Speeds and Feeds

IdaTech, a fuel-cell manufacturer in Oregon, announced a smallish new fuel-cell power supply today, the 250-watt iGen. The announcement caught my eye because I've written here a few times about fuel cells and other alternative energy sources (including the nuclear reactor piece last week), and this time I was able to figure out the device's approximate cost of operation, something that usually isn't disclosed for fuel cells.

The IdaTech iGen can supply 250 watts of DC power continuously from methanol-based fuel.

(Credit: IdaTech LLC)

The iGen's 250-watt output rating doesn't sound like a lot, but it's over half an average person's home electricity consumption. A continuous supply of 250 watts adds up to about 180 kilowatt-hours (kWh) over the course of a month. According to 2001 data from the Department of Energy (PDF), per-capita household electricity use was about 316 KWH/month. (And that figure is declining as home builders use more insulation and appliances get more efficient.)

IdaTech makes other fuel-cell power supplies that can power your whole house, but most of us have access to reasonably reliable power from the local electric utility. So the iGen's more relevant applications are for standby power, field and military use, and other situations where utility power isn't available. In these situations, 250 watts is probably enough for most purposes, although you'd want to use batteries to provide a temporary supply of higher power.

So the iGen is at least in the right ballpark on output power, how is it on operating cost?

I've seen a lot of fuel cells that run on methanol, but the iGen data sheet (PDF) was the first time I've seen a company make specific promises about both power output and fuel consumption.

The numbers are pretty straightforward: 250 watts for one hour from 500 ml of fuel consisting of a 1.1:1 blend of water with methanol. This works out to just about one liter of methanol per kilowatt-hour.

I did some shopping around online and found that the basic price of 99.95 percent methanol is about a dollar per liter when purchased in 55-gallon drum quantities. Assuming this pricing applies to the quality of fuel required by the iGen, it puts a lower limit on the cost of electricity from the iGen at around a dollar per kilowatt-hour. It's possible the iGen can run on lower-purity methanol, just as it's possible it requires higher purity--I'm writing this on New Year's Eve, so I haven't tried to contact the company. (I also have no idea how much the iGen costs, so caveat lector.)

But while this figure is 10 times higher than the normal price of AC power from your wall socket, it's reasonable for standby and field use.

So if you're looking into standby power generators--especially DC-output models like the iGen--maybe it's time to consider fuel-cell generators.

The Los Angeles Auto Show wraps up this weekend. I drove down to the Los Angeles Convention Center last week to check out the new BMW M3--which I hope to buy next year--and get a look at all the other new cars debuting there.

There were two clear trends at the show: higher performance and increased environmental sensitivity. The best new vehicles show improvements in both areas.

The 2008 BMW M3 sedan

(Credit: BMW AG)

The new M3, for example, delivers 24% more power (414 hp!) from its new four-liter V8 along with 8% better gas mileage, along with more interior room than its predecessor and many new features. I had the previous version, a 2002 model, and it was a great car.

Now that the new M3 is available as a four-door sedan, I hope I'll be able to get one next year. The M3 will go on sale in the spring, but for me, there's another issue: I want to get the car through BMW's European Delivery program, which I used for my M3 as well as the 1999 540i that I still drive.

I think European Delivery is the best way to get a BMW--or an Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, Saab, Volvo, or other car available through such a program. There's a special reason to get pick up your new BMW in Munich around the beginning of August--the annual driving school at Germany's Nürburgring racetrack. The school is operated by independent European BMW car clubs, with American participation coordinated through the BMW Car Club of America. I attended this school with my M3 in 2002, and it was just incredible-- the most fun I've ever had in a car. BMW, however, doesn't always offer the European Delivery option on recently introduced models, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

The new M3 will sell on the strength of that 17% power increase more than the 8% boost in fuel efficiency. For real fuel economy, we have to look beyond traditional gasoline engines. General Motors, eager to regain the position of sales leadership it lost to Toyota earlier this year, was showing off a wide range of hybrid-powered vehicles, more models capable of running on E85 (blended ethanol/gasoline), and two kinds of electric-powered cars.

The Chevy Volt concept sedan

(Credit: General Motors)

One of GM's "electric cars" is the Volt concept sedan--which is actually a new type of hybrid. Power is delivered to the wheels exclusively by an electric motor, but the car carries a small internal-combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell to charge the batteries when needed. This configuration is called a "series hybrid" as opposed to the "parallel hybrid" approach used in Toyota's Prius, where drive power can be provided by an electric motor, a gasoline engine, or both together. The Volt has a much larger battery pack than the Prius, allowing a 40-mile driving range between battery charges, so most commuters can charge the vehicle from AC power overnight and never use the car's engine or fuel cell. GM promises to bring out a production version of Volt by 2010.

GM also showed its Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell car in L.A., a true all-electric design. Although the Equinox design is unlikely to go into production in the next several years due to the lack of hydrogen-fuel infrastructure, GM's Project Driveway will test Equinox in several markets nationwide.

Honda's FCX Clarity fuel-cell car

(Credit: Honda)

Honda will be testing its own fuel-cell car, the FCX Clarity, in 2008.

Honda also has a plan to solve (or at least address) the infrastructure issue by developing a hydrogen generator that can be used at home. The experimental Home Energy Station reforms natural gas into hydrogen, like the system from UTC Power that I wrote about here back in August.

Honda's system can also be used to provide heat and electricity for the home where it's installed. This approach is probably the best hope for hydrogen-powered vehicles in the next 10 to 20 years, since the infrastructure problem would otherwise be very expensive to solve.

Porsche was showing a hybrid drivetrain under development for the Cayenne SUV, which may be the same design Porsche is rumored to be considering for its forthcoming Panamera sedan--I blogged about this rumor in August.

Porsche Cayenne hybrid concept

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The hybrid Cayenne on display in L.A.--the same shown in this CNET photo gallery--was the first I've seen in person that combines the gas engine and electric motor into one assembly--the so-called "integrated starter alternator" design I described in that blog post. The result is a hybrid drivetrain barely any larger than a conventional gas engine. (Batteries not included.)

This type of design is more suitable for high-power vehicles since it works with a gasoline or diesel engine of any size, and offers better parts commonality with traditionally powered vehicles than other hybrid approaches. The engine, motor, and battery pack can all be scaled independently to achieve a desired balance of performance, efficiency, and range.

Incidentally, Porsche was also showing a 107-year-old electric car known as the "Voiturette System Lohner-Porsche" developed by Ferdinand Porsche, father of the founder of the Porsche company. This car was the predecessor of a true gas-electric hybrid developed later in 1900 by adding a pair of gasoline engines and electric generators to drive the car's electric wheel-hub motors.

Saving the planet is all very well and good, but we might as well have fun while we can. I was more interested in the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2, which I would have to say is the best sports car available for under $200,000. Aww, heck, I think it's the best sports car available for under $500,000, too. But if you want to go faster than the GT2's nominal 204 mph top end, there were plenty of options for you at the L.A. Auto Show. One company-- the revived Vector Motors-- was even projecting a 300+ mph top speed for its new WX8 supercar, courtesy of a 2,000-hp engine the company has yet to build. At least that was Jalopnik's take; Autoblog only got the company to promise an 1,850-hp, 275-mph version. Personally, I thought the WX8 looked rough and unfinished.

The Lamborghini Reventón

(Credit: Lamborghini)

At the other end of the supercar spectrum was Lamborghini's Reventón. Priced at $1.4 million, only 20 of these cars will be built. It's based on the same mechanical platform as the company's LP640--a 640-hp V12 engine and all-wheel drive delivering a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed over 211 mph--but over a million dollars more expensive than that model. Admittedly, it has a dramatic new design both inside and out, but it seems to me that the Reventón isn't so much a new model of Lamborghini as it is a test of the company's most loyal customers.

Oh, I'd like to give special recognition to Aston Martin, which distributed its press kit for the show in the form of a hardcover book, not the usual folded cardstock portfolios with loose-leaf press releases handed out by other makers. Wow.

A big fuel cell from UTC Power was in the news here in Silicon Valley this week when Fujitsu installed it as a backup power source for its local campus. CNET's Michael Kanellos wrote a good story about the event here, and took pictures ("Photos: Fujitsu unveils king-size fuel cell").

Although the fuel cell itself runs on hydrogen, there's no convenient source of pure hydrogen in Silicon Valley, so UTC Power also provided a steam methane reformer that yields hydrogen from natural gas.

One place where pure hydrogen is readily available is NASA's Cape Canaveral facility, and BMW recently completed an eight-week test of its Hydrogen 7 prototype vehicle there. (See the Edmunds review of the car, and a story of the test, with a great photo of the car posed in front of the Endeavour before the recent launch.)

BMW has now handed the keys to one of these cars to actor Will Ferrell (BMW press release), though I suspect BMW will learn less from Ferrell than it did from the NASA testers.

Interestingly, however, the Hydrogen 7 is not a fuel cell car, in spite of stories like this one. BMW just uses its big 6-liter V12 engine with minor modifications allowing it to run on hydrogen as well as gasoline. This is may be the most practical way to run a car on hydrogen, but it's not the wave of the future.

Ford has made a true fuel-cell car, the Fusion 999, and it's considerably faster than the Hydrogen 7. In fact, Ford's unique vehicle, derived from its production Fusion sedan, recently set a speed record for fuel-cell vehicles, reaching 207.297 mph on the Bonneville salt flats. This isn't a car you'll be seeing on the road anytime soon; it has a 770-horsepower electric motor and several huge pressure tanks, it weighs 6,700 pounds, and its range is only just good enough for the high-speed runs on the salt. Richard S. Chang blogged about the event for The New York Times and there's also an interesting video on the Popular Mechanics site.

Ford worked with Ohio State University on the Fusion 999 and on OSU's scratch-built Buckeye Bullet 2, a fuel-cell streamliner that may be able to exceed 350 mph. There's a blog for that project, and it's fascinating reading if you like cars and high technology.

But when can we regular folks have fuel cells of our own? Other than expensive and clumsy solutions like the Trulite and Medis products I blogged about last month (somewhat disparagingly), it won't be soon.

EE Times recently reported that Toshiba, for example, expects it will take several years to bring practical fuel cells to market. "Practical," in this case, means fuel cells based on DMFC (direct methanol fuel cell) technology, which can be powered by inexpensive methanol (also known as wood alcohol).

Samsung has demonstrated a version of its Q35 ultraportable notebook running on a DMFC power supply, achieving 240 hours of operation over the course of a month, but don't get too excited-- the supply is fairly bulky (see some photos and a video on AVING.net) and I'm not entirely convinced that the full month's worth of fuel is stored internally.

It's no coincidence that Samsung chose the Q35 for the demonstration; even the best DMFC fuel cells have much lower power density (watts of output power per cubic inch) than lithium batteries, so they'll have to be very large to support high-performance notebooks.

I'm sure DMFC technology will reach the consumer market soon enough, and then we'll see how it compares with batteries. I suspect lithium batteries will remain the most popular solution for laptops, and I'm sure handheld electronics will stick with batteries unless there's some breakthrough in fuel cells. But it'll be good to have another choice in portable power supplies.

My buddy Michael Kanellos wrote a CNET article (here) about a portable fuel-cell power supply from Trulite.

Kanellos made a small error in his article (or Trulite did when they briefed him), describing the device as using a chemical reaction involving "sodium hydride" to extract hydrogen from water.

That surprised me, since sodium hydride is extremely caustic (it's a base, the opposite of an acid), strong enough to be dangerous if exposed to air or water.

Well, not to worry. According to the company's website (here), the chemical is actually sodium borohydride, a safer compound.

That put me back onto familiar ground, since Medis Technologies, another company developing fuel-cell products for consumer and commercial applications, also uses sodium borohydride, and I've looked into that company's technology before. In both systems, the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride releases pure hydrogen, which is run through a fuel cell. The hydrogen reacts with oxygen from the air, producing power and water.

Sodium borohydride is safer than sodium hydride, as I said; it's also generally safer than gasoline, which is the most common fuel in the small generators that these fuel-cell systems are designed to replace. But it's only relatively safe; it's still what most people would call a hazardous chemical. An MSDS (material safety data sheet) for sodium borohydride (here) says:

DANGER! CORROSIVE. CAUSES BURNS TO ANY AREA OF CONTACT. HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED, INHALED OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. FLAMMABLE SOLID. DANGEROUS WHEN WET.

So for safety reasons, when sodium borohydride is used in consumer products, it must be provided in some kind of sealed canister, which probably receives the waste from the process. If not, there must be another canister involved, since there's definitely some waste to deal with.

Trulite and Medis don't talk about the waste produced in their systems; ordinarily it stays sealed up in its canister so users don't have to worry about it. But I did a little research, and it looks like the waste is sodium metaborate tetrahydrate, a relative of good old borax, the stuff Ronald Reagan used to advertise on TV (like here). It isn't very dangerous, but users will still need to be careful about these canisters, in part because the original sodium borohydride may not be completely consumed when the fuel cell can no longer generate useful amounts of power.

I suggest that users should check with their local garbage companies to see if they're allowed to discard these canisters in household trash. (And of course you know most garbage companies are going to reply with a immediate "no!"; it may take months to get a more carefully considered response.)

It seems to me that Trulite and Medis want people to focus on the fuel cell part of the product because fuel cells are thought of as very "green"-- to the extent consumers know anything about fuel cells, they probably know the traditional refrain that "fuel cells emit only water."

But with these things, the result is water plus a canister full of gunk you won't want in the house and can't throw in the trash. That is not so green.

My other objection to sodium borohydride-based fuel cells is that they're not very efficient over the total cycle. Sodium borohydride has to be manufactured, and the manufacturing process takes a lot more energy than the user will ever get out of the fuel cell. Then there's the canister itself, and the costs of shipping the canisters around.

The Trulite KH4 described in Kanellos's article weighs 20 pounds and generates not more than 200 watts of power. The company's website doesn't talk much about the energy capacity of the system, but a December 2005 SEC filing (here) says the KH4 (apparently that stands for Kitty Hawk 4) can produce 100 watts for 4 hours. (I should note that the KH4 may have been substantially improved since then, but since the company isn't saying, I have to go with the information I can get.) That's as much energy as eight average laptop batteries-- a significant amount-- but charging those batteries would cost the user about a dime. Trulite's replaceable Hydrocell canisters surely must cost at least 100 times that much. (And I wouldn't be surprised to hear they cost 1,000 times that much, given the high price of the KH4.)

The Medis 24-7 Power Pack, just now coming to market, is a 6.5-ounce cellphone-size gizmo that produces 20 watt-hours of energy and costs about $30. That's about the size, weight, cost, and energy capacity of 8 AA NiMH batteries, but those batteries can be recharged hundreds of times. When the Medis device runs out of energy, it has to be thrown away.

If these devices become popular, manufacturing costs will come down, and so will retail prices, presumably. But for now, you'd have to have a really extraordinary reason to want one.