UNU Conference on Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Alternatives in the Transport Sector: Issues for Developing Countries

Abstracts

The US Hydrogen Fuel Initiative - Steven G. Chalk and James F. Miller
In his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush launched the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative to ensure our nation's long-term energy security and a clean environment. Using hydrogen to fuel our economy can reduce U.S. dependence on imported petroleum, diversify domestic energy sources, and reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. He communicated his vision to the American people that, "the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free." In the two years since President Bush launched the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, the Department of Energy's renewable, fossil, nuclear and science offices have developed a comprehensive integrated research, development and demonstration plan identifying the key milestones and activities which support an industry commercialization decision in 2015. If this decision is positive, then Americans could be able to choose H 2 fuel cell vehicles by 2020, realizing the President's vision.
Fuel cells are an important enabling technology for a future hydrogen economy and have the potential to revolutionize the way we power our nations, offering cleaner, more efficient alternatives to today's technology. Additionally fuel cells are significantly more energy efficient than combustion-based power generation technologies. Fuel cells are projected to have energy efficiency twice that of internal combustion engines. However before fuel cells can realize their potential, significant challenges remain. The two most important are cost and durability for both automotive and stationary applications. Recent electrocatalyst developments have shown that Pt alloy catalysts have increased activity and greater durability than Pt catalysts. The durability of conventional fluorocarbon membranes is improving, and hydrocarbon-based membranes have also shown promise of equaling the performance of fluorocarbon membranes at lower cost. Recent announcements have also provided indications that fuel cells can start from freezing conditions without significant deterioration.
Hydrogen storage systems for vehicles are inadequate to meet customer driving range expectations (>300 miles) without intrusion into vehicle cargo or passenger space. DOE has established three Centers of Excellence for hydrogen storage materials development. The Centers are focused on complex metal hydrides that can be regenerated onboard a vehicle, chemical hydrides that require off-board reprocessing, and carbon-based storage materials. Recent developments have shown progress toward the 2010 DOE targets. In addition, DOE has established an independent storage material testing center to verify storage capacity of promising materials. These developments point to a viable path to achieving the DOE/FreedomCAR cost and performance goals.

On Japanese strategy for R & D of Feul Cell technology and an on-road Verification test of Fuel Cell Vehicles, JHF - Hisashi Ishitani
The research, development and demonstration activities of PEM type Fuel Cells and their applications both on stationary Co-Generation (CHP) systems and FCVs (Fuel Cell Vehicles) have been accelerated in the last five years in Japan , as the result of strong governmental interest and support as well as tight cooperation between the government and related industries. These activities were initiated by a governmental committee named PEMFC policy study group organized within METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industries) in the end of 1999. Based on the studies in this committee and the intermediate report issued in the beginning of 2001, exactly at the beginning of the new century, whole RD&D activities related PEM FC has been carried out both within governmental framework or individual private industries. The report clearly identified timeline for RD&D for the long term future, rolls of key players, i.e., governments, industries and academia for different development stages, basic preparation and verification, take off, or market initialization, and diffusion to the market.
According to the recommendations of the study group, new organization named FCCJ (Fuel Cell conference of Japan ) was organized, and various programs or activities has been planned and carried out through related organizations. Among them, verification tests of FCVs and FC co-generation systems in real use conditions have started from 2002 FS, which will continue until the beginning of 2006. The outputs of those verification tests are now being analyzed and they will be reflected on the future plans to promote more market oriented R&D works.
The presentation introduces key messages of the committee reports, backgrounds, objectives and incentives of FC RD&D activities, supporting organizations, and roll of each stakeholder. Then, the past and current ongoing programs will be shown comparing with intermediate results obtained through those activities so far, with remaining issues identified through those activities.
The R&D programs are being promoted by the governmental aids, and so called road-map for those R&D directions for the future is also discussed within the promoting organizations. As there are various prospects for the future framework of application area, primary fuel patterns or estimated future diffusion of such advanced and innovative technologies, those future prospects are also discussed checking and communicating with similar organizations in EU or US.

Collaboration at the California Fuel Cell Partnership - Nico Bouwkamp and Adam Gromis
Over the past 5 years, the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) has worked to realize the vision of fuel cell vehicle transportation in California . Through a collaborative effort based on direct interaction between government, the energy and automotive sectors, and fuel cell technology companies, the CaFCP has established a common mission to demonstrate fuel cell vehicle technology in real-world applications, and generate practical learnings. Today, more fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen stations operate in California than any other region of the world. As a public-private collaboration, the CaFCP offers a unique platform for its members to collaborate toward common goals. Important elements of success for the organization and its individual members include a concentration on areas of safety, technical interoperability, access to infrastructure, deployment and implementation methods, and public education. Moving forward, the CaFCP will focus on exchanging transferable learnings among the various demonstration projects worldwide. By creating early links between community stakeholders, government decision-makers and industry experts, the CaFCP has built a network that can support the deployment of this new technology not only in the early public demonstration phase, but in the years ahead as we move toward a commercial market.

An Overview of Alternative Fuels in Developing Countries: Drivers, Status, and Factors Behind Successful Markets - Grant Boyle
The rise of the automobile in developing countries presents a number of challenges related to local human health, regional ecosystem health, global climate change, urban livability, fiscal stability and energy security. Alternative fuels like ethanol, natural gas and hydrogen offer potential benefits to some of these problems in different degrees and are therefore of considerable interest to developing as well as developed countries. This paper provides a brief overview of the key drivers of alternative transport fuels in developing countries, the status of commercial alternative fuels in developing countries, and a framework for understanding the key conditions that have catalyzed deployments of alternative fuels in developing countries to date. The paper draws primarily on the experience with natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, ethanol and electricity as there are successful applications of these fuels in developing countries already. The review shows that the catalytic factors behind commercial deployments of alternative fuels can be understood and discussed in terms of local energy resources; a history of related innovation; supportive policies and leadership; and supportive social attitudes and perceptions.

The Ethanol and Biodiesel Programmes in Brazil : A Brief Discussion - Paulo Teixeira de Sousa
The search for alternative fuels in Brazil can be traced back to the 1920s, when the “Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia-INT” carried out some experiments using bio-fuels in internal combustion engines. However, it was not until the petrol crises, in the 1970s that the use of bio-fuels was seriously considered in the country. Brazil was heavily dependant on imported petrol and the steady increase in the price of this commodity had dramatically impacted the financial health of the country. The National Alcohol programme (PROÁLCOOL), was initiated in the mid 1970s and relied heavily in government subsides for its implementation. The challenge was considerable, since it required the creation of a complex infrastructure, including large sugar cane plantations, the production, distribution and sale of large amounts of ethanol and the adaptation of the gasoline powered cars to run with ethanol. At the same time, a programme aiming to produce Biodiesel (the so-called PRODIESEL), was elaborated, without practical results, however.
By the mid 1980s, PROÁCOOL was a great success: Brazil was producing 10.7 billion L/year of ethanol and 92% of car sold in the country were powered by this fuel. The decline in the international price of oil, the increase in the international price of sugar, the removal of government subsidies and government intervention in the productive chain of ethanol (excess of regulation) and the lack of interest of the automobile industry to produce ethanol powered cars (that would be sold only in Brazil), can be considered the main causes of the programme decline (in 2000 only 0.7% of the cars sold in Brazil were ethanol powered). This situation has changed a few years later. Nowadays, the price of oil is constantly increasing; the automobile industry has developed the global flex-power engine (that works with several fuels, including ethanol); moreover, the climate change and the Kyoto protocol has driven many countries to seriously consider the introduction of the use of alcohols (ethanol or methanol) as a fuel. This new reality has brought to light a new programme in Brazil , aiming to produce large amounts of Biodiesel. In 2002 the Ministry of Science and Technology implemented the Brazilian Programme for the Technological Development of Biodiesel (PROBIODIESEL). In July 2003, the new federal government enacted a decree creating an inter-ministerial working group to analyse the possibility of production and use of Biodiesel in the country. This group concluded that the production of Biodiesel was not only viable but, above of all, could bring social, environmental, economic and strategic benefits. Biodiesel was officially introduced in Brazil by the law 11097, from 13/01/2005 . This law also defines biodiesel as “Bio-fuel derived from the renewable biomass for use in ignition or compression internal combustion engines, or according to regulation, to the generation of another kind of energy, that can replace partially or totally the fossil fuels“. Other pieces of legislation have also been enacted such as Law 11116, of 18/05/2005 , allowing tax incentives for Biodiesel production. These incentives are restricted to the raw material purchased from family farmers and also depends on the kind of oil plant (palm and castor oils were preferred) and on the region of the country where the plant is cultivated. Therefore, production of Biodiesel from castor or palm oil, cultivated by family farmers living in the poorest regions of the country (North, Northeast and Semi-Arid), are the ones with the highest incentives. It is, therefore, clear that the government intends to use this programme as a part of its social policy, in order to create jobs and social inclusion to the poorest population. This is remarkably different from PROÁLCOOL, created during the hard time of dictatorship and designed only to benefit the big farmers and plant masters. PROBIODIESEL also differs from PROÁCOOL regarding subsidies: whereas the latter was heavily subsided, the former does not have any kind of subsidy. According to the law 11097, from 2008, a minimum amount of 2% of Biodiesel will have to be mixed in the Diesel oil sold in the country. This 2% represents 800 million L/year. This mixture will increase to 5% in 2013, necessitating the production of 2 billion L/year. Many Biodiesel plants are being built in the country. However, there are apprehensions about the possible high prices of Biodiesel (not competitive with Diesel oil), because of the lack of government subsidies.

Assessing the life cycle environmental implications of fuel cells - Eric Williams
Much of drive to develop and implement fuel cell vehicles is based on expectations that they would deliver mobility at substantially lower environmental burden. While it is clear that tailpipe emissions of fuel cell vehicles are lower than conventional gasoline or diesel vehicles, the question of net impacts over the fuel and vehicle life cycle is more complex. The field of life cycle assessment has developed over the last several decades to attempt to answer these kinds of questions for various products and services and well-to-wheel analyses are used to address vehicle emissions specifically. A variety of analyses have been done in recent years comparing life cycle environmental emissions from fuel cell vehicles with other conventional and alternative technologies and fuel supplies. Generally speaking these analyses suggest net reductions in energy use and emissions of carbon dioxide, though of course much depends on the nature of hydrogen used. Some studies suggest, however, that fuel cells are not better than alternatives fuels or technologies, such as synthetic bio-fuels or diesel engines, when viewed via a systematic perspective. Resolving this controversy is difficult given a dearth of information on data used and assumptions made, and lack of a community to debate different results in order to converge towards more accurate analyses. In the presentation, some of the major studies to date are reviewed highlighting remaining uncertainties. Suggestions are made to reduce these uncertainties in the future.

Iceland 's way to a sustainable future: The role of hydrogen - Ágúst Valfells
Icelandic efforts towards harnessing domestic sustainable energy sources have been developing over the past 100 years. However over the past 30 years a vision has developed that it might be possible to convert entirely to using Iceland 's vast renewable energy sources in the not too distant future. Currently, practically all stationary energy use relies on renewables, whereas the transport and fishing sectors are reliant on imported fossil fuels. Hydrogen has been considered as an important ingredient in the endeavor to decrease the role of oil in the economy, either as a fuel carrier or as an ingredient in the manufacturing of other synthetic fuels. This paper describes the Icelandic experience with regard to replacing oil, the motivation, pitfalls and possibilities that face that effort. Special consideration will be given to the importance of international collaboration, institutional flexibility, and economic and environmental considerations.

Future Prospects and Public Policy Implications for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies in Canada - Kevin Fitzgibbons
The emergence of a fuel cell and hydrogen industry in Canada has been the result of a convergence of technological, industrial and market factors over the past decade and has been strongly influenced by environmental and innovation policy decisions at the local, federal and international levels. In the late 1990s Canada developed a world leading position in fuel cell and hydrogen technologies based in large part by advances in Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell technology by Ballard Power Systems and a number of smaller highly innovative firms. This paper will provide an overview of the current state of the fuel cell and hydrogen industry in Canada and the near and mid term prospects for this industry in the transportation sector and well as the public policy implications and options the Canadian government must consider for future success.

EU efforts in developing and deploying Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technologies: Current activities and future prospects - Stathis D. Peteves
Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies research has been supported at Community level since the 70's, with the EC pioneering RTD & demonstration activities, including such flagship projects as CUTE. What is new however is the extraordinary level of relative recent public awareness and industry efforts into hydrogen technologies as a future energy option. This has been accelerated with the EC stepping up its support for a widespread consensus that overall EU policy on sustainable development should include Hydrogen and Fuel Cells.
A broad consensus on justifying the transition to a ‘hydrogen economy' within the EU is being worked out within the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform (www.hfpeurope.org ). It has catalysed the mobilization and commitment of all European stakeholders. Technical options have been debated and discussions have moved further into considerations of optimal transition timing and the roles of technological advances and effective policies to facilitate and speed market deployment. Work is now under progress to build together the basis for a public-private-partnership and to proceed with implementing a Joint Technology Initiative. This is key in progressing with the completion of the knowledge triangle – research, education, and innovation – for hydrogen and fuel cells.

Transition towards hydrogen in the Netherlands - Remco Hoogma
Hydrogen bears the promise of becoming a clean and climate-neutral fuel/energy carrier in the coming decades, especially for transport. Its implementation can reduce the dependence on mineral oil by utilizing a wide range of alternative energy sources and give impetus to existing and new industries. The Netherlands is in the process of developing strategy and actions to be among the early adopters of hydrogen technology as well as the early suppliers. The main players are rather reluctant however, as the near-term effort and investments will only yield benefits in an uncertainly long term. The paper will describe and evaluate the emergent strategy and actions against the background of an alternative future – a world without hydrogen. It will draw upon the ongoing research project HyWays which develops an EU roadmap for hydrogen as an energy carrier.

Egypt 's Policies and Measures for Sustainable Transport - Ibrahim Abdel Gelil
Egypt is the largest Arab country with population that exceeds 70 million; it is also the second largest Arab economy after Saudia Arabia. Consuming about 28 % of the total energy consumption, the Egyptian transport sector is the second largest energy consuming sector after the electricity generation. It produces nearly one fourth of the energy related CO 2 emissions. Greater Cairo is the capital and it is one of the world's mega cities with population that exceeds 17 millions. Demand for mobility in Cairo has greatly outpaced the capacity of the public transportation system. The gap has been primarily filled with old inefficient fleet of shared taxis (informal transport) and use of private cars. The results are congested traffic and deteriorated air quality. In addition, Cairo is surrounded from north and south by two major industrial centers which host a large number of heavy industries such as oil refining, steel, chemicals, and cement. This has aggravated the problem of air quality. To mitigate the environmental and health impacts of the transport sector, the Government has been implementing a number of policies and measures which included demonstrations of some alternatives such as CNG vehicles, electric and Hybrid vehicles, and Fuel Cell Buses. Due to some policy and economical considerations, it was recently decided to decline from the GEF funded Fuel Cell program, and to make use of the GEF fund to implement a new program that promote sustainable transport.
This paper outlines the inter-linkages between transport, energy, and environment in Egypt , and the air quality management programs that are being implemented. It discusses different policy options available to Egypt in the long term to foster a sustainable transport system.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Alternatives in the Transport Sector: The Case for Malaysia - Wan Ramli Wan Daud
When global oil and gas demand exceed production in 15 to 20 years time, Malaysia will be a net importer of oil and gas, and the security and availability of energy supply will be of prime concern to her. In response to global environmental concerns and pressures such as global warming and climate change, and the Kyoto Ptrotocol for reduction of green house gases emission, Malaysia has since 1999 adopted a fuel policy for greater utilization of renewable energy. In addition, Malaysia is presently in the process of developing a roadmap for the expansion of solar energy, the introduction of renewable hydrogen energy and the application of fuel cells as the primary energy conversion devices for the latter. The present upwards trend in the global crude oil prices only strengthens Malaysia 's commitment to expand the utilization of renewable energy and this roadmap will be vital in guiding Malaysia to do so. In order for solar energy, hydrogen energy and fuel cells to be competitive with respect to fossil fuel, the roadmap has identified five major strategies and action plans for implementation which are cost competitiveness and market enhancement, technology and research development, standards and policy development, awareness and capacity building as well as financial incentives and funding that are to be implemented in the short term, the medium term and the long term.
In the short term (2005 – 2010), greater emphasis will be given to capacity building and awareness programmes implemented through training, educational system and demonstration projects among students, researchers, industry and public sectors, strengthening financial and funding mechanisms, incentives and special schemes for solar, hydrogen and fuel cells projects, development of favourable policy, regulatory frameworks, tariff and gazetted bylaws, creation of centres of excellence, establishment of R&D grant/endowment and joint industry-university research projects, demonstration of PV or hybrid powered hydrogen production system, hydrogen production plants from various resources, locally designed BIPV components, inverter, and balance of system, development of hydrogen delivery system and conversion technologies, introduction of hydrogen fueled ICE, hybrid fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen refueling stations.
In the medium term (2011-2029), the roadmap envisages compliance of green house gas emission levels to the Kyoto Protocol, full implementation of renewable energy policy, commissioning of 10MWp Solar PV Power Plant (Phase 1) and expansion to another 10MWp Solar PV Power Plant (Phase 2), local Manufacturing of solar cells and modules, development of advanced hydrogen production and storage technologies, demostration of 1 MW PEM fuel cell for distributed power generation, development of indigenous cost competitive PEM fuel cell components and system and wider availability of fuel cells powered vehicles.
In the long term (2030 onwards), the roadmap further envisages the completion of viable projects due to strengthened financial and funding mechanisms, wide utilisation of fuel cells for niche applications, completion of projects on centralized hydrogen facilities and distribution pipelines, penetration of global market in supplying hydrogen based fuels for fuel cells applications, availability of 100 MW SOFC and PAFC power plants, full development of infrastructure for hydrogen production and delivery.

The Hydrogen Economy: Basic Competencies and Investment Opportunities in Nigeria - R. Olaiton Samuel
The paper focuses on what we know about hydrogen, metioning the initial scepticism surrounding the use of hydrogen due to safety concerns in handling and transportation. To highlight the investment opportunities in Nigeria ,the structure and mandate of NNPC(Ngerian National Petroleum Corporation) and the on going economic liberalization programme by the Government is extensively discussed, including the Alternative/Renewable Energy Division of NNPC. Finally, hydrogen production in EPCL (Eleme Petrochemical Company Limited) and its uses and potential opportunities for investors in Nigeria is explored.

Transition management for fuel-cell vehicles - René Kemp
The paper outlines a model of transition management that could be used by transport authorities to make the current transport system more sustainable. The notion of transition management was developed by Jan Rotmans and René Kemp for the fourth national environmental policy plan in the Netherlands (NMP-4) where it is currently being used. In Kemp and Rotmans (2004) we applied it to transport, which is a suitable case for transition management because of the uncertainty, complexity and inertia that exist in this domain. As defined by us, transition management consists of a collective, cooperative effort to work towards a transition in a stepwise manner, using iterative decision-making and process management .
Three key elements of transition management are: the establishment of transition goals, based on visions of sustainability; the use of societal experiments with technological options or product-service systems that fit the sustainability vision; and adaptive policies.
Transition management differs from a planning and implementation approach. It does not operate on the basis of a blueprint. It uses long-term goals and visions, with policies to further the goals, as well as the goals themselves, being adjusted in development rounds. This creates some flexibility but maintains a sense of direction. Through its focus on long-term ambitions and its attention to dynamics it aims to overcome the conflict between long-term ambition and short-term concerns. Learning, maintaining variety and institutional change are important policy aims. Transition management offers an integrative framework for policy deliberation and the choice of instruments and individual and collective action. As a potentially sustainable fuel, hydrogen warrants government support, but only as part of wider portfolio approach, with policies aimed at fostering learning. Transition management could be used to create new business but there are also some dangers in this. In my presentation I try to delineate details of hydrogen policy for transport both for automobile-based countries such as the Netherlands and developing countries.

The South African Hydrogen Vision – G.B. Mehlomakulu
The aim of this paper is to examine the key drivers for South Africa 's interest in the developments around the Hydrogen Economy. One of the objectives of the Department of Science and Technology as set out in the National Research and Development Strategy (2002) is to achieve mastery of technological change in South Africa 's economy and society, mainly by means of innovation. Within this context, the department is tasked with identifying and developing the lead sectors that will potentially expand the base for creation of wealth and position the country well to compete successfully within the dynamic knowledge economy. To this end, the department identified the hydrogen economy and related Fuel Cell technologies as a “Frontier Science and Technology” initiative that would allow proactive development of innovation, and human resources while leveraging key natural resources.
With an annual turnover of over of $1.7 trillion, energy is the biggest business in the world. The sector, however, faces tremendous global challenges which are driving the current global research, development and demonstration (RD&D) agenda. The move to hydrogen as a clean energy carrier is one of the major global research thrusts.
South Africa has the largest platinum resources in the world. Platinum and its sister metals' – palladium and rhodium – have unique characteristics that are already used in transport and energy. Catalytic converters containing platinum group metals (PGMs), now fitted to some 90% of new cars produced worldwide. South Africa is a major producer of these systems as a result of the Motor Industry Development Programme, but almost no South African technology is embodied in these products – we essentially manufacture to specification. In the hydrogen economy platinum can unlock the potential for a new clean energy source through its vital role in fuel cell technology.
The main demand sectors for platinum are currently jewellery (41%), autocatalysts (41%), electrical equipment manufacture (6%), chemicals processing (5%) and glass manufacture (5%). The total demand has doubled in the last 20 years as new applications are found. South Africa , though producing more than 75% of the world's platinum, remains at the periphery of these PGM related technological developments. The looming hydrogen economy presents opportunities for South Africa to build knowledge bridges and narrow the knowledge gap.