GM and Honda are improving hydrogen fuel cells
August 11, 2015Automaker partnership is leading to breakthroughs in fuel cell technology
Two years ago, General Motors and Honda began working together on the research and development of hydrogen fuel cells in order to better understand how these energy systems can be used in clean transportation. Both automakers have made significant progress in this endeavor, finding new ways to reduce the cost of fuel cells and improve their efficiency. Fuel cells have become very prominent in the auto industry, as they can generate electricity without also producing harmful emissions.
GM has begun testing the next generation of its hydrogen fuel cells
General Motors has begun testing their latest generation of hydrogen fuel cells and the automaker notes that the weight of these fuel cells has been reduced by half. Their size is also down from previous generations of fuel cells that the company has developed with the aid of Honda. These energy systems are becoming more compact, which will make them easier to use in fuel cell vehicles and their small size means that they use fewer materials, making them less expensive than other fuel cells.
Automakers are finding it difficult to commercialize fuel cell vehicles
Some automakers have brought fuel cell vehicles to certain markets around the world, but these vehicles have yet to see widespread commercialization or adoption. Honda was one of the first to bring a hydrogen-powered car to the market, but the automaker has not been rushing to make another. General Motors is also taking it slow in terms of bringing a fuel cell vehicle to the market, as the company wants to better understand how fuel cell technology can be used effectively.
Cost and lack of infrastructure means that fuel cell vehicles will be a difficult sell
One of the major problems with fuel cell vehicles is that they do not have the support of a comprehensive fueling infrastructure. Without access to hydrogen fuel, consumers are unlikely to be interested in fuel cell vehicles. Cost is another problem, as fuel cells are notoriously expensive and this means that any vehicle using them will also be quite costly for consumers.
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One of these days, you can go to home depot or Wal-Mart and buy solid Magnesium Hydride sheet. You insert this sheet in the back of your car. Here we go a safe supply of hydrogen.
They say that an ideal solid hydrogen storage material should have: (i) high hydrogen storage capacity to provide a good supply of hydrogen per gram weight of the sheet (ii) ambient reaction temperature for charging/discharging hydrogen and fast kinetics ( high rate of hydrogen release from the sheet), (iii) excellent reversibility (iv) low cost and (v) low toxicity. I think this Magnesium hydride meet most of these criteria. Who cares about reversibility. Reversibility means that after the Magnesium hydride sheet released all the hydrogen , it can be made to store hydrogen again very easily. Who cares, use the magnesium hydride sheet and throw it out for hydrogen recycling company. Magnesium is the most abundant element on earth. Mostly as magnesium sulfate (Gypsum) and magnesium carbonate. It is not easy to make magnesium hydride from these chemicals. This magnesium hydride sheet from home depot can release hydrogen at around 300 degree C. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell operate at 80 degree C. This is not compatible with the release temperature of the magnesium hydride sheet. Research is going on all over the world trying to solve these problems.