Canada to Hold Hydrogen Fuel Test
Friday, June 11, 1999; 7:31 p.m. EDT
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Proponents of pollution-free
hydrogen fuel-cell cars took a major step towards commercialization
Friday, announcing a pilot project to develop the essential refueling
network.
The five-year agreement involves oil company Petro-Canada, fuel-cell
developer Ballard Power Systems and Methanex Corp., the world's
biggest supplier of methanol -- a prime candidate to become the fuel
source for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Safe, convenient refueling will be crucial to the success of such vehicles.
Ballard's partners, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG, say they
plan to begin selling hydrogen fuel-cell cars by 2004. They would be
powered by fuel cells that make electricity by chemically combining
hydrogen and air without combustion.
Ballard chairman Firoz Rasul said the automakers hope that by 2010, as
much as 25 percent of their production will be fuel-cell cars.
When pure hydrogen is used, the only byproducts are water and heat. For
now, vehicles will get hydrogen by on-board conversion from other fuels,
including natural gas, gasoline or methanol.
Supporters of methanol, manufactured from natural gas, see it as nearly
ideal because it can be distributed and pumped much like gasoline.
Indy racing cars burn pure methanol and a methanol-gasoline blend is
already sold as an alternate fuel for specially adapted vehicles.
Pierre Choquette, chief executive of Methanex, said methanol-powered
fuel-cell cars will generate some carbon dioxide, but will produce no
smog-creating pollutants such as carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen.
Rasul said the first stage of the program will be to study possible locations
for methanol pumps. The most likely initial spots are gas stations in the
Vancouver area, where both Ballard and Methanex are based.
Rasul said it's hoped automakers will decide within 12 months to join the
project and supply vehicles for the testing phase, similar to a fuel-cell
demonstration program announced in California.
Both Ford and DaimlerChrysler have fuel-cell prototype cars that run on
methanol. Testing so far indicates they can travel up to 300 miles on a
single tank, comparable to gasoline-powered cars. |
