GM site tries to keep U.S. in fuel cell race

It may not capture popular imagination like the race to the moon, but the global competition to develop vehicles that don't rely on gasoline is just as intense, and it is playing out in Rochester's own backyard.

Tucked in the village of Honeoye Falls down a quiet side street is a nondescript two-building campus where about 360 top scientists are developing hydrogen fuel cells for General Motors. They're locked in a high-stakes race with Japan, Germany and South Korea to bring zero-emissions vehicles to the public.

If government investment is any barometer of future success, however, the United States could finish last: Japan, Germany and South Korea have boasted public-private partnerships and investments — some worth billions — while the United States' proposed federal investment in fiscal year 2012 is about $100 million.

"We would like to be first, we would like to be out there with the best product," said Daniel O'Connell, who leads the fuel cell team at GM's Honeoye Falls facility. "Not getting as much support as we'd like isn't making it any easier on us. ... It's disappointing, but it's not slowing us down."

Hydrogen is a leading resource in the development of vehicles that are kinder to the environment, and GM has successfully put 119 vehicles on the road during the last four years and spent more than $1 billion developing the technology.

The vehicles — a version of the Chevy Equinox — drive just like a gasoline-powered car, maybe better, because with no transmission there is no delay in acceleration. The model reaches speeds of 100 miles per hour, can go for about 200 miles between fill-ups, has endured four winters and has logged just short of a combined 2 million miles.

Proponents of fuel-cell technology say transportation must be revolutionized, pointing to gasoline prices, which have topped $4 per gallon, and the expensive defense of American interests in the Middle East, where the United States gets much of the oil it purchases. Environmental advocates note that fuel-cell cars generate no air pollution because they emit only water vapor.

The cars themselves will only be affordable, however, if they are produced in large quantities. Car makers would like them to be priced competitively with traditional cars in the same vehicle class, and the price per mile, using hydrogen, could be cheaper than that of gasoline-powered cars.

They will only be mass produced if there is demand, and there will only be demand if there are hydrogen fueling stations, experts have said.

"From a national perspective, I think it is an exciting development," said Nabil Nasr, assistant provost at Rochester Institute of Technology, noting the progress GM has made on fuel-cell vehicles. Nasr is involved in RIT's fuel cell research, which is done in collaboration with GM.

"At the same time, unfortunately, the government has totally lost interest in this area," he added.

As other countries help their car manufacturers bring fuel-cell cars to market by building hydrogen stations, the United States has cut back its investment.

The first company to bring its car to market will likely have an advantage over the competition, because it will be able to mass produce the cars more quickly, working out problems or reducing the cost of the vehicles, say experts, who compare the process to the cellphone market.

"To be competitive you really need to get out there first," said Nasr, director of RIT's Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies and the Golisano Institute for Sustainability. "It's very important for the U.S. to see this as a competitiveness issue."

While GM has made strides in its fuel cell program, companies such as Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Mercedes also are developing the cars.

The local picture

Sensing that it will be up to the states to begin development of a hydrogen infrastructure, Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, will host a fuel cell summit in Albany on Monday and Tuesday as a way to persuade his colleagues in the Legislature to support such an initiative. He plans to give them an opportunity to drive the cars. New York is one of three states with a serious interest in developing a hydrogen infrastructure, the others being California and Hawaii.

The state has just eight fueling stations, all private, including three in Monroe County — not nearly enough to make driving a fuel-cell car feasible.

"We're developing that infrastructure that could become available to the public in some manner," said Michael Garland, director of the county Department of Environmental Services.

Fuel cell supporters compare taxpayer investment in fueling stations to the development of railroads, the highway system or the Alaska pipeline. They say hydrogen producers are reluctant to invest in installing new stations because not enough cars are on the road.

Meanwhile, people who have driven the test cars enjoy them, O'Connell said, but agree that there aren't enough hydrogen stations. This time of high costs for the vehicle and minimal availability of hydrogen stations creates a paradox the industry calls "the valley of death."

"All the things on the car side, in our mind, are pretty much done," said O'Connell. "The big hurdle is on the infrastructure side. You don't see hydrogen stations all over the United States."

After spending time in Honeoye Falls and speaking with fuel cell researchers at RIT, Morelle said he became convinced that fuel cells were a better alternative to battery-powered cars, which tend to be smaller and can only be driven so long before they need to be recharged, though battery developers are addressing both of those issues.

Fuel cell proponents, meanwhile, say that weaning ground transportation off gasoline is going to require all types of technology, including hydrogen and batteries.

Morelle is trying to send the message to his colleagues that car manufacturers will sell where the hydrogen fueling stations are, whether that's Hawaii, California, Germany or Japan.

He is proposing an investment of $215 million in state and federal funds over five or six years with an investment matched in part by hydrogen producers. The proposal calls for fueling stations along the Albany-New York City corridor and along I-90, starting first in two locations, Rochester — because of the Honeoye Falls plant — and New York City.

The proposal calls for spending $51 million in state funds with an investment of $152 million from hydrogen producers to fund 100 stations, and $164 million in federal and state funds for incentives for consumers, corporations and the government to purchase the cars.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn't commit to investing in a hydrogen infrastructure in a campaign book he released on the environment, but has said that fuel cell development must be considered.

Falling behind

New York can be on the leading edge of the emerging technology, given the GM plant and the local supply of hydrogen, Morelle said.

"I just think that this has the possibility of developing into a huge industry in the way oil and gas is a windfall to certain states," he said.

Hydrogen is produced in the Buffalo area, and there is a possibility of creating hydrogen at wind farms in the Southern Tier and at Niagara Falls.

The downside to taxpayer investment, of course, is that if fuel-cell vehicles don't catch on in the United States, there would be no cars to use the stations.

Matt Fronk, who was instrumental in starting the fuel cell program at General Motors in 1999, credits former U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, who drove a fuel-cell car to his 2009 swearing-in, with helping to save the program during GM's bankruptcy that same year. Massa and Rep. Steve Israel met with GM management.

"If he hadn't done that I'm sure it would have been easily cut," Fronk said. "He was the one guy who tried to make a difference."

Fronk and others worry that the United States is falling behind on developing the infrastructure needed to make driving the cars feasible.

The Obama administration's lack of support for fuel cell development has discouraged the industry: Funding was cut by more than half in the administration's first budget and then restored after outrage from lawmakers and other advocates.

Another 40 percent cut is proposed in the administration's 2012 budget.

Meanwhile, other countries are investing heavily, building a network of hydrogen stations to meet demand for the vehicles.

Japan and Germany are rolling out stations with an eye on completion in 2015 to provide the infrastructure needed for fuel-cell cars being developed by Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Daimler.

Germany is proposing a $2 billion investment in developing hydrogen stations over the next 10 years, and Japan has plans for about 60 stations by 2015.

"It's not a question of 'if' the commercial market will grow,' but 'where,'" said Pete Barkey, director of communications for the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association in Washington, D.C.

The hydrogen itself can be difficult to produce and store, but supporters say using it is still more efficient than fossil fuels.

"Regardless of how you make the hydrogen you still come out much, much better than with an internal combustion engine," Nasr said.

An explosion occurred last year while hydrogen was delivered to the hydrogen fueling station at the Greater Rochester International Airport, and two people were injured. GM maintains hydrogen is safe and notes that the Equinoxes on the road have been in accidents and no hydrogen has been released.

The lack of stations is a greater problem, said James Winebrake, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at RIT, than producing and delivering the hydrogen.

"There's kind of this interesting battle in electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles," Winebrake said. "It's not clear yet where the market goes."

Source: Jill Terreri, Democrat and Chronicle.com