Hydrogen Sources - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 132

additional investments in fuel production and delivery. As hydrogen fuel
cell vehicles become more efficient and popular, any investments in metha-
nol infrastructure would become lost. The fuel infrastructure might have to
be changed from gasoline to methanol and then from methanol to hydro-
gen. An affordable direct methanol fuel cell is needed as well as an afford-
able way to generate large quantities of methanol from renewable sources.
Fuel companies like Royal Dutch/Shell have invested heavily in hy-
drogen. Transition fuels such as onboard methanol-to-hydrogen conver-
sion would require infrastructure investments, which would be difficult
to justify.
A study by Argonne National Laboratory estimates infrastructure
costs for fueling about 40% of the vehicles on the road with hydrogen
could be close to $600 billion. Building an initial production capacity in
the United States could cost $10 billion by 2015 and $230 to $400 billion by
2030. Building the distribution system could add $175 billion by 2030.
The centralized production of hydrogen should provide less expen-
sive hydrogen than production at local fueling stations. Resource centered
hydrogen production near large energy resources, such as sources of natu-
ral gas are not carbon free like wind power and biomass. Centralized units
can time their electricity consumption for compression during off-peak
rates compared to local fueling stations and save on electricity costs.
Hydrogen delivery with tanker trucks carrying liquefied hydrogen,
is energy-intensive. Pipelines are a less energy intensive option, but they
are expensive investments. Until there are high rates of utilization the high
capital costs hold back investment in these delivery systems. Trucks carry-
ing compressed hydrogen canisters may be used for the initial introduc-
tion of hydrogen.
The production of hydrogen at local fueling stations is favored by
those who want to deploy hydrogen vehicles quickly. The hydrogen could
be generated from small stream methane reformers. Electrolysis is consid-
ered to be more expensive. Fueling stations would have a reformer, hydro-
gen purification unit and multi-stage hydrogen compressor for high-pres-
sure tanks. There would also be a mechanical fueling system and on-site
high-pressure storage. Advances will be required in reformers and elec-
trolyzers, compressors, and systems integration.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, found that forecourt
hydrogen production at fueling stations by electrolysis from grid power
was most expensive, at $12/kg with forecourt natural gas production at
$4.40/kg.