Innovations & Environmental Sustainability from Ford, Toyota & BMW

Ford and Toyota would be joining forces, and
sharing costs, to develop a hybrid powertrain for rear-wheel-drive light trucks
and SUVs. “This is the kind of collaborative effort that is required to
address the big global challenges of energy independence and environmental
sustainability,” says Ford CEO Alan Mulally. And German carmaker BMW
launched the first phase of a US-based pilot program to “validate the
economic and technical feasibility of converting landfill gas into hydrogen”.
Sophie Vorrath reports in Climate Spectator

Sophie Vorrath in Climate
Spectator 29 Aug 2011

The announcement last week that
Ford and Toyota would be joining forces, and sharing costs, to develop a hybrid
powertrain for rear-wheel-drive light trucks and SUVs has generated a bit of
excitement in both the automotive and cleantech worlds.

“This is the kind of collaborative effort
that is required to address the big global challenges of energy independence
and environmental sustainability,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement
about the joint venture. And while that’s possibly not as platitudinous as it
sounds, GreenTech Media’s Martin La Monica points out that it is also just
smart business.

“This deal is about sharing
resources, raising the bar for hybrid development, and getting it done as
quickly as possible,” he says. “Since both companies already have
front-wheel-drive hybrid systems, this new architecture… fills a hole in
their technology platforms.”

But La Monica says the deal also
signals “a clear endorsement of hybrid technology.” As opposed to
‘plug-in hybrids,’ hybrid vehicles are those that get most of their power from
their internal combustion engine but, when needed, can get an extra boost of
power from the electric motor. The power for the electric motor is generated
while the car is in motion and stored in the battery, so it doesn’t need to be
plugged in to be functional. The electric motor also acts as a generator,
converting energy from regenerative braking and storing it in the battery.
Generally, hybrids can use the two propulsion means separately or at the same
time. In the more advanced pure hybrids, cars move on electric power alone for
low speed driving and idling, allowing for reduced fuel consumption in city
driving.

“Combined with other
fuel-saving tricks, hybrids are poised to spread beyond niche status and bring
better fuel economy to a broader range of vehicles,” says La Monica. And
according to the joint press statement, that’s more-or-less the plan: the two
companies intend the new hybrid powertrain to “bring the full hybrid
experience of greater fuel efficiency to a new group of truck and SUV customers
without compromising the capability they require in their vehicles.”
Certainly, the timing couldn’t be better, with stringent new EPA fuel economy
standards announced by the Obama government last month. Plug-in vehicles still
have lots of advantages for consumers who want zero petrol consumption and to
have the most environmentally friendly car possible, says La Monica. “But
hybrids mitigate the big downside of plug-ins: battery costs. A lithium ion
battery pack for a sedan with a range of about 100 miles costs in the
neighborhood of $10,000. Those costs will come down with better technology and
manufacturing scale, but there’s no clear technical breakthrough which will
make EVs undercut fuel-efficient gas cars on purchase price alone.”

Bavarian Methane Works

German carmaker BMW last month
launched the first phase of a US-based pilot program to “validate the
economic and technical feasibility of converting landfill gas into
hydrogen.” The landfill gas is, of course, methane; the rough plan being
to convert the locally-sourced methane to hydrogen, and then to use this to
power the hydrogen fuel-cell-driven equipment in its 1.2 million-square-foot Spartanburg,
South Carolina, plant which produces the company’s new X3 Sports Activity
Vehicle. Last year, BMW installed a hydrogen storage and distribution area
within the existing Energy Center the plant. If successful, the automaker says
this new project will allow it to “transition from the pilot-scale system
into a full-scale system capable of supporting the largest single-site
deployment of fuel cell material handling equipment in the world.”

“This landfill
gas-to-hydrogen project at BMW will seek to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind
solution that will serve as a model for other private sector companies,” said
SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “I am confident that this solution to combine
renewably-generated hydrogen with clean, efficient fuel cell technology will improve
productivity, reduce environmental pollutants and relieve electrical power
demand from the grid and am optimistic that it will be replicated nationally.”
As Fast Company points out, BMW has not divulged the technology they will use
to convert the methane gas into hydrogen power. But the automaker is involved
in at least two projects with the US DOE to develop storage of hydrogen to
power future car models. “Collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory on a project to produce and store cryo-compressed hydrogen
is ongoing, as well as a DOE project to efficiently store hydrogen via a liquid
organic carrier,” the company said last month.

Flush with power

Converting waste-emitted methane
to hydrogen to power fuel cells is one thing, but how about fuel cells powered
by the direct conversion of organic matter to electricity using bacteria? This
is the new-ish method of renewable energy development, called microbial fuel
cells, that’s being developed by Penn State University environmental engineer
Bruce Logan. More specifically, the Penn State research team is working on
developing MFCs that can generate electricity while also treating waste water.

How do MFC’s work? Bacteria are
placed in the anode chamber of a specially-designed fuel cell that is free of
oxygen, and then attach to an electrode. Because they don’t have oxygen, they
transfer the electrons that they get from consumption (oxidation) of their food
to the electrode. In a MFC, these electrons go to the anode, while the counter
electrode (the cathode) is exposed to oxygen. At the cathode the electrons,
oxygen and protons combine to form only water. The electrons then move through
a circuit and produce power. Logan’s microbial fuel cells can produce both
electrical power and hydrogen, meaning the cells could one day be used to juice
up hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Logan’s team has also solved the
problem of the expensive and toxic chemicals that were previously needed to
make microbial fuel cells work. “In the early reactors, we used very
expensive graphite rods and expensive polymers and precious metals like
platinum. And we’ve now reached the point where we don’t have to use any
precious metals,” Logan explained to the National Science Foundation. And
while MFCs don’t yet produce enough power to be used in everyday life, Logan
estimates this will happen in the next five to 10 years, with MFCs producing
enough electricity to power waste-water treatment plants as well as
neighbouring towns, reports Fast Company. There may also be MFCs that use salt
water, while also desalinating it, using just the energy from the bacteria.

Source: www.climatespectator.com.au