Electricity News
electricity
powergrid

Researchers design cost-efficient, clean fuel cells that might soon replace traditional gas engines in cars

12/15/2019 / By Arsenio Toledo


Fuel cell technology has been around for some time. The first truly modern fuel cell vehicles came from the 1950s and 1960s, when they were used on experimental vehicles such as the 1966 Electrovan, a van which was outfitted with a fuel cell that took up so much space it could only fit two people. Fuel cell technology was even used by NASA to power space missions.

The science behind fuel cells is progressing, but it still hasn’t received widespread appeal. Fortunately, advancements in zero-emission fuel cells could finally make this unique technology cheap enough to replace traditional air-polluting gas engines in vehicles.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo (UW) have been hard at work. They have developed a new fuel cell that they believe can last for at least 10 times longer than what the current technology allows. They believe that if their fuel cells were mass produced, it would make them an economically viable option to power many of today’s vehicles.

“With our design approach, the cost could be comparable or even cheaper than gasoline engines,” said Xianguo Li, professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering and director of the Fuel Cell and Green Energy Lab at UW.

Initially, the researchers concentrated their efforts on hybrid vehicles, which have both electric batteries and gasoline engines due to issues with purely electric vehicles, such as long charging times and limited driving range.

Theoretically, the researchers believe that the existing fuel cell technology could replace both hybrid and gas engine-powered vehicles. However, it’s still too impractical due to the high costs. This is what the UW researchers tried to solve by tinkering with the design of fuel cells. (Related: New stable fuel cell could be the breakthrough that makes energy storage economically feasible.)

A change that can benefit many

To solve this problem of cost, the researchers changed the way fuel cells provide vehicles with energy. Instead of delivering a fluctuating amount of electricity, they changed the design so that the output is constant. This change not only gives their fuel cells a more efficient energy output, but it also makes them more durable than current designs.

Fuel cells produce electricity from the chemical reaction that takes place when oxygen and hydrogen are combined to make water. This process is a lot more difficult and expensive to manage. With the new design from the UW researchers, this process is far simpler and therefore far cheaper to do.

Li stated that they have found a way to lower the costs without making too big of a sacrifice toward the durability and performance expectations for fuel cells. He said that their fuel cells can provide economically viable zero-emissions vehicles.

Current technology has a lot of reduced-emission transportation, such as the aforementioned hybrid vehicles. Li hopes that their new fuel cell technology can be mass produced enough to lower unit costs and replace many hybrid cars.

At the very least, Li believes his team’s research into zero-emission fuel cells is a good first step toward transitioning to cleaner energy. Their research could be the answer to stopping environmental harm caused by internal combustion engines.

“The future is very bright,” said Li. “This is clean energy that could boom.”

More research has to be done, and while electric cars are gaining more popularity, Li and his team’s research could help speed up the process by providing economic incentives to replace many traditional gas-guzzling cars with vehicles that won’t contribute to air pollution worldwide.

Sources include:

NewsWise.com

HydrogenCarsNow.com

FuelCellToday.com

Tagged Under: breakthrough, Chemistry, Clean Energy, discoveries, environment, fuel cells, future cars, future science, future tech, goodtech, green energy, hybrid cars, innovation, inventions, renewable energy, research, zero emissions



Comments

RECENT NEWS & ARTICLES

What you need to know about EMPs
01/05/2020 / By Darnel Fernandez
Researchers design cost-efficient, clean fuel cells that might soon replace traditional gas engines in cars
12/15/2019 / By Arsenio Toledo
Inspired by photosynthesis in plants, researchers create liquid fuel with just water and carbon dioxide
12/15/2019 / By Grace Olson
The three biggest stories of 2019 that indicate a collapse of the power grid is imminent
12/13/2019 / By JD Heyes
Aging power plants under threat from droughts
12/01/2019 / By Edsel Cook
The savvy prepper’s guide to surviving a long-term power outage
11/28/2019 / By Darnel Fernandez
Physicists develop new material that could be used for “high-efficiency, lower-cost solar cells”
11/21/2019 / By Edsel Cook
3D-printed generator allows you to generate electricity from snowfall
11/08/2019 / By Edsel Cook
What could go wrong? NASA funds research on an all-electric airliner in a virtue-signaling move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
10/30/2019 / By Lance D Johnson
10 Ugly truths about long-term power outages and how to deal with them
10/25/2019 / By Arsenio Toledo
Back to basics: 10 Tips for surviving a long-term power outage
10/24/2019 / By Arsenio Toledo
Study: “Needles” could explain why lightning strikes twice
10/22/2019 / By Edsel Cook
10 Practical tips that will help you survive a long-term disaster without electricity
10/20/2019 / By Darnel Fernandez
The prepper’s guide to surviving a power outage
10/20/2019 / By Zoey Sky
Researchers successfully generate electricity from “the coldness of the universe”: New technology could complement alternative energy sources like solar power
10/19/2019 / By Edsel Cook
Scientists discover “electric” bacteria – can it lead to next-gen batteries and miniature pacemakers?
10/16/2019 / By Edsel Cook
California blackouts expose the total scam of solar panels: They don’t work when the grid goes down
10/13/2019 / By Mike Adams
California’s massive power outages remind us all why electric cars are useless when the grid goes down
10/13/2019 / By Ethan Huff
California to shut down power for up to a WEEK in multiple counties to “prevent wildfires”
10/09/2019 / By Ethan Huff
Scientists use caffeine to give solar cells a unique energy boost
10/07/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Electricity.News is a fact-based public education website published by Electricity News Features, LLC.

All content copyright © 2018 by Electricity News Features, LLC.

Contact Us with Tips or Corrections

All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

Privacy Policy