US drives hydrogen fuel cell vehicles forward with $7 million investment

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is investing $7 million in four projects aimed at advancing hydrogen storage technologies for use in fuel cell vehicles.

The three-year projects at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington state, University of Oregon, HRL Laboratories and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California, aim to lower costs and improve performance of storage systems.

PNNL will receive up to $2.1 million to develop carbon fibre composite materials for advanced high-pressure storage tanks for hydrogen, working with carmaker Ford, Lincoln Composites, Toray Carbon Fibers America and AOC.

The other three projects, meanwhile, will investigate novel storage materials. HRL Laboratories will receive up to $1.2 million to try using engineering liquids to store hydrogen gas.

LBNL and the University of Oregon will each get up to around $2 million to investigate novel storage materials. LBNL will work with National Institute of Standards and Technology and General Motors on synthesizing highly porous materials known as metal-organic materials, which could have high hydrogen adsorption capacities.

The University of Oregon, meanwhile, will join forces with the University of Alabama, Protonex Technology and other award winner PNNL to work on chemical hydrogen storage materials.

Each organisation will provide close to $2 million in matching funds to support the projects.

“Targeted investments in cutting-edge hydrogen storage technologies will spur American ingenuity, accelerate breakthroughs, and increase our competitiveness in the global clean energy economy,” commented Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

For further information:
energy.gov/
www.pnl.gov/
www.lbl.gov/
www.uoregon.edu/
www.hrl.com/