Thread: Hydrogen cars fire up - thanks to CSIRO

CSIRO researchers Michael Dolan (L) and David Harris are set to make history with these hydrogen-powered cars

Two cars powered by hydrogen derived from ammonia will be tested in Brisbane today thanks to a Queensland breakthrough
that CSIRO researchers say could turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower.

CSIRO principal research scientist Michael Dolan said it was a very exciting day for a project that has been a decade in the making.
"We started out with what we thought was a good idea, it is exciting to see it on the cusp of commercial deployment," he said.


Australian fuel could soon be in high demand for hydrogen-powered cars in South Korea.

For the past decade, researchers have worked on producing ultra-high purity hydrogen using a unique membrane technology.
The membrane breakthrough will allow hydrogen to be safely transported and used as a mass production energy source.
"We are certainly the first to demonstrate the production of very clean hydrogen from ammonia," Dr Dolan said.

"Today is the very first time in the world that hydrogen cars have been fuelled with a fuel derived from
ammonia — carbon-free fuel."

Program leader David Harris said Australia has a huge source of renewable energy — sunlight and wind — that can be
utilised to produce hydrogen.

But the highly flammable element is difficult to ship long distances because of its low density.


CSIRO hydrogen tech accelerates fuel cell vehicles

CSIRO researchers found a way to turn Australian-made hydrogen into ammonia, meaning it could be shipped
safely to the mass market of Asia.

It is converted back into hydrogen using their membrane, then pumped into hydrogen-powered cars.

As of now, there are only five such cars in Australia, but there are tens of thousands across Japan, South Korea
and Singapore.


"The key here is we can transport the hydrogen from the place where it is produced from renewable energy — let's say
maybe that is in outback WA — and we can ship that form of ammonia anywhere in the world," Dr Harris said.


Hydrogen fuel is predicted to reach price parity with petroleum within a decade.

Hyundai spokesman Scott Nargar said the main advantage of hydrogen over electric cars was they could be
filled up in three minutes like a normal car and had a range of up to 800 kilometres.


"So they are just like driving a normal car but there will be zero emissions," he said.

"From a car manufacturer's point of view, we see this as a massive step for Australia.
"Working in and out of South Korea quite regularly, I know Hyundai has a massive contract to provide hydrogen buses
to the Korean Government.

"It just announced 16,000 hydrogen-powered cars will go on the road and 310 hydrogen refilling stations across the
country under a five-year plan.

"They need to power those cars from somewhere so why can't it be renewable hydrogen from Australia?"
Toyota spokesman Matthew Macleod said the breakthrough was exciting because it addressed one of the key challenges with hydrogen.

"It is a game-changer," he said.

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Now, if the Aussies can just keep that technology away from the Chinese copiers.

Manufacture this, convert to that, re-convert to this.

Maybe we could have a look at the total energy requirement for all this. OK oil takes energy to get to the pump but is this system better or worse.

If there is a plus for hydrogen powered cars it is that they can use existing vehicle technology without the need for further research.

The advantage is that Australia is blessed with space and sunlight. South Korea not so much so where do they get their energy from to re convert?