We spoke with Calisto Bertin about the future of hydrogen fuel cells and Shell's new hydrogen fueling station in White Plains.
What is hydrogen fuel and where does it come from?
Hydrogen fuel is made by processing water through something called an "electrolyzer." The formula for water is H20 (two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom). The electrolyzer pulls out one of the hydrogen atoms, leaving HO as the byproduct (one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom). The water byproduct can be used for things like landscaping, or discharged back into the ground or sewer. The hydrogen that was removed is stored in a tank under very high pressure—as much as 7,000 or 8,000 PSI.
Is the byproduct clean? What about the hydrogen fuel itself?
The byproduct is very clean. The hydrogen fuel is also clean. It's combustible, and what comes out of the exhaust is just water vapor. There is nothing harmful to the environment created through this process. However, it does take energy to produce. It takes electricity to create it. In order to keep the whole process clean, producers can purchase electricity from hydro-electric plants or use other types of clean energy.
Once you have the product, how does it work?
It goes into a special car that uses a hydrogen fuel cell.
How does the fuel economy of a hydrogen-powered car compare with that of a gasoline-powered car? Does it cost more to fill up a hydrogen tank than a gasoline tank?
The fuel economy of a hydrogen car is a little better than that of a gasoline car. As for cost, the price for the equivalent energy from hydrogen gas is a little bit less than a gallon of gas. You have to compare it by energy because in many ways, comparing gasoline to hydrogen fuel is like comparing apples to oranges. It's a little better, but it's not that efficient yet because it isn’t being done on a mass scale.
How long do you think this is going to take to catch on?
This isn't really out there for consumers yet. It's still in the trial stage. The cost of these cars is very high because they are being produced on a very small scale. Right now I believe they cost about $1 million each. If the production works well and the cars work well, they will begin mass producing them which will force the price down. Forgetting about the present $1 million cost, even when they come down, they’re going to be more expensive.
How did Bertin Engineering get involved with creating the new Shell hydrogen fuelling station in White Plains?
One of the goals for General Motors and Shell, who are working together in a joint venture, is to create a network of stations so you can drive from Washington D.C. to Boston. The goal is to have adequate fueling station in the northeast corridor so that it will become viable.
We've always worked for the oil companies for the 20 years that we’ve been in business. We've done a lot of service stations. When Shell launched into this, they thought that since we had done a good job for them with gasoline fueling stations, we could help out with a hydrogen fueling station. And so we have. There's a lot of coordination that has to be done, and our guys are very good at that. This is all new. I could design a gasoline station in my head. That’s not a big deal. Hydrogen is all new and so it takes a little bit more innovation.
There are components manufactured by other companies (like the electrolyzer I mentioned earlier).We need to coordinate with those other companies to make sure it will all work together. There are also building codes to adhere to. There are codes for building houses and elevators (and gas stations), but the codes for hydrogen are still relatively new. One of the biggest things we had to do with the city of White Plains was to decide what code we were going to follow. We had to work with them on that, and then implement the building codes.
So they produce the hydrogen fuel right at the fuelling station?
Yes. The one in White Plains that we designed generates hydrogen. Now, we are doing one in Yonkers and one at Kennedy airport. Right now, we're finalizing the designs. Those will be fueling-only. They will generate the hydrogen someplace else and bring a trailer in, and then hook the trailer up to the equipment. So, they’re working on both. The generating plant is obviously very expensive. We're working on just having the facilities and bringing the tank in. We're probably working on six of them in the New York Metropolitan area.
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05/15/08 @ 09:47 
