The world will face massive climate changes if we don't reduce our CO2 emissions. The hydrogen car is a step in the right direction, but hydrogen currently takes up too much space in the boot. Aarhus University researchers are working to store, compress and handle the hydrogen more efficiently, so this form of environmentally friendly car can be mass- produced

Imagine driving in a car for which the only waste product is pure water, which slowly drips onto the road as you drive. No petrol fumes, and no harmful CO2 emissions. This is possible with the hydrogen car. Yet even though hydrogen cars have been developed, very few can be found on the road. This is because hydrogen, a gas, is stored in large pressure tanks which take up too much space in the vehicle. The HyFill-Fast project based at Aarhus University aims to find a new and more efficient way to store hydrogen in cars.

"We intend to increase the capacity of the pressure tanks by developing new types of chemical compounds which can absorb hydrogen, so that some of the gas is stored in solid form. This will allow the hydrogen to be stored more densely and take up less space," says Torben René Jensen, Research Manager for HyFill-Fast.

"The aim of our research is to make the use of hydrogen in cars more cost-effective by allowing you to store more hydrogen in less space, thereby increasing the range of the vehicle. A new integrated system for compressing, filling, handling and storing hydrogen can help create a more profitable basis for the mass production of hydrogen cars.

From laboratory to car
The HyFill-Fast project is being carried out in close collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark and universities in Germany and Korea, with input from the world's leading car manufacturers. They are ready to start producing the new hydrogen tank if the researchers succeed in storing hydrogen efficiently in solid form. HyFill-Fast is not only focusing on how to store hydrogen as efficiently as possible in the car. The project also aims to investigate the best way to compress and cool the gas during filling. This part of the project is the primary focus of another project partner, H2 Logic A/S in Herning, Denmark, which is working on the development, production and sale of hydrogen filling stations. Mikael Sloth, Business Development Manager, explains:

"Our role in HyFill-Fast is to further develop our filling technology based on the research being done. Researchers at Aarhus University are working to develop new solid materials which can store or cool hydrogen as the tank is being filled. We are very interested in this research as it may mean that we can use less refrigeration at filling stations."

If car manufacturers begin producing the new type of hydrogen tanks based on the results of the research, H2 Logic A/S stands ready to develop and produce filling stations which match the new type of storage. It is important for them to be involved from the very beginning, so that filling can be done as efficiently as possible.

"Once it becomes easy to fill the cars, it will be even easier to introduce hydrogen cars onto the market," says Mikael Sloth.

Coal and oil in decline
Torben René Jensen believes we will see more and more hydrogen cars on the road in the future, and that they will decisively overtake petrol cars at some point in time. This will mean goodbye to CO2 emitting petrol and hello to a more environmentally friendly way of driving – to the benefit of the entire globe.

"Hydrogen can potentially store enough renewable energy to meet the energy requirements of the whole world. Hydrogen also allows us to create a closed, reversible system. The waste product is water, which ends up in the atmosphere or the ocean, from where it can be reused," says Torben René Jensen. He also predicts that the energy system of the future will be far more differentiated than it is today. A common energy carrier will make it much easier to integrate various forms of renewable energy from the sun, wind or waves.

"It is easy to conceive that battery-driven cars might be used for urban travel, while hydrogen cars are used for longer trips. In the future people will draw on a range of different, integrated solutions. We have just one solution today: the combustion of coal and oil."

Further information:

Torben René Jensen trj@chem.au.dk

87155939/ 22721486