Technico-economic study of distributing hydrogen for automotive vehicles

The objective of this study is to estimate the technical and economic feasibilities of hydrogen applied to automotive traction. The problems of mass storage and transportation of hydrogen, capillary distribution, storage aboard vehicles and those concerning hydrogen thermal engines and hydrogen fuel cells are investigated. The different ways of using hydrogen, either compressed or liquefied or combined in hydrides, are taken into account.Energy and economic balance sheets lead to the conclusion that hydrogen internal combustion engines cannot compete with gasoline engines with regard to primary energy consumption and fuel cost. To the contrary, a hydrogen fuel cell, thanks to its high efficiency, provides for appreciable energy saving and leads to a fuel expense of the same order of magnitude as premium gasoline in an urban vehicle.