SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Hydrogen Highway is falling out of memory for many.
It was front-page news less than a decade ago, and the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento was ground zero for what was touted as a forward-looking effort to green the Golden State.
Approved in 2004 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promoted it with action film-hero gusto, the Hydrogen Highway envisioned construction of an extensive network of hydrogen filling stations to serve drivers of zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles - bettering California’s air quality, enhancing the Golden State’s reputation as a leader in national environmental policy and lessening U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Hydrogen has long been viewed by advocates and environmentalists as an attractive option because it can easily be pumped into a vehicle tank, with the bonus of no emissions of either greenhouse gases or smog-forming pollutants. In a fuel-cell vehicle, hydrogen combines with oxygen, yielding a current that drives an electric motor. The tailpipe spews nothing but water vapor and heat.
Supporters add that hydrogen can be produced in abundance by American companies. Environmentalists simply say that it’s not oil, with all its pollution and price-volatility baggage.
Critics noted then and now that much hydrogen is processed from natural gas and that alternative methods are costly. That did not deter Schwarzenegger, who was a welcome visitor at the fuel cell partnership headquarters. President George W. Bush also dropped by for a visit in 2006, talking up hydrogen technology.
Today, the high-flying promise of those days remains unfulfilled.
There are just nine hydrogen fueling stations open to the public statewide, and only about 225 hydrogen fuelcell vehicles in operation.
Over the past 10 years, automakers have invested millions of dollars and tens of thousands of engineering hours developing hybrids, full electric vehicles and plug-ins. As battery-powered electric vehicles took center stage, construction of electric charging stations increased. Hydrogen stations fell off the public radar, as did the Hydrogen Highway.
But backers of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles say not so fast. They contend that development of the critical filling station infrastructure and fuel-cell vehicles was always a long-term proposition and that the Hydrogen Highway will soon wend its way back into public consciousness.
Recent events show that California still sees a future for hydrogen.
Gov. Jerry Brown just signed Assembly Bill 8 into law. It extends, until Jan. 1, 2024, existing fees on motorvehicles, boat registrations and new tires. The fees fund programs to accelerate the turnover of older vehicles and development of advanced, environmentally friendly technologies.
Officials at the fuel-cell partnership said the measure provides funding for at least 100 hydrogen stations with a commitment of up to $20 million a year from the California Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.
Last year, the partnership released “A California Road Map” recommending 68 stations in strategic locations to launch the commercial market and at least 100 stations to sustain it.
“We’ve always operated with the understanding that the [fueling] infrastructure has to be in place first, and now we’re getting closer to that,” said Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the fuel-cell partnership, a public-private collaboration of auto manufacturers, experts, energy providers, fuel-cell technology firms and government agencies working to promote commercialization of fuel-cell vehicles.
Dunwoody said she never begrudged electric vehicles’ time in the spotlight, considering it “a natural progression of the technology. … What’s significant to understand now is that [consumers] are going to have a choice of technologies in the future.”
University of California-Davis professor Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC-Davis and regarded as one of the nation’s most influential experts on transportation technology and policy, characterized the new law as a landmark occurrence.
“One of the biggest obstacles to introducing fuel-cell electric vehicles was the lack of fueling certainty. No more. The passage of [Assembly Bill 8] sends a clear signal to automakers, consumers and others that California will launch a market for [fuel-cell electric vehicles],” Sperling said.
The new law was not warmly received in all corners, including the Sierra Club, a longtime advocate of environmentally friendly fuels. The Sierra Club joined a host of critics who decried the measure for shifting the cost of building new stations from oil companies to consumers.
Of course, hydrogen stations won’t be of much use unless someone is building the fuel-cell cars that need them. And there’s movement on that front, too.
Toyota will unveil its fuel-cell vehicle concept next month at the Tokyo MotorShow.
Toyota’s fuel-cell vehicle reportedly is based on a Lexus sedan’s architecture with a range of more than 300 miles. Toyota hopes to commence sales of the model in the United States, Japan and Europe by 2015. That would dovetail with Dunwoody’s hope of seeing 60 hydrogen fueling stations developed over the next five years; she said Japan and Germany have even more ambitious goals for building hydrogen fueling stations.
Satoshi Ogiso, managing officer of Toyota Motor Corp., said the auto-producing giant wants to sell “tens of thousands” Toyota FCVs a year “by sometime in the 2020s.”
Critics are doubtful, saying the vehicle’s hydrogen fuelcell technology is complex and costly, which will likely make the cost of the Toyota FCV prohibitive.
James Sweeney, a Stanford University engineering professor with an extensive background in energy and economic policy issues, is not a fan of the Hydrogen Highway and believes it was a byproduct of state government “betting” that hydrogen would emerge as the “technological winner” among multiple options.
Sweeney said other electric vehicle technologies - plug-ins, for example - have proved reliable and affordable. He said hydrogen technology remains “a very expensive way of generating electricity. … Fuel cells are expensive.”
Also, Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz are developing fuel-cell vehicles for introduction in the short term.
Robert Bienenfeld, assistant vice president of environment and energy strategy for Honda Motor Co., cited continued advancements in fuel-cell vehicle technology and said “California’s planned investments in hydrogen refueling will be a key enabler to create this market.”
Business, Pages 23 on 10/28/2013