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Today Online 4 May
05 Forget fossils, future is in fuel cells by Sheralyn Tay sheralyn@newstoday.com.sg Commercial use is decades away but progress is being made ITS development is in an embryonic stage and even energy analysts are still trying to figure it out. So when Singapore's investment company Temasek Holdings — together with EDB Investments and Accuron Technologies — announced a $167 million fuel cell investment with British engineering giant Rolls Royce, some analysts thought it a valiant gamble. A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device that generates electricity when its fuel — usually hydrogen — reacts with oxygen. Fuel cell technology is heralded as the energy solution of the future, and with oil prices hitting record highs, the partnership comes at a time when the urgency of climate change, carbon emissions and dwindling fossil fuels are coming into sharper focus on the global agenda. For a long time, companies have balked at fuel cell development. Due to the high costs involved in launching fuel cell development, energy analysts are not confident that fuel cells will reach mass market adoption anytime in the near future. Said Mr Sam Dale, bureau chief of Energy Intelligence: "Fuel cell technology is a very exciting area of technological investment in the energy sector. The trick is to find the fuel cell that can be small, affordable and powerful enough to 'pack the punch', so to speak, and compete with fossil fuels. "(But) at this time, fuel cells are not a commercially viable option because the market is not developed enough to support the production of fuel cell technology, which is very expensive." Dr Udo F Loersch, vice-president of external affairs at DaimlerChrysler, told Today that fuel cells cars are not likely to hit the market until 2010. Theorists such as Mr Joseph Romm, author of The Hype About Hydrogen think that fuel cell cars will not have an impact before 2050. The questions to ask, according to Mr Eswaran Ramasamy, director of Oil Market Reporting Asia, are: "Can you offer this at a price that is economically viable with gasoline? Can I obtain it as conveniently as gasoline?" Prof Chan Siew Hwa, director of the Fuel Cell Strategic Programme at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) School of Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, said the difference in cost means "there won't be immediate market penetration and you can't even occupy a fraction of the market". The two more popular types of fuel cells are the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) and the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). It is the latter that EnerTek, the consortium that Temasek Holdings is a part of, and Rolls Royce Fuel Cell Systems (RRFCS) is looking at. EnerTek and RRFC aim to develop a 1-megawatt SOFC fuel cell generator in the next three years. Prof Chan, who has been working with fuel cells for seven years, said what drives the costs of these fuel cells up are the materials used in developing them. The PEMFC, which is currently being tested in the DaimlerChrysler fuel cell car, uses platinum as a catalyst, making the cost prohibitive. Said Prof Chan: "A typical PEMFC vehicle can be 70 times more expensive, in terms of dollars per kilowatt power output, than an internal-combustion car. "While the PEMFC is considered a promising candidate for automobiles, its high cost is the key obstacle to commercialisation, despite its advantages in being more energy efficient and environmentally friendly." With the SOFC, additional systems such as pre-heaters, afterburners, vaporisers and heat exchangers need to be integrated to "balance the heat" which runs up to 1,000deg C, adding to the costs. "There are still a lot of research and engineering challenges associated with SOFC," Prof Chan said. RRFCS, however, says it has taken all of this into consideration and "has taken an approach that is focused on reducing cost". A spokesman said: "First, the Rolls-Royce solid-oxide fuel cell uses conventional fuels like pipeline natural gas, and does not require pure hydrogen or hydrogen infrastructure. In addition, the Rolls-Royce design uses inexpensive commercial ceramics and innovative systems experience to reduce the cost of the fuel cell." In an email response, Temasek Holdings also told Today that it "sees good potential in the solid oxide fuel cell being developed by RRFCS. This technology will be able to generate power more efficiently than conventional gas turbines or reciprocating engines". At the signing ceremony last month, RRFCS chairman and chief executive Charles Coltman pointed to the commitment of $167 million to show "how seriously we and our partners view this opportunity". "We anticipate a significant market for the right product. The science of the fuel cell is no secret — but turning it into an affordable and competitive technology will need engineering skills of a high order. We are on track and cautiously optimistic," he said. While analysts reserve their outlook for now, Rolls Royce told Today they are confident of meeting their 2008 target. "The challenges to meet this goal range from continued learning in fundamental electrochemistry to developing a global component supply chain. "Singapore and Rolls-Royce believe that our combination of skill-sets increases the probability of success," said the spokesman. links Related articles on Singapore: green energy renewable energy, energy saving: issues, efforts, discussions |
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