GE Global Research lands $11M in hydrogen research funds

11/17/2004 10:39 AM

GE Global Research, the Fairfield, Conn.-based research arm of General Electric Co., has been selected by the Department of Energy to lead a combined $11 million in three research projects on the development of hydrogen as a fuel source.

The programs are focused on near- and long-term solutions for the production of hydrogen with sustainable, clean technologies. GE Global Research will contribute approximately $2.5 million to the projects, with the balance coming from DoE and other industry partners.

The three projects are part of a $75 million research effort announced by DoE to support President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The goal of this research is to address major technical and economic hurdles in renewable and distributed hydrogen production technologies that must be overcome to make hydrogen powered transportation a reality.

The three programs being led by GE Global Research are:

• Solar electrochemical water splitting: GE Global Research, along with the California Institute of Technology, will discover materials and develop designs for a solar-to-hydrogen system. The idea is to develop a system that will employ solar energy to extract hydrogen from water using a photoelectrochemical process.

• Small-scale natural gas/bioderived liquid reformers: Along with the University of Minnesota and Argonne National Laboratory, GE Global Research will develop a compact reforming technology that will enable hydrogen to be produced from natural gas and renewable fuels, such as methanol and ethanol.

• Next-generation electrolyzers: GE Global Research, along with Northwestern University and Functional Coating Technology LLC, will develop an electrolyzer concept that is efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly. Electrolysis, extracting hydrogen from water, is one of the cleanest methods for producing hydrogen from an abundant source that produces no carbon emissions and allows for distributed hydrogen generation.