BMW and Honda respond to hydrogen vehicle criticism
Thu 06 December 2007
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BMW and Honda say that they are still committed to the development of hydrogen-powered cars after a US expert suggested that hydrogen and fuel cells are not the way to go.
James Woolsey, chairman of the US advisory board of the Clean Fuels Foundation and a former head of the CIA - guest speaker at the SMMT's annual dinner - said that hydrogen and fuel cells have no future as replacements for petrol or diesel in the immediate future.
Mr Woolsey said: "The decision by the Bush administration and the State of California to follow the hydrogen highway is the single worst decision in the past few years."
He said a hydrogen infrastructure will cost the US alone one trillion dollars.
"In the meantime you have to bring down the cost of a fuel cell vehicle by a factor of about 40 or 50 to make it affordable."
Mr Woolsey, however, forecast a bright future for 'plug-in' hybrid electric vehicles. He said that the technology is particularly suitable in the US where 78% of cars do less than 40 miles a day - well within the range of electric power - and where off-peak, overnight supplies of electricity are abundant and cheap.
Marketing Week reported conflicting views from motor industry spokespeople. A Honda UK spokesman commented that hydrogen is: “the Holy Grail from an environmental perspective. We feel that hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology is the ultimate environmental solution because it delivers zero harmful emission driving".
A BMW spokesman said of Woolsey's comments: “We are surprised and we don’t agree with them. We have made it clear that we see this as a very long-term goal. He is right that it will take a lot of time and money to put in place, but nobody has come up with an alternative. One thing that is certain is that fossil fuels are running out and we do need something that enables us to power not only our cars but also our homes.”
Honda has developed a hydrogen fuel cell-powered concept car called the FCX Clarity, while BMW has built 100 hydrogen-powered 7 Series cars.
Professor Julia King who is leading the UK Government study into options for decarbonising road transport also recently expressed doubts about the near-term viability of the hydrogen/fuel cell pathway for vehicles. Speaking at a LowCVP/Waterfront event in November, Prof King said that it is currently difficult to find efficient ways to produce and transport hydrogen and that the process of producing hydrogen for use in fuel-cell cars could result in more CO2 emissions than burning conventional fuels. “There is no point in having hydrogen until we have found a way of making it without high emissions,” she said.
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