Penn State Hydrogen Day Focuses on Energy Challenges
Hydrogen Day 2006 was about more than just hydrogen this year, though there was plenty to learn about the prospects for a hydrogen-based future. As Bruce Logan, director of Penn State's H2E Center, made clear in his opening remarks, this year's Hydrogen Day focused on the challenges of both producing alternative energy and dealing with environmental issues.
Nissan's fuel cell-powered SUV
A similar note was sounded by Hank Foley, recently appointed dean of Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology, in his opening remarks. As one of the authors of the recently released Report of the 2006 Energy Task Force, which is the University's response to the growing threats of global climate change and the issue of energy security, Foley called the collision of issues surrounding energy and the environment, "a perfect storm" that had succeeded in catching the nation's attention. Rising prices at the gas pump, a recognition of the effects of human energy use on the global climate, extreme weather events, and political uncertainty in a number of oil-producing nations, all conspired to bring both energy and environmental concerns to the forefront of national policy. The Energy Task Force analyzed Penn State's strengths and assets, and made recommendations for developing strong research, teaching, and outreach programs in areas in which Penn State could become a national leader in energy and environmental research.
"This is a basis for going forward in the next 10 to 15, even 20 years," Foley said. "We vetted this plan with different sectors of industry, and they concurred. At Penn State we cover everything from nanotechnology to the testing of hydrogen vehicles. It is a full vertical integration of energy research and technology."
The much anticipated talk by Nate Lewis, Caltech chemist and leading solar cell researcher, was cancelled at the last minute when Lewis was stranded on the West Coast. Penn State's Tom Mallouk stepped in on short notice and presented his own version of a Nate Lewis talk.
Using slides from Lewis's website, Mallouk, who would present his own solar cell research later in the program, showed that the level of CO2, a prominent greenhouse gas, is currently at 350 ppm, a higher concentration than has been measured for at least a half million years. Because CO2 can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, if current trends continue, Mallouk remarked, we could be at 750 ppm by 2050, which would put us into unknown territory in regard to climate change. Some experts put an upper limit of only 560 ppm before catastrophic climate change may occur.
Photovoltaics is the best means of reducing the expected increase in greenhouse gases, according to Mallouk and Lewis. But to make photovoltaics a viable solution, solar conversion efficiencies needs to be at around 10% to 15%, and must be price competitive with fossil fuels. Silicon provides those efficiencies, but at too great a cost. Mallouk remarked that it took 50 years for silicon to get close to its theoretical efficiency. We will need to accelerate that curve with cheaper materials to make solar energy an answer to countering climate change.
Other Hydrogen Day highlights:
Ed Kizcek of Air Products, the world's largest producer of merchant hydrogen (used by consumers rather than industry) and the company responsible for the Penn State hydrogen fueling station, believes that there are several right answers to creating the hydrogen economy. He offered these suggestions and insights: Produce hydrogen by geothermal, biomass, waste reclamation, nuclear, coal gasification, solar, wind, or sugar conversion. The answer, he said, will vary by region. Fuel cell vehicles are the end game, but they will not be here in the near future. In the meantime, build up the infrastructure through buses and off road vehicles. We have enough hydrogen available for the near term. At 5% of total hydrogen production, merchant H2 capacity is currently enough to fuel 16 million vehicles. Enough capacity exists for the transition that will take place over the next 15 years.
Today, he said, a fully deployed hydrogen economy could be cost comparable to fossil fuels. Cost competitiveness comes through using pipelines to deliver hydrogen fuel. When will the hydrogen economy occur? It will happen when the global fossil fuel tank hits near empty. "This is the most important thing we can work on for the future."
JoAnn Milliken, the interim director of the Department of Energy's Hydrogen Program, remarked that she was impressed to see the breadth of research going on at Penn State on the hydrogen fuel cell. The focus of her department is on hydrogen for transportation and on materials research and development. They have funded $600 million in new projects since 2003. "The new materials being discovered are phenomenal," Milliken told the audience. She pointed out that the 2007 budget requests $289 million for the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, an increase of $53 million over FY 2006, to accelerate the development of hydrogen fuel cells and affordable hydrogen-powered cars.
Representatives of Nissan Motor Company spoke about advancements and remaining technical problems for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. Problems include cold starting, hydrogen storage, durability, and cost. Nevertheless, Koudai Yoshizawa and Hideyuki Tamura stated that their latest vehicle, with a recently developed in-house fuel stack, has been driven for 100,000 miles and 10,000 hours without problems. More university research is needed on load-cycle decay and new materials to extend the life of the fuel cells.
Vegetable based fuels are a possible alternative to fossil fuels
Penn State Energy Research
Penn State researchers offered snapshots of their latest research. Chunshan Song works in the area of clean fuels from carbon. He is developing ultraclean methods of removing sulfur from gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel using transition metals. He also uses rare earth zeolites and nanoporous zinc oxide. Dr. Chao-Yang Wang directs the Electrochemical Engine Center at Penn State, a world leader in the study of ice formation in fuel cells during subzero start-ups. "Problems with start-up temperatures are 70 percent solved," he remarked. "Down to -20 degrees C, it's a piece of cake."
Bruce Logan's widely publicized work on microbial fuel cells continues to produce good results, he reported. Since 2002, his group has increased electrical output in microbial fuel cells from less than a milliwatt per square meter to 2,000 milliwatts per square meter. He is also researching iron-breathing bacteria that can make their own various types of nanowires that can act like breathing tubes.
Craig Grimes, professor of electrical engineering, believes his group has developed the world's best architecture for solar hydrogen production, using highly ordered nanotube arrays. Under ultraviolet light his titanium oxide nanotube arrays have shown over 16 percent efficiency. His group is continuing to develop the architecture to try and capture this efficiency using visible light. His group is also the first to report highly channeled iron oxide solar water electrolysis, which has the potential to produce hydrogen from a cheap and plentiful material.
Other Hydrogen Day events included a visit to the Penn State hydrogen fueling station, demonstration of a Nissan fuel cell vehicle, and tours of several labs on campus. A well-attended poster session offered demonstrations of biofuel production, microbial fuel cells, and a model fuel cell car, along with dozens of Penn State faculty and student research posters. Penn State's third semiannual Hydrogen Day concluded with a dinner speech by Dan Desmond of the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection during which he championed the benefits of alternative energy.
