
promising technologies. Large companies could also play a role in this but would
be asked to cost share their role in the activity.
Finally, states can play a role as well by augmenting the federal funding for
the ERI with a state-funded economic development program that would support the
development of small energy-focused businesses and facilitate their linkage to
larger companies within the state.
I would recommend that $10M in federal funding be allocated to support each
of the centers on an annual basis. Approximate breakdown would be: $8M for basic
research and education, $2M for technology accelerator projects (not including
any state contributions). Taking an approach similar to the National Science
Foundation Engineering Research Center program, each Center could be funded for
a five-year period with an additional five-year renewal based upon performance.
I strongly believe that a university-based Energy Research Initiative that
broadly focuses on the Nation's energy research and education needs will provide
significant leveraging of federal research dollars. Basic research carried out
in research universities provides the foundation for the research, development,
and engineering continuum. Importantly, it facilitates technology transfer by
moving new discoveries and innovations from the laboratory to the market place,
and encouraging industry partnerships to develop promising technologies. For our
Nation, it is of critical strategic and economic importance that the academic,
industrial, and government sector work together to assure that we lay a strong
research foundation, permitting us to select the best pathways and technologies
leading to our hydrogen-based energy future.
SELECTED ENERGY-RELATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
1. FUEL PROCESSORS FOR PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS
2. ADVANCED CATALYSTS FOR HYDROGEN GENERATION
3. THERMAL TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS
4. MICRO-FUEL CELLS AND NOVEL ELECTROCATALYSTS
5. COORDINATION OF HYDROGEN AND AIR FLOW FOR TRANSIENT CELL LOADING
6. SYSTEMATIC DESIGN OF PORE SIZE & FUNCTIONALITY FOR METHANE AND HYDROGEN
STORAGE APPLICATIONS IN FUEL CELLS
7. DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGEN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR FUEL CELL VEHICLES
8. MICROELECTRONIC GAS SENSORS AND GAS STORAGE MICRO-RESERVOIRS
9. HYDROGEN STORAGE IN CARBON NANOTUBES AND CARBON NANOFIBERS
10. HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE COMPRESSION IGNITION (HCCI) ENGINE RESEARCH CONSORTIUM
11. SIMULATION-BASED DESIGN AND DEMONSTRATION OF NEXT GENERATION, ADVANCED
DIESEL TECHNOLOGY
12. ADVANCED HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM COMPONENT MODELING AND POWERTRAIN
INTEGRATION
13. DEVELOPMENT OF A PRESSURE REACTIVE PISTON FOR IMPROVED FUEL EFFICIENCY AND
REDUCED EMISSIONS IN SI AND CIDI ENGINES
14. ADVANCED BATTERY SYSTEMS AND MODELING FOR HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES
15. HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE SYSTEM DESIGN OPTIMIZATION
16. POROUS NANO- AND MICRO-ARCHITECTURED MATERIALS: BATTERY APPLICATIONS
17. SAFETY ISSUES FOR HIGH POWER LI ION BATTERY ANODES
18. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ANALYSIS
19. IMPROVING PLATE GLASS QUENCHING TECHNOLOGY TO SAVE ENERGY
20. DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGHLY PREHEATED COMBUSTION AIR SYSTEM WITH-WITHOUT OXYGEN
ENRICHMENT FOR METAL PROCESSING FURNACES TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE ENERGY
EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE EMISSIONS
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