National

In the past decade, costs of fuel cells have fallen by 60% and costs of electrolyzers — a crucial component in hydrogen-fuel production — by 80%, according to a report released last month by the Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Technology Office (FCTO). The report affirms that, despite significant hurdles, hydrogen and fuel cells will play a growing role in the decade to come.

Why it matters: The potential for fuel cells and hydrogen energy includes increasing the efficiency of national power generation, providing low-carbon energy sources for light- and heavy-duty transportation, and reducing the carbon intensity of industrial facilities such as refineries and steel mills. These are functions that are difficult to decarbonize with only electric-based renewables (e.g., wind and solar) and together account for nearly 80% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The numbers: FCTO director Sunita Satyapal reported in her overview that in 2017, 650 megawatts' worth of fuel cells have been shipped worldwide for both stationary and transportation applications, accounting for approximately 70,000 fuel-cell units and $2 million in revenue. 

In the past decade, states have invested more than $180 million in hydrogen-fuel infrastructure. This year, California announced an additional $235 million investment.

Nearly 5,000 fuel-cell cars, privately and publicly owned, have joined the road since 2015.

More than 20,000 fuel-cell forklifts are in operation (the U.S. Postal Service moves  mail with hydrogen-powered machinery in its Maryland facility).

There are more than 30 fuel-cell buses in four states, with 19 million passengers.

35 hydrogen-fuel stations are open today, the majority in California, which is planning to reach 200 by 2025.

The report comes after the April announcement of a hydrogen-and-fuel-cell funding program of $39 million aimed at reducing electrolyzer costs, improving the reliability of components and refueling stations, and expanding hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure.

What's next: Director Satyapal has announced that for 2019 the office will focus mainly on the H2@Scale initiative, which aims to expand the infrastructure necessary for a large-scale deployment of hydrogen and fuel cells nationwide. This will likely boost construction of retail hydrogen-refueling stations in the next 5 to 10 years, fostering the expansion of commercial fuel-cell electric vehicle models.

Luca Mastropasqua is a visiting post-doctoral associate at the Andlinger Center for Energy and Enviroment at Princeton University and a research fellow at the Group of Energy Conversion Systems at Politecnico di Milano.

Fuel-cell tech, infrastructure on the rise with nationwide investment

Fuel-cell and hydrogen-fuel production costs have plummeted over the past decade.

 Linda Meleo Councillor for Mobility of Rome driving a hydrogen car in Campidoglio on December 9, 2017, in Rome, Italy. 

Councillor for Mobility of Rome Linda Meleo driving a fuel-cell car on December 9, 2017, in Rome, Italy. Photo: Stefano Montesi/Corbis via Getty Images

Energy

Fuel Cells

Expert Voices

Alternative energy

In the past decade, costs of fuel cells have fallen by 60% and costs of electrolyzers — a crucial component in hydrogen-fuel production — by 80%, according to a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="report" data-vars-click-url="https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/annual_review.html" data-vars-content-id="3e006adb-dce2-48b1-9b1f-ace806971186" data-vars-headline="Fuel-cell tech, infrastructure on the rise with nationwide investment" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/annual_review.html" target="_blank">report</a> released last month by the Department of Energy&#x27;s Fuel Cell Technology Office (FCTO). The report affirms that, despite significant hurdles, hydrogen and fuel cells will play a growing role in the decade to come.Why it matters: The potential for fuel cells and hydrogen energy includes increasing the efficiency of national power generation, providing low-carbon energy sources for light- and heavy-duty transportation, and reducing the carbon intensity of industrial facilities such as refineries and steel mills. These are functions that are difficult to decarbonize with only electric-based renewables (e.g., wind and solar) and together account for nearly <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="80% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions" data-vars-click-url="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-01/documents/2018_complete_report.pdf" data-vars-content-id="3e006adb-dce2-48b1-9b1f-ace806971186" data-vars-headline="Fuel-cell tech, infrastructure on the rise with nationwide investment" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-01/documents/2018_complete_report.pdf" target="_blank">80% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions</a>.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

Approximately 49 million tons of CO2 could be cut via carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in the power sector — equivalent to removing 7 million cars from the roads — by 2030, according to a Clean Air Task Force (CATF) report published this week.

Why it matters: The oil and gas industry has experimented with CO2 removal technology since the 1930s to purify process streams from CO2. Now similar technology could be used to ease the transition from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources. 

Background: CCUS is considered an important medium- and long-term means of reducing carbon emissions in fossil fuel–intensive industries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) places 32% of the responsibility of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060 — a pledge many governments, including California's and the EU's, already support — on CCUS.

What's new: The Trump administration approved a new tax credit in the February 2018 budget legislation for CCUS, which made several changes:

Expanded and increased the value of an older credit, from $10/ton of CO2 captured to $35/ton for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) — a process of injecting captured CO2 into an oil field to recover additional petroleum — and from $20/ton to $50/ton for geological storage.

Established 12-year credit security for new deployment projects.

Reduced the eligibility threshold from 500,000 to 100,000 tons of CO2 captured for industrial applications.

Currently, the greatest CCUS success story is the retrofit system at the W.A. Parish Plant in Texas — the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project— which was named Plant of the Year in 2017. The plant uses sorbent materials called amines to capture approximately 90% of the CO2 from the plant's 240-megawatt slipstream, which is then repurposed for EOR.

Yes, but: Some critics suggest that coupling CCUS with EOR could lead to more oil production, as it would enable production at otherwise unusable wells. Nonetheless, the CATF report holds that EOR–produced oil emits 37% less CO2.

What to watch: The simulations from CATF maintain that the new tax credit has the potential to deliver emission reductions in the power sector in line with what's necessary to keep global warming under 2 degrees celsius. CCUS technologies may come to play a larger role in climate policy debates, including those around the Green New Deal.

Luca Mastropasqua is a senior research scientist at the University of California Irvine's Advanced Power and Energy Program.

Carbon capture could be key to decarbonizing U.S. fossil fuels

A new tax credit has the potential to deliver critical emission reductions.

A man works on a pipe beside a carbon injection site well near Reykjavik Energy's Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant  outside Reykjavik, Iceland.

A man works near a carbon injection site well near the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant, outside Reykjavik, Iceland. Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images

Carbon emissions

Climate change

Approximately 49 million tons of CO2 could be cut via carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in the power sector — equivalent to removing 7 million cars from the roads — by 2030, according to a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Clean Air Task Force" data-vars-click-url="https://www.catf.us/" data-vars-content-id="63199532-e222-42b1-a3ba-00d9c28e3bb3" data-vars-headline="Carbon capture could be key to decarbonizing U.S. fossil fuels" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.catf.us/" target="_blank">Clean Air Task Force</a> (CATF) report published this week.Why it matters: The oil and gas industry has experimented with CO2 removal technology since the 1930s to purify process streams from CO2. Now similar technology could be used to ease the transition from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources.

In September, Germany started operating the world's first hydrogen train, the Coradia iLint, which is powered by hydrogen fuel cells stored on top of its carriages. Like a conventional electric train, the Coradia iLint produces no direct air pollution, but it can operate without access to the electric grid.

Why it matters: Hydrogen-powered trains like the Coradia iLint could be built on un-electrified lines in areas where diesel engines are still used, which would greatly reduce harmful emissions typical of combustion technologies. If those trains use hydrogen fuel produced from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, they could become an almost entirely carbon-free mode of transport.

Background: Hydrogen is being studied extensively for its potential as a highly efficient, low-carbon energy carrier, with particularly significant applications in the transportation and electricity-generation industries. Hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity without combustion by combining hydrogen with oxygen molecules. Hydrogen can also be used for long-term renewable energy storage.

How it works: Running in a 62-mile line between four towns in northern Germany, the Coradia iLint trains have a range of approximately 620 miles on one fill and a maximum speed of 87 miles per hour. Fuel will be derived from recycled industrial processes and trucked to the stations for now, but on-site hydrogen production using wind power is planned for a future phase of the project.

Yes, but: In order to allow for widespread use of hydrogen technologies in transportation, renewable hydrogen-production systems will have to be made available at lower costs. Manufacturers already have the technology to do so, but the supporting infrastructure, such as hydrogen refueling stations and the distribution network, needs to be built.

What's next: Germany is planning to develop another hydrogen train in December 2022, and other European countries such as Italy, France and the U.K. aim to follow suit between 2019 and 2023. Some automakers are also proposing hydrogen locomotives for long-haul trains and hybrid transmission for trucks and commercial vehicles, with boat manufacturers developing the technology as well.

Luca Mastropasqua is a research fellow at the Group of Energy Conversion Systems at Politecnico di Milano.

Germany's hydrogen-powered train advancing low-carbon transport

It could greatly reduce the emissions typical of combustion technologies.

The Coradia iLint train, a CO2-emission-free regional train developed by French transport giant Alstom, is on display

The Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered train on display at Innotrans, the railway industry's largest trade fair, in Berlin, on September 20, 2016. Photo: John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

trains

World

In September, Germany started operating the world&#x27;s first hydrogen train, the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Coradia iLint" data-vars-click-url="https://www.alstom.com/coradia-ilint-worlds-1st-hydrogen-powered-train" data-vars-content-id="712aaeff-ca0d-4b7a-b28b-eada3a863197" data-vars-headline="Germany&#x27;s hydrogen-powered train advancing low-carbon transport" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.alstom.com/coradia-ilint-worlds-1st-hydrogen-powered-train" target="_blank">Coradia iLint</a>, which is powered by hydrogen fuel cells stored on top of its carriages. Like a conventional electric train, the Coradia iLint produces no direct air pollution, but it can operate without access to the electric grid.Why it matters: Hydrogen-powered trains like the Coradia iLint could be built on un-electrified lines in areas where diesel engines are still used, which would greatly reduce harmful emissions typical of combustion technologies. If those trains use hydrogen fuel produced from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, they could become an almost entirely carbon-free mode of transport.

Over the past year, the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) has acted on the market to reduce the number of available CO2 allowances in its cap-and-trade system. Initiated in 2005, it is the largest such system in the world designed for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whereby businesses must purchase a permit at a set price in order to emit CO2.

What's new: The ETS' recent action, along with the increase in post-recession industrial productivity, has led to more than a 320% rise in CO2 allowance price, to around 22 euros per ton. This is good news insofar as CO2 emissions will likely decrease, but might jeopardize the competitiveness of businesses worldwide.

The background: The recent steep price rise for CO2 emissions allowances comes after almost 5 years of oscillation between 4 and 8 euros per ton. These prices were well below the level required to cause the hoped-for reductions in CO2 emissions among big power plants and carbon-intensive industries. The reason for the low market price was a combination of abundant allowances, overlapping renewables and energy-efficiency policies, and the world financial crisis, which reduced productivity and consequently CO2 emissions. As a result, the EU ETS's push to reduce CO2 emissions in Europe has been somewhat depressed so far.

The big picture: GHG emissions are a worldwide problem that cannot be addressed only by local policies. Today, the multiplicity of carbon pricing schemes creates market uncertainty and may undermine the competitiveness of industrial sectors subjected to different emissions caps. Despite this, many industries are making large investments in CO2 emissions technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) (e.g., cement manufacturers in Italy) and hydrogen energy (e.g., steel plants in Sweden).

What's next: Some observers foresee a rise of up to 35–40 euros per ton of CO2 by 2023. Should this come to pass, many low-carbon technologies now available, including CCS, would become economically viable and could replace carbon-intensive processes in both the power and industrial sector.

Rising CO2 prices in EU to reduce emissions, add to market uncertainty

The CO2 allowance price has risen by more than 320% in the past year.

 A lignite-fired power station is pictured on August 15, 2018 in Schwarze Pumpe, Germany. 

A lignite-fired power station is pictured on August 15, 2018, in Schwarze Pumpe, Germany. Photo: Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images

Over the past year, the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS)" data-vars-click-url="https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en" data-vars-content-id="a0e05e40-d1db-49a7-84ee-97334d88e37e" data-vars-headline="Rising CO2 prices in EU to reduce emissions, add to market uncertainty" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en" target="_blank">European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS)</a> has acted on the market to reduce the number of available CO2 allowances in its cap-and-trade system. Initiated in 2005, it is the largest such system in the world designed for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whereby businesses must purchase a permit at a set price in order to emit CO2.What&#x27;s new: The ETS&#x27; recent action, along with the increase in post-recession industrial productivity, has led to more than a 320% rise in CO2 allowance price, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="to around 22 euros per ton" data-vars-click-url="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/co2-emissionsrechte" data-vars-content-id="a0e05e40-d1db-49a7-84ee-97334d88e37e" data-vars-headline="Rising CO2 prices in EU to reduce emissions, add to market uncertainty" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/co2-emissionsrechte" target="_blank">to around 22 euros per ton</a>. This is good news insofar as CO2 emissions will likely decrease, but might jeopardize the competitiveness of businesses worldwide.

Luca Mastropasqua

Stories

Carbon capture could be key to decarbonizing U.S. fossil fuels

Germany's hydrogen-powered train advancing low-carbon transport

Rising CO2 prices in EU to reduce emissions, add to market uncertainty

Fuel-cell tech, infrastructure on the rise with nationwide investment