The principle of a fuel cell was discovered by Christian Friedrich Schönbein in 1838, and the first fuel cell was constructed by Sir William Robert Grove in 1839. The fuel cells made at this time were most similar to today's phosphoric acid fuel cells.Grove, William Robert "On Voltaic Series and the Combination of Gases by Platinum", Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science vol. XIV (1839), pp 127–130. Most hydrogen fuel cells today are of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) type. A PEM converts the chemical energy released during the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy. The Hydrogen Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1990 and Energy Policy Act of 1992 were the first national legislative articles that called for large-scale hydrogen demonstration, development, and research programs. A five-year program was conducted that investigated the production of hydrogen from renewable energy sources and the feasibility of existing natural gas pipelines to carry hydrogen. It also called for the research into hydrogen storage systems for electric vehicles and the development of fuel cells suitable to power an electric motor vehicle.
Applications Hydrogen is an energy carrier and can be used to store and deliver energy as needed. When used in a fuel cell, the hydrogen atom dissociates into a positively charged hydrogen ion and a negatively charged electron which is diverted to an electric load. A fuel cell can be used to power anything in much the same way that batteries are used. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, "Eventually hydrogen will join electricity as the major energy carrier, supplying every end-use energy need in the economy, including transportation, central and distributed electric power, portable power, and combined heat and power for buildings and industrial processes."
Vehicles Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were in the pre-production stage of development for many years before being commercialized. While prototype hydrogen vehicles exist worldwide, there are limited consumer-level vehicles available for purchase off the lot. The Toyota Mirai was the first fuel cell car to be available for sale in December 2014. The Honda FCX Clarity was also available to consumers for lease in the Torrance, Santa Monica, and Irvine areas of California for $600/month. Hyundai started selling their fuel cell Nexo in Korea in 2018 and began selling them in California in 2019. Cars are typically refilled with a couple of kilograms over 5–10 minutes.
One vehicular application for hydrogen fuel cells is forklift fleets in manufacturing facilities or distribution centers. Forklifts are not allowed to burn gasoline or diesel fuel inside factories, since the fumes present health hazards, so most indoor fleets rely on batteries. Hydrogen tanks can be refilled faster than charging batteries. A hydrogen fuel cell can be refilled in several minutes. By 2013, there were more than 4,000 fuel cell forklifts in the US. As of 2024, approximately 50,000 hydrogen forklifts are in operation worldwide (the bulk of which are in the U.S.), as compared with 1.2 million battery electric forklifts that were purchased in 2021.Barnard, Michael. "On Hydrogen Forklifts, Bitcoin Mining and Green Fertilizer", CleanTechnica, January 2, 2024
Stationary power
Hydrogen fuel cells also have the potential to replace or supplement utility-bought electricity by supplying energy on-site in the form of a stationary power device. Major corporations like eBay, Google, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Adobe and Sierra Nevada have been using some form of fuel cells for several years and are reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of energy savings every year.
Research and development funding The George W. Bush administration showed much interest in developing hydrogen fuel cell technologies within the transportation sector. This interest was mainly driven by the desire to decrease the United States' dependence on foreign oil and reduce the environmental impact of the transportation sector. The initiative to promote fuel cell technology was announced by former President Bush in his State of the Union Address in 2003. Former President Bush stated: "With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles ... so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free. Join me in this important innovation to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy."
Along with this new national commitment, a Hydrogen Posture Plan was created to begin to map the future of hydrogen technology research, development and demonstration. To accelerate research, development, and demonstration former President Bush announced plans to appropriate $1.2 billion.
On May 11, 2009 President Barack Obama effectively reduced funds and the Bush Administrations' attempt to advance fuel cell vehicle technology and commercialization at a fast pace. The elimination of this appropriation of funds was said to have saved $100 million per year. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the technology and improvements necessary for deployment of fuel cell vehicles were most likely to not be commercially ready or economically viable after 10 to 15 years of research and development. A more detailed table of public hydrogen research and development funding is provided by the Department of Energy: Hydrogen Program.
Federal support for hydrogen and fuel-cell R&D
Freedomcar and fuel partnership plan
In March 2006, the FreedomCAR & Fuel Partnership devised a document that stated the Partnership's Plans. The FreedomCAR & Fuel Partnership was formed in 2003 as an expansion of the existing FreedomCAR Partnership. The FreedomCAR Partnership Plan was created by former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and senior executives of DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation. The partners consist of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), BP America, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Shell Hydrogen LLC, and the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR)—a legal partnership among DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation.
The FreedomCAR & Fuel Partnership was created to stimulate research and development for proposed future transportation sector technologies with the goal of minimizing foreign oil dependence. The FreedomCAR & Fuel Partnership allowed for the Cooperative Automotive Research group to "examine and advance the pre-competitive, high-risk research needed to develop the component and infrastructure technologies necessary to enable a full range of affordable cars and light trucks, and the fueling infrastructure for them that will reduce the dependence of the nation's personal transportation system on imported oil and minimize harmful vehicle emissions, without sacrificing freedom of mobility and freedom of vehicle choice." Along with other high risk technologies, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology was identified as potential venue for research and development.
Energy policy act of 2005
Title viii-hydrogen The purposes of Title VIII are: "(1) to enable and promote comprehensive development, demonstration, and commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technology in partnership with industry; (2) to make critical public investments in building strong links to private industry, institutions of higher education, National Laboratories, and research institutions to expand innovation and industrial growth; (3) to build a mature hydrogen economy that creates fuel diversity in the massive transportation sector of the United States; (4) to sharply decrease the dependency of the United States on imported oil, eliminate most emissions from the transportation sector, and greatly enhance our energy security; and (5) to create, strengthen, and protect a sustainable national energy economy."
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 calls for a wide-reaching research and development program on technologies relating to the production, purification, distribution, storage, and use of hydrogen energy, fuel cells, and related infrastructure with the goal of demonstrating and commercializing the use of hydrogen for transportation, utility, industrial, commercial, and residential applications. The Secretary is directed to collaborate with private industry, academic institutions and federal agencies to address the many issues related to hydrogen. By 2015 automakers must have made a commitment to offer hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the mass consumer market and by model year 2020, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles must have achieved higher fuel economy, lower emissions, and the equivalent or improved safety capability of comparable light duty vehicles of model year 2005. The infrastructure goals are similar. The goals of the program are to enable a commitment by 2015 that will lead to infrastructure by 2020 which provides safe refueling capability and widespread availability of hydrogen from domestic energy sources. The act also appropriates funds for hydrogen supply and fuel cell technologies up to year 2020, yet the amounts for each year from 2011 through 2020 are "as necessary".
Section 806 calls for the establishment of a "Fuel Cell Technical Task Force" chaired by the Secretary and with representatives from several Federal Agencies. The Task Force is responsible for planning a safe, economical and environmentally sound hydrogen infrastructure, increasing the use of fuel cells in government, increasing the use of hydrogen in distributed power generation, establishing uniform hydrogen codes, standards and safety protocols, and defining vehicle hydrogen fuel system integrity safety performance.
Section 807 establishes "The Hydrogen Technical and Fuel Cell Advisory Committee" which will contain between 12 and 25 members representing domestic industry, academia, professional societies, government agencies, Federal laboratories, previous advisory panels, and financial, environmental, and other appropriate organizations. The committee is required to review and make recommendations to the Secretary on all things related to hydrogen energy and fuel cells and the Secretary is required to transmit a biennial report to Congress describing these recommendations.
Section 808 calls for the funding of a limited number of demonstration projects that involve using hydrogen at existing facilities, depend on reliable power from hydrogen, lead to the replication of hydrogen technologies and draw such technologies into the marketplace, include vehicle, portable and stationary demonstrations, raise awareness of hydrogen technology among the public, and facilitate identification of optimum hydrogen technology compared to alternatives. The funding for the demonstrations described in this section will come in the form of grants which are scheduled to continue through year 2020.
Section 812 establishes a commitment to explore the production of hydrogen using solar and wind technologies. It calls for 5 projects in each that will develop systems that may be used for the production of electricity or hydrogen, or both in conjunction.
Title ix, subtitle c, sec.933 Low-Cost Renewable Hydrogen And Infrastructure For Vehicle Propulsion