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WHAT is a fuel-cell vehicle? In basic terms, it is the reverse of a car battery. Where the car battery makes electricity by a chemical reaction between water and lead panels with hydrogen gas as the waste, the fuel cell makes electricity by a reaction between the air (oxygen) and hydrogen with water as the waste.

A car battery has a limited life, the fuel cell is continuous. In slightly more detail, a fuel cell (which is used in stacks of individual units to create more power) forces air and hydrogen through a membrane within the cell, causing electrons to split and in doing so, create an electrical charge.

It needs hydrogen to be pumped through the membrane, can be sensitive to ambient temperature, can create excessive heat and despite its solely water emissions, requires a lot of energy and environmentally unfriendly manufacturing and processing to produce the hydrogen.

What is the carbon footprint? Fuel cells are claimed to be 50 per cent more carbon effIcient than a normal internal-combustion engine, including carbon produced in manufacturing the vehicle.

Is this new technology? No. It was invented by William Grove in 1838 in the UK, made into a 5kW stationary unit in the UK in 1939, powered a tractor in the US in 1959, used by NASA for the Project Gemini and Apollo space programs in the 1960s, and first powered a car in 1991.

What vehicles are available? The biggest users of fuel-cell technology in vehicles are forklifts. There are more than 4000 in use in US warehouses. Amazon has ordered $A95 million of fuel-cell forklifts for its global warehouses to reduce its electricity bill for recharging existing batteries in electric vehicles.

Forklift recharging accounts for an average of 25 per cent of a warehouse electricity bill. Fuel-cell cars on the market are the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai ix35 FCEV. Demonstration cars, including those available for lease, include the Honda FCX Clarity and Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, based on a B-Class.

There are also buses from Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Proton using proprietary fuel-cell units. Fuel cells are also used to provide electricity to submarines, aircraft, boats and motorcycles.

What is the plan for refuelling stations? Japan plans to have more than 160 hydrogen stations in use by 2025. It is offering fuel-cell car owners a rebate on the purchase of their car of $A23,000. In the US, the target is 100 stations by 2020 in California. The rebates and subsidies are about $A8000 (State of California) and a $A10,000 federal tax credit. Toyota has offered a credit for refuelling of about $A20,000 for early adopters. The cost of a hydrogen refuelling station in Australia is estimated to be between $A1.2 million and $A2.3 million, according to Toyota.

By Neil Dowling

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