Re: Hydrogen-powered engine for new Cobra boosts profile of clean energy

From: Tom Simonds (tsimonds_at_theworld.com)
Date: 06/09/04 

Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 08:04:01 -0400

Neostalinist Simonds with yet another neostalinist post, this one on
Ford's neostalinist hydrogen ICE. Yep, you guessed it. I'm attempting to
seize power again...

Ford readies hydrogen vehicles

Internal combustion engine uses clean fuel

September 26, 2003

BY WILLIAM DIEM
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

SONOMA, Calif. -- Ford Motor Co. is preparing a fleet of ordinary
vehicles powered by pure hydrogen gas instead of liquid gasoline. They
will be sold to government agencies for on-road testing beginning in
2005. At the Challenge Bibendum, an exposition of developing
powertrains, Ford showed two Focuses modified to burn hydrogen.

These shouldn't be confused with fuel-cell vehicles, which don't have
internal combustion engines. Fuel cells use an electrochemical reaction
to convert hydrogen (or hydrogen-rich fuel) and oxygen into electricity,
emitting only heat and water vapor.

Ford's lineup included the Focus H2ICE, which has a 2.3-liter internal
combustion engine powered by gaseous hydrogen, and the hybrid H2RV,
which supplements the hydrogen-fueled engine with an electric motor.

The use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines "is coming along real
fast," said Vince Zanardelli, leader of Ford's engine project. He said
the company had not planned to bring its hydrogen vehicles to this
week's event, but did so in response to the "tremendous interest" in the
hydrogen-burning Model U concept car at Detroit's North American
International Auto Show in January.

"The program has been absolutely spectacular," said Mike Schwartz,
Ford's director of sustainable mobility technologies.

Schwartz indicated that the fleet vehicles used in the test could be
minivans, with engines larger than the 2.3-liter developed for the test
cars.

The decision to road-test vehicles with hydrogen-powered internal
combustion engines shows Ford believes this technology will help clean
the atmosphere and reduce America's consumption of oil long before fuel
cells are cheap enough to run automobiles.

"This isn't a whim; this isn't a short-term plan," said Schwartz. "It's
a nice bridging act to fuel cells."

Ford's reasoning is this: Since normal engines can be modified to burn
hydrogen directly, they could be ready in just a few years, creating a
demand for hydrogen fuel. That would encourage fuel makers to invest in
hydrogen, and lawmakers to put time into setting rules and regulations.
Then when the price of fuel cells falls enough to use them in cars
profitably, the fuel infrastructure will be ready.

Using hydrogen as fuel, instead of hydrocarbons, results in no toxic
pollution and no global warming, if the hydrogen is produced in a clean
way.

Zanardelli said work began "as a grass roots effort" in 1997 when some
engineers said, "Let's see how close we can get to fuel-cell
performance."

Andrew Lutz of Sandia National Laboratories has worked with Ford on the
project. He said that in theory a hydrogen engine should get about 80
percent of the benefits of a fuel cell, and early test cars confirm
that, getting about the equivalent of 40-45 miles per gallon.

Fuel cells are getting most of the attention for the future, but they
cost about 10 times more than an internal combustion engine. The
FreedomCar consortium of the world's leading automakers predicts that it
will be 2020 before fuel cells can compete in the marketplace without
subsidies. Ford's idea requires relatively simple modifications: a
high-pressure fuel tank that can hold compressed hydrogen and new fuel
injectors are the biggest changes.

Only Ford and BMW are openly developing internal combustion engines to
work on hydrogen fuel. General Motors Corp. is not interested in the
Ford approach. "Everybody's got to develop their own schedule," said
Neil Schilke, GM's general director of engineering. "It didn't make any
sense to us."

At the Challenge Bibendum, sponsored by tiremaker Michelin, in addition
to the two Fords, Energy Conversion Devices Inc. of Rochester Hills
displayed a Toyota Prius modified to burn hydrogen while there were 14
fuel-cell vehicles, including one from Ford and two from GM.

Automakers and independent researchers brought 108 vehicles to Challenge
Bibendum, which is named after the tire company's famous mascot, better
known as the Michelin Man.

For the first time, several heavy trucks were tested.

A 2001 Volkswagen Jetta modified by American Biofuels to run on
biodiesel fuel won gold awards for top-level performance in six
categories: energy efficiency, three different categories for CO2
emissions, range and crash safety.

Among automaker entries, the Honda FCX fuel cell car, in limited series
production for testing purposes, and the Honda Civic GX using compressed
natural gas each won gold awards for top performance in five of the 11
categories. The Ford Focus burning hydrogen scored two golds, for low
CO2 emissions.

Tire friction accounts for 20 percent of fuel consumption in cars, and
more than 30 percent for heavy trucks, said Edouard Michelin, chairman
of his company, in explaining why a tire maker sponsors the event.

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