Projecting full build-out environmental impacts and roll-out strategies associated with viable hydrogen fueling infrastructure strategies

A transition from gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) is likely to emerge as a major component of the strategy to meet future greenhouse gas reduction, air quality, fuel independence, and energy security goals. Advanced infrastructure planning can minimize the cost of hydrogen infrastructure while assuring that energy and environment benefits are achieved. This study presents a comprehensive advanced planning methodology for the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure, and applies the methodology to delineate fully built-out infrastructure strategies, assess the associated energy and environment impacts, facilitate the identification of an optimal infrastructure roll-out strategy, and identify the potential for renewable hydrogen feedstocks. The South Coast Air Basin of California, targeted by automobile manufacturers for the first regional commercial deployment of FCEVs, is the focus for the study. The following insights result from the application of the methodology:

•

Compared to current gasoline stations, only 11%-14% of the number of hydrogen fueling stations can provide comparable accessibility to drivers in a targeted region.

•

To meet reasonable capacity demand for hydrogen fueling, approximately 30% the number of hydrogen stations are required compared to current gasoline stations.

•

Replacing gasoline vehicles with hydrogen FCEVs has the potential to (1) reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by more than 80%, reduce energy requirements by 42%, and virtually eliminate petroleum consumption from the passenger vehicle sector, and (2) significantly reduce urban concentrations of ozone and PM2.5.

•

Existing sources of biomethane in the California South Coast Air Basin can provide up to 30% of the hydrogen fueling demand for a fully built-out hydrogen FCEV scenario.

•

A step-wise transition of judiciously located existing gasoline stations to dispense and accommodate the increasing demand for hydrogen addresses proactively key infrastructure deployment challenges including a viable business model, zoning, permitting, and public acceptance.

     

Economic analysis of near-term California hydrogen infrastructure

A detailed economics model of hydrogen infrastructure in California has been developed and applied to assess several potential fuel cell vehicle deployment rate and hydrogen station technology scenarios. The model accounts for all of the costs in the hydrogen supply chain and specifically examines a network of 68 planned and existing hydrogen stations in terms of economic viability and dispensed hydrogen cost. Results show that (1) current high-pressure gaseous delivery and liquid delivery station technologies can eventually be profitable with relatively low vehicle deployment rates, and (2) the cost per mile for operating fuel cell vehicles can be lower than equivalent gasoline vehicles in both the near and long term.     

A solution to renewable hydrogen economy for fuel cell buses – A case study for Zhangjiakou in North China

Fuel cell vehicles fueled with renewable hydrogen is recognized as a life-cycle carbon-free option for the transport sector, however, the profitability of the H₂ pathway becomes a key issue for the FCV commercialization. By analyzing the actual data from the Zhangjiakou fuel cell transit bus project, this research reveals it is economically feasible to commercialize FCV in areas with abundant renewable resources. Low electricity for water electrolysis, localization of H₂ supply, and curtailed end price of H₂ refueling effectively reduce the hydrogen production, delivery and refueling cost, and render a chance for the profitability of refueling stations. After the fulfillment of the intense deployment of both vehicles and hydrogen stations for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the H₂ pathway starts to make a profit thereafter. The practices in the Zhangjiakou FCB project offer a solution to the hydrogen economy, which helps to break the chicken-egg dilemma of vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure.     

The role of hydrogen cars in the economy of California

Hydrogen has been proposed as an alternative transportation fuel that could reduce energy consumption and eliminate tailpipe emissions when used in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). To investigate the potential effects of hydrogen vehicles on California’s economy over the next two decades, we employed the modified Costs for Advanced Vehicles and Energy (CAVE) model and a California-specific computable general equilibrium model. Results indicate that, even in the aggressive scenario, hydrogen cars can only account for a minor fraction of the on-road fleet through 2030. Although new sales could drop sharply, conventional gasoline cars and carryover pre-2010 vehicles are still expected to dominate the on-road vehicle stock and consume the majority of transportation energy through 2030. Transportation energy consumption could decline dramatically, mainly because of the fuel economy advantage of FCVs over conventional cars. Both moderate and aggressive hydrogen scenarios are estimated to have a slightly negative influence on California’s economy. However, the negative economic impacts could be lessened as the market for hydrogen and FCVs builds up. Based on the economic optimization model, both hydrogen scenarios would have a negative economic impact on California’s oil refining sector and, as expected, a positive impact on the other directly related sectors that contribute to either hydrogen production or FCV manufacturing.     

Modeling operating modes,energy consumptions,and infrastructure requirements of fuel cell plug in hybrid electric vehicles using longitudinal geographical transportation data

The fuel cell plug in hybrid electric vehicle (FCPHEV) is a near-term realizable concept to commercialize hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV). Relative to conventional FCVs, FCPHEVs seek to achieve fuel economy benefits through the displacement of hydrogen energy with grid-sourced electrical energy, and they may have less dependence on a sparse hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Through the simulation of almost 690,000 FCPHEV trips using geographic information system (GIS) data surveyed from a fleet of private vehicles in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, USA, this study derives the electrical and hydrogen energy consumption of various design and control variants of FCPHEVs. Results demonstrate that FCPHEVs can realize hydrogen fuel consumption reductions relative to conventional FCV technologies, and that the fuel consumption reductions increase with increased charge depleting range. In addition, this study quantifies the degree to which FCPHEVs are less dependent on hydrogen fueling infrastructure, as FCPHEVs can refuel with hydrogen at a lower rate than FCVs. Reductions in hydrogen refueling infrastructure dependence vary with control strategies and vehicle charge depleting range, but reductions in fleet-level refueling events of 93% can be realized for FCPHEVs with 40 miles (60 km) of charge depleting range. These fueling events occur on or near the network of highways at approximately 4% of the rate (refuelings per year) of that for conventional FCVs. These results demonstrate that FCPHEVs are a type of FCV that can enable an effective and concentrated hydrogen refueling network.     

Review of transportation hydrogen infrastructure performance and reliability

Hydrogen infrastructure for fueling vehicles has progressed in the last decade from stations with restricted access and limited operating hours to customer-friendly retail stations open to the public. There are now 121 retail hydrogen stations around the world. In California, the number of public retail hydrogen stations has increased from zero to more than 30 in less than two years, and the annual amount of hydrogen dispensed by retail stations has grown from 27,400 kg in 2015 to nearly 105,000 kg in 2016 and more than 440,000 kg in 2017—an increase of about four times year over year. For more than a decade, government, industry, and academia have studied many aspects of hydrogen infrastructure, from renewable hydrogen production to retail hydrogen station performance. This paper reviews the engineering and deployment of modern hydrogen infrastructure, including the costs, benefits, and operational considerations (including safety, reliability, availability), as well as challenges to the scale-up of hydrogen infrastructure. The results identify hydrogen station reliability as a key factor in the expense of operating hydrogen systems, placing it in the context of the larger reliability engineering field.     

Analysis of a “cluster” strategy for introducing hydrogen vehicles in Southern California

The cost and logistics of building early hydrogen refueling infrastructure are key barriers to the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles. In this paper, we explore a “cluster strategy” for introducing hydrogen vehicles and refueling infrastructure in Southern California over the next decade, to satisfy California's Zero Emission Vehicle regulation. Clustering refers to coordinated introduction of hydrogen vehicles and refueling infrastructure in a few focused geographic areas such as smaller cities (e.g. Santa Monica, Irvine) within a larger region (e.g. Los Angeles Basin). We analyze several transition scenarios for introducing hundreds to tens of thousands of vehicles and 8–42 stations, considering:     

Demonstration of a novel assessment methodology for hydrogen infrastructure deployment

To reduce criteria pollutant emissions and greenhouse gases from mobile sources, the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel is proposed as a new paradigm in combination with fuel cells for vehicle power. The extent to which reductions can and will occur depends on the mix of technologies that constitute the hydrogen supply chain. This paper introduces an analysis and planning methodology for estimating emissions, greenhouse gases, and the energy efficiency of the hydrogen supply chain as a function of the technology mix on a life cycle, well to wheels (WTW) basis. The methodology, referred to as the preferred combination assessment (PCA) model, is demonstrated by assessing an illustrative set of hydrogen infrastructure (generation and distribution) deployment scenarios in California's South Coast Air Basin. Each scenario reflects a select mix of technologies for the years 2015, 2030, and 2060 including (1) the proportion of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources of the hydrogen and (2) the rate of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle adoption. The hydrogen deployment scenarios are compared to the existing paradigm of conventional vehicles and fuels with a goal to reveal and evaluate the efficacy and utility of the PCA methodology. In addition to a demonstration of the methodology, the salient conclusions reached from this first application include the following.

•

Emissions of criteria pollutants increase or decrease, depending on the hydrogen deployment scenario, when compared to an evolution of the existing paradigm of conventional vehicles and fuels.     

Hydrogen as a transportation fuel produced from thermal gasification of municipal solid waste: an examination of two integrated technologies

Innovative technologies are required to offset increasing consumption and declining stocks of non-renewable resources. This study examines a possible enhancement of waste management and transportation by integrating two emerging technologies: municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), by fueling FCVs with hydrogen produced from gasified MSW. Material and energy flows were modeled in four MSW management scenarios (incineration, landfill, gasification, gasification with recycling) and four transportation scenarios (hybrid gasoline-electric, methanol FCVs, hydrogen FCVs using hydrogen from natural gas or municipal solid waste). Technological performance deemed feasible within 2010–2020 was assumed. Greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable energy use were used to assess overall system performance. Gasification with hydrogen production performs as efficiently as incineration, but is advantageous compared to landfilling. Taking into account additional environmental criteria, the model suggests that hydrogen from MSW gasification for FCVs may provide benefits over conventional MSW treatment and transportation systems.     

Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle performance and user-response assessment: Results of an extended driver study

This study examined driver acceptance and performance of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles as tested in real-world conditions over a two-year period. The study sample was a volunteer group of “n = 54” drivers who drove the vehicle for a month-long trial period. Each driver took ‘before’ and ‘after’ surveys regarding their driving experience. Drivers drove an average of 1400 miles per month, and either witnessed and/or performed vehicle refueling 3–10 times during their test period.Key findings from the study include that: 1) 80% of study participant drivers found that the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) performance “exceeded” or “greatly exceeded” their expectations; 2) 98% of study participant drivers view hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles as being “as safe” or “safer” than gasoline as a fuel for vehicles; and 3) 94% of participants view the process of fueling a vehicle with hydrogen to be “as safe” or “safer” than gasoline fueling. Other findings include that 85% of study participants who performed their own fueling described hydrogen fueling to be “somewhat” or “very” simple. Of the participants, 62% percent had to forgo at least one trip due to lack of hydrogen fuel, although vehicle range was rated by 75% of participants as entirely or mostly adequate. If fueling infrastructure availability was not an issue, and fuel cost per-mile was at parity with gasoline, 75% of participants would be willing to pay $40,000 or less for an FCV.     

Risk assessment of Hydrogen fueling stations for 70 MPa FCVs

People are placing their hopes on the future of fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) to replace today's gasoline-fueled vehicles. To encourage the widespread use of FCVs, however, these vehicles must be able to drive a distance of at least 500 km, mileage comparable to today's gasoline-fueled vehicles. To achieve this distance, automobile manufacturers are focusing their efforts on developing new hydrogen fuel tanks that will raise pressure to 70 MPa from the current 35 MPa. At the same time, hydrogen stations will also have to be able to provide 70 MPa compressed hydrogen gas to service these improved FCVs. Regulations for hydrogen fueling stations where pressure is no higher than 40 MPa were established in 2005 in Japan but it goes without saying that these regulations are inadequate for hydrogen fueling stations of 70 MPa.     

Do early adopters pass on convenience? Access to and intention to use geographically convenient hydrogen stations in California

This study addresses two topics relevant to the expanding research on how early adopters of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) evaluate stations. First, we assess FCV adopters' access to available stations near home or on the way when they adopted their FCV. Second, we analyze characteristics of geographically convenient stations that drivers did not intend to use (“unlisted stations”) and compare to those they did (“listed stations”). Responses from a web-based survey distributed to FCV adopters in California indicate that nearly half lacked a station within 10 min’ drive of home, while nearly all had one on the way. Drivers did not intend to use nearly half of their geographically convenient stations. Compared to listed stations, unlisted stations are closer to other available ones and commonly only on the way, and several neighborhood-level differences are observed. These findings are important in the context of efforts to expand FCV uptake.     

Using AHP and binary integer programming to optimize the initial distribution of hydrogen infrastructures in Andalusia

The use of vehicles powered by hydrogen from renewable sources can be a viable alternative for Andalusia, given its accessibility to renewable energies and the problems of energy dependence and pollution resulting from the current energy model. However, the introduction of this type of technology requires an initial infrastructure that solves the classical chicken and egg problem. Given that hydrogen fueling infrastructure will require significant initial capital investment, it is reasonable to assume that a possible strategy of introduction could be the establishment of a station network that is sparse to avoid redundancy and therefore minimize costs. In this paper, we utilize Analytic Hierarchy Process to rank, on the basis of several supply, demand and environmental criteria, the more than 750 municipalities of Andalusia according to their suitability for the establishment of hydrogen fueling stations. Subsequently, we incorporate these results into an optimization problem to achieve optimal planning of the number and location of hydrogen fueling stations to provide coverage for the region.     

Lifecycle performance assessment of fuel cell/battery electric vehicles

This paper has performed an assessment of lifecycle (as known as well-to-wheels, WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption of a fuel cell vehicle (FCV). The simulation tool MATLAB/Simulink is employed to examine the real-time behaviors of an FCV, which are used to determine the energy efficiency and the fuel economy of the FCV. Then, the GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model is used to analyze the fuel-cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions for hydrogen fuels. Three potential pathways of hydrogen production for FCV application are examined, namely, steam reforming of natural gas, water electrolysis using grid electricity, and water electrolysis using photovoltaic (PV) electricity, respectively. Results show that the FCV has the maximum system efficiency of 60%, which occurs at about 25% of the maximum net system power. In addition, the FCVs fueled with PV electrolysis hydrogen could reduce about 99.2% energy consumption and 46.6% GHG emissions as compared to the conventional gasoline vehicles (GVs). However, the lifecycle energy consumption and GHG emissions of the FCVs fueled with grid-electrolysis hydrogen are 35% and 52.8% respectively higher than those of the conventional GVs. As compared to the grid-based battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the FCVs fueled with reforming hydrogen from natural gas are about 79.0% and 66.4% in the lifecycle energy consumption and GHG emissions, respectively.     

Realistic simulation of fuel economy and life cycle metrics for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

The present work contributes an engineered life cycle assessment (LCA) of hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles based on a real‐world driving cycle for semi‐urban driving conditions. A new customized LCA tool is developed for the comparison of conventional gasoline and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), which utilizes a dynamic vehicle simulation approach to calculate realistic, fundamental science based fuel economy data from actual drive cycles, vehicle specifications, road grade, engine performance, fuel cell degradation effects, and regenerative braking. The total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and life cycle cost of the vehicles are compared for the case of hydrogen production by electrolysis in British Columbia, Canada. A 72% reduction in total GHG emission is obtained for switching from gasoline vehicles to FCVs. While fuel cell performance degradation causes 7% and 3% increases in lifetime fuel consumption and GHG emission, respectively, regenerative braking improves the fuel economy by 23% and reduces the total GHG emission by 10%. The cost assessment results indicate that the current FCV technology is approximately $2,100 more costly than the equivalent gasoline vehicle based on the total lifetime cost including purchase and fuel cost. However, prospective enhancements in fuel cell durability could potentially reduce the FCV lifetime cost below that of gasoline vehicles. Overall, the present results indicate that fuel cell vehicles are becoming both technologically and economically viable compared with incumbent vehicles, and provide a realistic option for deep reductions in emissions from transportation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design proposal for hydrogen refueling infrastructure deployment in the Northeastern United States

Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are expected to be commercially available on the world market in 2015, therefore, introducing hydrogen-refueling stations is an urgent issue to be addressed. This paper proposes deployment plan of hydrogen infrastructure for the success of their market penetration in the Northeastern United States. The plan consists of three-timeline stages from 2013 to 2025 and divides the designated region into urban area, suburban area and area adjacent to expressway, so that easy to access to hydrogen stations can be realized. Station is chosen from four types of stations: off-site station, urban-type on-site station, suburban-type on-site station and portable station, associated with growing demand. In addition, on-site station is used as hydrogen production factory for off-site station to save total investment. This deployment plan shows that 83% of urban residents can reach station within 10 min in 2025, and that more than 90% people especially in four major cities: Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. can get to station within 10 min by Geographic Information System (GIS) calculation.     

Understanding the design and economics of distributed tri-generation systems for home and neighborhood refueling—Part I: Single family residence case studies

The potential benefits of hydrogen as a transportation fuel will not be achieved until hydrogen vehicles capture a substantial market share. However, although hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) technology has been making rapid progress, the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure remains a major barrier for FCV adoption and commercialization. The high cost of building an extensive hydrogen station network and the foreseeable low utilization in the near term discourages private investment. Based on the past experience of fuel infrastructure development for motor vehicles, innovative, distributed, small-volume hydrogen refueling methods may be required to refuel FCVs in the near term. Among small-volume refueling methods, home and neighborhood tri-generation systems (systems that produce electricity and heat for buildings, as well as hydrogen for vehicles) stand out because the technology is available and has potential to alleviate consumer's fuel availability concerns. In addition, it has features attractive to consumers such as convenience and security to refuel at home or in their neighborhood.The objective of this paper is to provide analytical tools for various stakeholders such as policy makers, manufacturers and consumers, to evaluate the design and the technical, economic, and environmental performances of tri-generation systems for home and neighborhood refueling. An interdisciplinary framework and an engineering/economic model is developed and applied to assess home tri-generation systems for single family residences (case studies on neighborhood systems will be provided in a later paper). Major tasks include modeling yearly system operation, exploring the optimal size of a system, estimating the cost of electricity, heat and hydrogen, and system CO₂ emissions, and comparing the results to alternatives. Sensitivity analysis is conducted, and the potential impacts of uncertainties in energy prices, capital cost reduction (or increase), government incentives and environmental cost are evaluated. Policy implications of the modeling results are also explored.     

Analysis of Ontario's hydrogen economy demands from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

The ‘Hydrogen Economy’ is a proposed system where hydrogen is produced from carbon dioxide free energy sources and is used as an alternative fuel for transportation. The utilization of hydrogen to power fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) can significantly decrease air pollutants and greenhouse gases emission from the transportation sector. In order to build the future hydrogen economy, there must be a significant development in the hydrogen infrastructure, and huge investments will be needed for the development of hydrogen production, storage, and distribution technologies. This paper focuses on the analysis of hydrogen demand from hydrogen FCVs in Ontario, Canada, and the related cost of hydrogen. Three potential hydrogen demand scenarios over a long period of time were projected to estimate hydrogen FCVs market penetration, and the costs associated with the hydrogen production, storage and distribution were also calculated. A sensitivity analysis was implemented to investigate the uncertainties of some parameters on the design of the future hydrogen infrastructure. It was found that the cost of hydrogen is very sensitive to electricity price, but other factors such as water price, energy efficiency of electrolysis, and plant life have insignificant impact on the total cost of hydrogen produced.     

Development of a web-based 3D virtual reality program for hydrogen station

The hydrogen fueling station is an infrastructure of supplying fuel cell vehicles. It is necessary to guarantee the safety of hydrogen station equipment and operating procedure for decreasing intangible awareness of danger of hydrogen. Among many methods of securing the safety of the hydrogen stations, the virtual experience by dynamic simulation of operating the facilities and equipment is important. Thus, we have developed a virtual reality operator education system, and an interactive hydrogen safety training system. This paper focuses on the development of a virtual reality operator education of the hydrogen fueling station based on simulations of accident scenarios and hypothetical operating experience. The risks to equipment and personnel, associated with the manual operation of hydrogen fueling station demand rigorous personnel instruction. Trainees can practice how to use all necessary equipments and can experience twenty possible accident scenarios. This program also illustrates Emergency Response Plan and Standard Operating Procedure for both emergency and normal operations.     

How liquid hydrogen production methods affect emissions in liquid hydrogen powered vehicles?

Emissions variations of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) production methods in liquid hydrogen powered vehicles are investigated in this study. Volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), particulate matters (PM₁₀ & PM_2.5), sulfur oxides (SO_x), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, which are on well-to-wheel (WTW) basis, are evaluated for 2013 model year's cars in the target year of 2018. GREET software is utilized for the emissions. When the average values of all emissions are compared, hydrogen production by the solar power, nuclear, and electrolysis methods have the lowest emissions, respectively, and hydrogen production by coal and electricity methods have the highest emissions, respectively. On the other hand, it is found that in all emission types and hydrogen production methods, fuel cell vehicles (FCV) emit less emission than spark ignition hybrid electric vehicles (SI HEV) and SI HEVs emit less emission than spark ignition internal combustion engine vehicles (SI ICEV). Emissions decrease by 22.4% in SI HEVs compared to SI ICEVs, 35.1% in FCVs compared to SI HEVs, and 49.6% in FCVs compared to SI ICEVs for average of all emissions.