The Power and Transportation Future - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 264

$600 by 2015.
Hydrogen may not be more expensive than gasoline as oil prices
soar upward. Hydrogen provided at fueling stations could cost about $4
or more per kilogram (kg) which is close to the equivalent-energy price of
gasoline. A kilogram of hydrogen has almost the same energy as a gallon
of gasoline. Ultimately, if hydrogen were to be the main transportation
fuel, it would itself have to be taxed unless we find a new source for fund-
ing road projects.
Hybrid and clean diesel vehicles may cost more than current internal
combustion engine vehicles. But, their greater fuel efficiency means that
they may make up that extra up-front cost over the lifetime of the vehicle.
This means that hybrids and diesels may have roughly the same annual
operating costs as current internal combustion engine vehicles.
This also means that hybrids and diesels could reduce transportation
CO 2 emissions at a lower cost per ton. The typical new car today generates
about four to five metric tons of CO 2 per year. One reason for replacing
gasoline engines is to lower that number. A fuel cell vehicle in 2020 might
reduce CO 2 emission at a cost of more than $200 per metric ton, regardless
of how the hydrogen was produced. An advanced gasoline engine could
probably reduce CO 2 at lower cost.
MOVING HYDROGEN
Tanker trucks with liquefied hydrogen are typically used to deliver
hydrogen today. This is the method NASA uses. It is popular for deliv-
ery in Europe as well as North America and works to supply distributed
users with moderate hydrogen needs. It is currently less expensive than
small on-site hydrogen generation and provides high purity hydrogen for
industrial processes. Liquefaction has a high energy cost, requiring about
40% of the usable energy in hydrogen. Some automakers are using on-
board storage with liquid hydrogen in their fuel cell vehicles. Liquid tank-
er trucks could be the least expensive delivery option in the near future.
After delivery, the fueling station still has to use an energy-intensive pres-
surization system, which can consume another 10 to 15% of the usable
energy in the hydrogen. This could mean that storage and transport alone
might require as much as 50% of the energy in the hydrogen delivered. If
liquefaction is to be viable, a less energy-intensive process is needed.
Pipelines can also be used for delivering hydrogen. Several thou-