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June 30, 2006
Our example for the world
Canadian research and business is at the helm of new technology.
BAILA LAZARUS
As gas prices soared over the $1.20-per-litre mark this year and
with the Kyoto Protocols requiring signatories to focus on cutting
gas emissions, scientists and business leaders the world over are
looking for powerful solutions.
Among the most rapidly developing of the new technologies are those
being applied to the energy sector. Canada is one of the leading
countries when it comes to these new technologies, particularly
in the area of hydrogen research. Canadian companies and government
agencies drew crowds at a recent World Urban Forum event when they
showcased Hydrogen Highway and hydrogen fuel cell projects to visiting
delegates from around the world.
"I think fuel cell is the ultimate technology that we all hope
to have because that is the real solution to climate change and
efficiency and economics," said Dr. Yoga Yogendren, director
of technology deployment and commercialization for the Institute
for Fuel Cell Innovation (IFCI) at the University of British Columbia.
"It will change the way we produce and use energy. You will
have hydrogen fuelling your car, you will have fuel cell technology
in your electronics ... you will have your home powered by fuel
cell technology. All that is a big change – a shift in paradigm."
He added that part of the technology is going to be a follow up
to what we now see in hybrids.
"Hybrid technology is an enabling technology for fuel cells,"
said Yogendren. "The hybrid will move forward and, when the
fuel cell is ready, we'll replace the gasoline engine in the hybrid
with this more efficient, much cleaner system."
In a hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen from a fuel tank flows through
a membrane that breaks it down. The movement of the electrons during
this process generates electricity to power the motor.
Fuel cell development is part of the Hydrogen Highway program, a
joint project of government and industry that supports hydrogen
research. A similar collaboration has sprung up in the Greater Toronto
area, in the form of the Hydrogen Village Partnership, an alliance
of industry, government and universities, whose goal is to advance
the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technology in Canada.
One of the most tangible developments in this area of research,
also the result of public-private partnerships, is demonstrated
in the Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program. The initiative, which
put the first fuel cell vehicles in British Columbia on the road
last year, is a joint effort of several groups, including the federal
and provincial governments, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Canada and Ford.
The cars run on fuel cells from Ballard, a local company that is
taking orders for fuel cells worldwide, including from Japan, itself
a leader in hydrogen research.
"Canada is one of the leaders in the world in this technology,"
said John Tak, president of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Canada, a national
industry association that represents the interests of companies
and organizations working in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector.
"We are in a unique position. This is a made-in-Canada technology."
While Canada may be a leader in this field, it still faces the same
hurdles as everyone else: how to make hydrogen technology portable,
efficient and clean. Perhaps surprisingly, there is development
in this area from an Israeli source – the Weizmann Institute's
Canadian Institute for Energies and Applied Research.
According to the institute, most hydrogen is currently produced
in a way that results in carbon dioxide being released into the
air. To make "clean" hydrogen, scientist Michael Epstein
is using sunlight, concentrated at high enough power to heat metals,
which turn into a gas and then a powder. When the powder reacts
with water, hydrogen is created.
Besides looking at cleaner ways to produce hydrogen, researchers
also have to find a way to produce a fuel cell in an economically
efficient way, as well as make the cell stack last long enough to
be viable for consumer vehicles.
"The lifespan of the [fuel cell] stack isn't as long as the
auto makers want to make certain warrantees for the consumer,"
Tak explained. "And how do you get enough hydrogen on board
in a small enough space?"
To be competitive with what's on the market now, you ideally want
to go 450 to 500 kilometres on one tank, said Tak. The current Ford
Focus cars that have been retrofitted for the Fuel Cell Vehicle
Program can only get 300 kilometres on one fill.
There are also issues of mass storage and distribution to be considered.
Part of the Hydrogen Highway's goal is to develop nodes around the
Lower Mainland and Victoria, where production and fuelling facilities
have been, to begin development of a hydrogen distribution network.
Tak said it's a slow, chicken-and-egg process.
"People have to get over that hurdle in their mind thinking
there have to be stations everywhere, right away, for this to work,"
said Tak. "But that's not going to happen. It'll be a slower
roll-out, just like it was with diesel. Diesel wasn't everywhere
right at the beginning."
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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