Hydrogen vehicle research pulls in $15.3M

Ten projects run by national labs, universities and a private company received funding for hydrogen vehicle research, with the U.S. Department of Energy putting up $15.3 million in financing.

The DOE will fund the hydrogen storage research and development projects over five years. The agency said the projects are valued at a total of $18 million, including $3 million in cost shares from the participants.

"Researching and improving the use of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in our vehicles is a long-term priority for the U.S.," said Clarence Albright Jr., under secretary of the DOE.

"With continued investment, hydrogen holds the potential to help fundamentally change the way we power our vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The projects are looking at developing hydrogen storage technologies to enable fuel cell vehicles achieve longer driving ranges and better performance. The research includes the development of novel hydrogen storage materials, efficient methods for regeneration of hydrogen storage materials, and room temperature hydrogen storage.

The DOE said its hydrogen storage activities for vehicles focuses on enabling a driving range of greater than 300 miles, within packaging and cost constraints.

One of the groups receiving funding is the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, which is getting up to $2.3 million for a novel concept using an electric field to increase the hydrogen binding energy in hydrogen adsorbents. U.S. Borax, part of the Rio Tinto group, is also getting some funding, and plans to use up to $600,000 for the development of a high-efficiency process for the regeneration of spent chemical hydrogen carriers.

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