US tests show gas-reformed hydrogen a potential alternative fuel

Rio de Janeiro (Platts)--4Aug2006

The US government's Department of Energy has recently completed trials
that show hydrogen produced from reforming natural gas could potentially
compete with regular gasoline at the pumps, a refining conference in Rio heard
Thursday.
Pilot tests with a number of small gas reformers, have shown hydrogen can
be produced at a cost of between $2.75-$3.50 per gallon of gasoline
equivalent, allowing next-generation fuel cell vehicles to run at similar
costs to current gasoline prices in the US.
A DOE official said, despite the positive tests results, a number of
major hurdles remain to commercialize the reformer technology and make it
available at retail fuels sites.
Demand for natural gas in the US is growing and is already being imported
in increasing volumes ,leaving the hydrogen feedstock open to price volatility
and supply risks, Peter Devlin, a DOE technology manager, said.
The design of on-site hydrogen production facilities at pumps will be
complex, take up to four times more space than a regular site and could
significantly impact station profitability, he said.
Although the production of reformed gas would produce less CO2 that
regular fuels, its use would still create about half that of regular fuels.
He said on-site production of hydrogen also entails a significant
redistribution of risk to the fuel distributor.
In addition, he said gas reforming technology could be eclipsed in the
medium term by the ongoing development of hybrid and battery-powered cars as
well as advanced gasoline or diesel engines.
The DOE's hydrogen program aims to help develop the technology for
commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells by 2015, and put fuel cell
vehicles in auto showrooms and provide hydrogen at refueling stations by 2020.
The Bush administration has requested $289.5 million for its Hydrogen Fuel
Initiative in FY-07, a $53 million increase over the FY-06 appropriation. The
administration has pledged to spend $1.2 billion on hydrogen over five years.
The US, the world's biggest energy consumer, has sets a national goal of
replacing more than 75% of its oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.

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