Shift Magazine - December 2021 - 9

As a critical secondary
part of this effort, the
DOE is also funding a $50
million, five-year national
lab-based
consortium
to develop large-scale,
efficient, hydrogen-generating
electrolyzers using
renewable
energy
sources,
such as solar,
wind, wave or geothermal.
Electrolysis
is
the process of splitting
water into hydrogen and
oxygen. Currently, only
5 percent of commercial
hydrogen is generated
through electrolysis; 95
percent comes from
natural gas, oil and coal
using steam reformation.
Shift spoke with Rod
Borup, fuel cell program
manager at Los Alamos
National Laboratory in
New Mexico. Here are
edited excerpts.
Q: HOW IMPORTANT
IS THE FUELING
INFRASTRUCTURE
TO RUN CLASS
8 TRUCKS ON
HYDROGEN?
A: If you're going to
have trucks and cars on
the road, you've got to
have
an
infrastructure
for supplying hydrogen.
You're aware that
Hyundai and Toyota are selling a car, and
Honda used to sell a hydrogen-powered car.
And the word that we're getting back is that
they are good cars. But people are frustrated
with the lack of infrastructure. And half
the time, apparently, the hydrogen refilling
stations are down. But [Class 8] trucks tend
to run the same route, so you can have a
more limited infrastructure and still support
that industry.
Q: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN LIGHT-DUTY
AUTOMOTIVE AND CLASS 8
december 2021 * shift
9
HEAVY-DUTY APPLICATIONS FOR
FUEL CELLS?
A: When you're talking trucks, efficiency
becomes the game. We're trying to change
the fuel cell focus for light-duty applications
where cost is the driver - initial capital
cost. In heavy-duty trucks, efficiency, total
cost of ownership and durability are really
the game. It's increasing the durability
up to 30,000 hours, which gets you up
to a million miles over the road. And it's
increasing their efficiency. Five thousand
hours in a light-duty application gets you
up to approximately 150,000 miles.
Q: WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT
REASON TO MOVE FROM DIESEL
TO FUEL CELLS FOR FREIGHTHAULING
TRUCKS?
A: There's pollutant emissions, hydrocarbons,
soot, CO and NOx, and
the government has regulated those
emissions for some time. Hydrogen
is zero emissions. That's only a small
piece of the game. Energy security is
another piece of the game. But if you
move to something like hydrogen, it
can be made much more easily from
renewable sources. Of course, there's
economic
competitiveness.
It must
work economically. But when you talk
about how you're going to decarbonize
the grid, the industrial sector and
transportation, hydrogen is really one
of the few ways that can decarbonize
all three sectors at once. That really is
a huge primary driver: greenhouse gas
efficiency.
Q: WHAT IS THE COST AND THE
POWER OUTPUT OF A HYDROGEN
POWERTRAIN FOR A CLASS 8?
A: The right thing to do is look at our
targets. That's $60 a kilowatt. So we are
modeling our systems at 275 kilowatts
(about 368 hp). And one of the advantages
of electric vehicles is they provide full
torque at zero speed. n
The Hyzon is a fuel cell Class 8
truck. For hydrogen-powered
big rigs, " efficiency becomes
the game. "
Shift Magazine - December 2021

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