Title

Hydrogen fuel cells for electric cars and trucks

Time

1:40 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Location

1605 Tilia, Room 1103, West Village

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have been under development for over 20 years and are now finally entering the market in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, and other countries. These vehicles offer the advantages of electric drive and zero tailpipe emissions, along with rapid refueling in 4-5 minutes that is similar to conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles. However, historically they have been hindered by high manufacturing costs and lack of a hydrogen-fueling infrastructure. This talk will examine the current status of hydrogen FCEV commercialization and will include discussion of: 1) fuel cell applications for transportation; 2) system manufacturing cost trends; 3) the cost and availability of hydrogen refueling infrastructure, 4) the environmental impacts of hydrogen production; 5) lessons learned from building and operating a 700-bar (10,000 psi) hydrogen refueling station at the Berkeley Global Campus in Richmond; and 6) results from a multi-year research program at TSRC where hundreds of participants have now driven FCEVs by Toyota, Hyundai, and Daimler in real-world conditions in a research study environment.

Biographical Sketch

Timothy Lipman, PhD, is an energy and environmental technology, economics, and policy researcher with the University of California – Berkeley. He is currently serving as Co-Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), based at the Institute of Transportation Studies. He is also a Research Affiliate with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Lecturer in the UC Berkeley Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Lipman’s research focuses on electric vehicles, fuel cell technology, combined heat and power systems, renewable energy, and electricity and hydrogen infrastructure. He completed a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Policy Analysis with the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis (1999) and also holds an MS degree from UC Davis in Transportation Technology and Policy (1998) and a BA degree from Stanford University (1990). He is Chair of the Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies Committee of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science and Engineering, a member of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC) for the U.S. Department of Energy, and on the editorial board of the International Journal of Sustainable Engineering.