Hydrogen joint venture in Hawaii

The Hawaiian island of Oahu's compact size has allowed local utility The Gas Company (TGC) an unusual opportunity to co-develop mainstream fuel cell vehicle use with US automotive company General Motors.

Employing existing infrastructure -- the matrix currently used to distribute natural and propane gas -- GM will roll out a network of hydrogen filling stations across the island, the first of its kind in the United States.

GM is already transferring fuel-cell powered Chevrolet Equinox models (pictured) from its 119-strong mainland Project Driveway fleet for the Hawaii network. GM's executive director of Global Fuel Cell Activities, Charles Freese, says more will arrive shortly to fill the gap as the company works on more commercially viable vehicles.

Over the several years that will take, TGC will set up a limited number of the filling stations, each costing between US$300,000 and $500,000 each. By the time the retail-ready vehicles go to market, the network will be 20 to 25 stations strong.

TGC already uses its own proprietary process to manufacture hydrogen, mixing it at a ratio of approximately five per cent into the synthetic natural gas stream. The mixture is then delivered via the company's utility network.

The company will establish refuelling stations at regular intervals throughout its 1600-odd kilometres of utility pipeline, using its own technologies to extract the hydrogen from the utility stream at each port.

The resulting abundance of ready-made hydrogen allows GM a unique opportunity to roll out a test fleet of fuel cell vehicles. Oahu's small geographical area ensures most drivers won't be more than a 10 minutes drive from the nearest pump.

In a statement, Freese said the island presents an ideal set of conditions for such a project: "It addresses both the source of the hydrogen and a feasible way to deliver it for fuel cell vehicle use. The Hawaii infrastructure could eventually support tens of thousands of fuel cell vehicles. Hawaii is uniquely positioned and motivated to make hydrogen-powered fuel cell transportation a reality because it depends on imported petroleum for 90 per cent of its energy."

The next step is to boost the use of renewable energy sources in separating hydrogen from the stream. Hawaii is looking to cut petroleum use by 70 per cent over a generation through a mix of renewable energy sources, efficiency measures and conservation. Hydrogen fuelled vehicles, if they become viable, would play an important role in achieving that goal.

GM aims to have a mass-market fuel cell system ready by 2015. Finding a way around the use of costly precious metals in the separation process, such as platinum, will be critical to meeting that.

According to current estimates by GM, a fuel cell stack the size of a four-cylinder engine would generate enough energy to power a medium-sized car, and there's plenty of promise in this, given the lightness and compactness of electric motors compared to current combustion engines.

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