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the gasoline used to fuel them. “This is abig deal, taking 2 million tons of airpollution from the air,” said RebeccaStanfield of the US Public InterestResearch Group. The rules will becomepart of “the lasting White House legacyon the environment,” she said.

The cleaner gasoline and toughertailpipe emissions standards would bephased in over five years, beginning in2004. The current level of sulfur ingasoline, which nationally now averages330 parts per million, would be reducedby 90% over 5 years to 30 ppm under thenew rules. High sulfur levels in gasolineare blamed for clogging vehicles’catalytic converters, which controltailpipe emissions and reduce pollution.

At the same time, minivans, trucksand sport utility vehicles (SUVs) wouldhave to reduce their emissions of nitrogenoxides, which cause smog. Bigger SUVswould have until 2009 to comply.

EPA and White House officials havestressed the health benefits of cuttingsmog-forming pollution, notably stoppingwhat the administration says is anexplosion in child asthma cases aroundthe country.

ARB bans MTBE and modifies rules forcleaner burning gasolineThe California Air Resources Board(ARB) approved a new set of gasolinerules that will ban the additive methyltert-butyl ether (MTBE) while preservingall the air-quality benefits obtained fromthe state’s cleaner-burning gasolineprogramme. The new rules, knownofficially as the Phase 3 gasolineregulation, prohibit the formulation of

gasoline with MTBE after 31 December2002. To better enable refiners to cost-effectively produce non-MTBE gasoline,the new regulation changes several ARBcleaner-burning gasoline specificationsthat have been in effect since 1996. Theregulation establishes more stringentstandards for two major gasolinepollutants, sulfur and benzene, whilerelaxing two standards for distillationtemperatures. The new standards willimprove the ability of refiners to makenon-MTBE gasoline while ensuringmotor vehicle emissions do not increase.These new standards will also take effecton 31 December 2002(http://www.arb.ca.gov).

Powerball TechnologyA report prepared by Energetics Inc. forthe Department of Energy (DOE) Officeof Power Technologies HydrogenProgramme shows that PowerballTechnology can be competitive as afuture infrastructure fuel. The reportpredicts that the future cost of powerballsmay be $1.56/gallon of gasolineequivalent, and perhaps much lowerwhen produced in high volume usingefficient conversion technologies.Additionally, the DOE funded reportpoints out that “the application of thePowerball Technology in the chemicalindustry represents an attractive option”.The estimated plant gate manufacturingcost of sodium metal via PowerballIndustries’ thermochemical process couldbe as much as ten times less than thecurrent commodity price for sodiumproduced via electrolysis. Powerballs canbe produced from plentiful and clean

IntroductionPick up any journal from the popularscientific press or even any quality dailynewspaper and you are likely to comeacross at least one article on cars andpollution. In the UK the topic is a currentpolitical ‘hot potato’ with theGovernment trying to introduce policiesto reduce traffic congestion and pollutionwithout alienating the motorist.Elsewhere, particularly in developingcountries, governments are starting tointroduce legislation which will helpcontrol pollution as the growth in carownership continues to rise. Industry,particularly in the US and Europe, ismeanwhile putting more and moreresearch efforts into finding alternativecleaner technologies whilst at the sametime pushing existing technology to thelimits of energy efficiency.

In this article some of the recentdevelopments which have made theheadlines throughout the world are pulledtogether to give an overview of the area.

USAEffect of changes in US rules onemission levelsIn order to reduce the effects cars have onthe environment the Clintonadministration has announced sweepingnew rules to cut car emissions and sulfurlevels in gasoline, a twin effort aimed atkeeping 2 million tons of smog-formingpollution out of the air.

The new rules from theEnvironmental Protection Agency willfor the first time address not justpollution from automobiles but also from

All the major car companies are researching cleaner cars

Movestowardsgreener carsMike Lancaster reports on severalrecent developments around theworld towards making cars bothmore energy efficient and lesspolluting

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natural gas energy. The fuel pellets areeasy to transport, store, and use and areideal as an energy carrier since theyproduce zero point-of-use emissions.Each gallon of powerball fuel pelletsstores an impressive 17.8 kWh of energyin the form of clean, environmentallyfriendly hydrogen. PowerballTechnologies LLC is a joint venturebetween Powerball Industries and NatexCorp., focused on innovative hydrogendistribution. At the heart of theirtechnology is the proprietary hydridepellets which dramatically increase thestorage density and distributionefficiency for hydrogen throughincremental and on-demand production toportable fuel cell systems(http://www.powerball.net).

Ford Motor Co.Ford Motor Co. has received the singlelargest electric-vehicle order in UShistory. The world’sno. 2 carmaker saidthe US PostalService ispurchasing an initialorder of 500 electricmail-deliveryvehicles based onthe Ford Ranger EVpickup truck. Thepostal service alsohas the option toorder a total of 6000vehicles.

Production of the 500 vehicles willbegin in the autumn and continue throughnext year, said Ford, which is working inpartnership with Baker Electromotive ofRome, NY Ford said the bulk of theelectric pickups will be used for maildelivery in California with the rest beingused in the Washington DC metro area.

The Ranger EV is the national leaderin electric vehicle sales, with 561 sold in

North America during the 1999 modelyear. There are now over 1000 RangerEVs in use in the United States andCanada. Electric vehicles have failed tocatch on with consumers because oflimited driving ranges, frequent requiredrecharges and a weak infrastructure thatoffers limited locations for recharging.They have proven more popular for fleetslike that of the postal service

Ford’s other alternative fuel vehiclesinclude the Prodigy, a diesel-electrichybrid family saloon capable of 80 mpg ;this vehicle was previewed at the NorthAmerican International Auto Show inDetroit in January 2000.

DaimlerChryslerHundreds of thousands of air travellerswill experience electric vehicletechnology in traveling to and from LosAngeles World Airport as the first 10 DaimlerChrysler Electric Powered

Interurban Commuter (EPIC) minivansjoin the fleet of Xpress Shuttle.

The five-passenger minivans, whichrepresent DaimlerChrysler’s state-of-the-art electric vehicle presence in California,are being added to the shuttle company’sfleet, each expected to log up to 100,000miles of service per year, anunprecedented workout for an electricvehicle. The breakthrough comes thanks

to EPIC’s unique fast-charging capabilities that allow the minivans toquickly refuel with electricity and returnto the road.

The EPIC can carry a payload of 925lbs—about five passengers and 175 lbs ofcargo. The current model is powered bytwenty-eight 12-volt advanced nickel-metal-hydride batteries that deliver up to80–90 miles per charge. AeroVironmentInc. of Monrovia, California, is providingthe fast-chargers for this project. Where atraditional charger delivers six-to-sevenkilowatts and recharges an electricvehicle in 5–7 hours, the EPIC fast-charger operates at much higher power(60–150 kilowatts) and has the minivanback at close to full charge within a half-hour.

General Motors Corp.Meanwhile General Motors Corp. havetaken strides to make the moreconventional combustion engine moreenergy efficient when it recently unveiledthe Precept, an experimental, teardrop-shaped sedan capable of 80 miles pergallon.

The car was developed under thefederally sponsored Partnership for aNew Generation of Vehicles (PNGV).Members of the industry–governmentcollaboration,launched in 1994, arecommitted to building by 2004production-ready prototypes that canoffer triple the fuel economy of a typicalfamily sedan without sacrificingperformance.

Company officials say the Preceptwill probably never go into massproduction because of their high costs.But some of the advanced fuel-economytechnology could wind up in consumer-ready cars and trucks.

The hybrid-electric Precept is drivenby a battery-powered electric tractionsystem that moves the front wheels, and alightweight, 1.3 litre, 3 cylinder dieselengine in the rear. The direct-injectionengine, featuring turbochargedcompression ignition, was developed byIsuzu Motor Co. Ltd., one of GM’s Asianaffiliates.

GM has developed the electric motorto run off either a nickel metal hydridebattery, like the kind used in the newversion of its EV1 electric car, or alithium polymer battery. The electrictraction system also captures energy frombraking and sends it back to the battery.Designers of the Precept took theiroverall design cues from the EV1 andconstructed the car to be as aerodynamicas possible. Exterior door handles have

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been eliminated, and outside mirrors werereplaced by a camera system. Becausefront-facing grills create wind drag, thePrecept has special air openings behindthe rear wheels (http://www.gm.com/).

HondaHonda has introduced their newgasoline-electric hybrid car, the two-door Insight, into the California automarket. It has a 65 mpg fuel efficiencywhich will substantially reduceemissions that contribute to globalwarming. However, the vehicle willcertify to a level of smog-formingpollution ten times greater than thestandard set by California for SuperUltra Low Emissions Vehicles. Some ofHonda’s model year 2000 Accords andToyota’s forthcoming Prius hybrid willmeet this higher standard.

The FCX concept vehicle, unveiledat the Detroit International Auto Show inJanuary 2000, features Honda’sinnovative fuel cell unit powertrain.Honda has announced its intentions toput fuel cell-powered vehicles on theroad in 2000 and is researching bothmethanol and hydrogen fuel cellprototypes. In the FCX concept vehicle,the fuel cell unit, located below the floorof the passenger cabin, employs amethanol-type fuel cell. Power isachieved when a methanol and watermixture moves from a storage tank,located in the rear of the unit, through a“fuel processor” where hydrogen isextracted. The hydrogen is then mixedwith oxygen within the cell stack (part ofthe fuel cell system) to produceelectricity. This in turn powers theelectric drive motor.

Buyer’s Guide to Cleaner CarsThe California Air Resources Board(ARB) has a buyer’s guide to cleaner carson its web site at http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/ccbg/ccbg.htm. This site gives alot of information on the models of carsfit into the various categories of cleanercars as defined in California [transitionallow-emission vehicles (TLEVs), low-emission vehicles (LEVs), ultra-low-emission vehicle (ULEVs), super-ultra-low-emission vehicles (SULEVs) andzero-emission vehicles (ZEV)] to helpthe environmentally conscious purchaserto choose.

The Environmental Health Center (partof the National Safety Council) has avery useful Cleaner Cars Module on itswebsite (http://www.nsc.org/EHC/mobile/intro.htm).

Sections include :

4 background to air pollution4 buying a cleaner car4 alternatively fueled vehicles4 cleaner refueling and energy-

efficient driving4 responsible recycling of motor

vehicle fluids

EuropeEuropean Automobile Manufacturers’Association (ACEA)

At the same time, European carmanufacturers have called on theEuropean Commission to supportGerman moves to introduce sulfur-freediesel and petrol.

The European AutomobileManufacturers’ Association (ACEA) saidthe Commission should encourageEuropean Union states to introduce taxincentives similar to those planned inGermany to bring the sulfur content offuels down to 10 ppm.

“We’ve written to the Commission toask it to support the Germangovernment,” said Giovanni Margaria,emissions and fuels director of ACEA.“Lower-sulfur fuels would improveenvironmental conditions and helpEuropean carmakers catch uptechnologically with their Japanesecounterparts”, Margari said. The averagesulfur content of petrol sold in Japan isalready below 10 ppm.

ACEA said it would be wrong torenegotiate recently agreed laws underwhich the sulfur content of petrol anddiesel will fall to 50 ppm by 2005. But itsaid the EU should back countries whichintroduce tax incentives to encouragereductions in sulfur, which causespollution by dangerous particulates aswell as nitrous oxides which produceharmful ground-level ozone.

Germany introduced tax incentives inAugust last year for the introduction ofso-called “sulfur-free fuels”—containingno more than 10 ppm—which will beeffective from January 2003.

Meanwhile, as a ban on leaded petrolin Europe comes into force, the EuropeanCommission said it had given Italy, Spainand Greece until January 1, 2002 to enactthe new laws, two years later than the restof the European Union.

“The main justification for this is toensure that they have adequate time bothto time the transition to unleaded petroland to ensure a good public informationcampaign,” said an EU official. Inmaking the decision, the Commission

said it rejected the governments’ claimsthat the move to unleaded petrol wouldforce older cars to be scrapped and bringsevere socio-economic problems for thecountries involved (http://www.acea.be/).

GermanySales of biodiesel, a renewable fuel fromoilseed rape, have doubled in Germanysince 1996 to 100,000 tonnes in 1998. 800 German petrol stations now sell thegreen fuel. A study by the InternationalEconomic Platform for RenewableEnergies (IWR) at the University ofMunster indicates that the area dedicatedto the growth of the rapeseed used in thefuel’s manufacture is also increasing.However, the fuel still remains a nichemarket, amounting to less than 1% oftotal German diesel sales.

Saudi ArabiaThe move towards unleaded petrol is also gaining momentum in other parts ofthe world. Saudi Arabia, the world’sbiggest oil producer, will introduceunleaded gasoline in 2001. Arab Newsdaily quoted Essam Tawfiq, manager ofSaudi Aramco’s public relationsdepartment, as saying the cleaner fuelwould hit the domestic market on January 1, 2001.

Like other Gulf Arab states which sit on nearly half of the world’s oilreserves, Saudi Arabia is struggling to introduce unleaded gasoline to apopulation unfamiliar with the cleanerburning fuel. Gulf Arab states will needto perform major upgrades on refineriesacross the region to produce unleadedgasoline.

VietnamVietnam have announced that they willdevelop an action plan to phase outleaded petrol as the first step tocompletely stopping the use of such fuel.At present, only leaded petrol is currentlyused in the country.

IndiaThe Union Ministers for Petroleum &Gas and Environment & Forests met todiscuss a long-term plan to supplycleaner and better quality fuel to the autosector that will reduce the levels ofpollution. The aim is to achievecompliance norms more stringent thanEuro II in the auto sector. There is aproposal to supply low-sulfur diesel notonly in the National Capital Region butalso in other metros. The Supreme Courthas directed the Government of India toensure supply of high-speed diesel with

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sulfur content of less than 0.05% by 1 April 2000. Efforts are being made toachieve this by commissioning ninediesel hydro-desulfurisation plants thatwould bring down the sulfur content inhigh-speed diesel to 0.25%.

BrazilThe government in Brazil has abandoned subsidies for fuel alcoholdistilled from sugarcane. They argue that this is no longer appropriate when alcohol is now much cheaper than gasoline. Hydrous alcohol, whichhas been subsidised by the State, is used by less than 1% of new cars inBrazil. Anhydrous alcohol, which hasalso been State-subsidised, is added to all gasoline sold in Brazil at a rate of 24%. The combined annual savings to the government will be $175M.

Developments in fuel celltechnologyFuel cell project at Houston AdvancedResearch Center (HARC)Two utility companies, a major energycompany, and a major supplier of enginecomponents and automotive productshave joined forces to power up a fuel celldemonstration and evaluation project atHARC. The three-year, $7 M projectseeks to test and determine the variousconditions under which fuel cells can beput to use as a clean, reliable, andaffordable energy source. The fourcompanies participating in this initialproject of HARC’s newly created Centerfor Fuel Cell Research and Applicationsare Dana Corp., Texaco, Southern Co.and Salt River Project. The project’sobjective is to demonstrate the value ofstationary, near-zero emission protonexchange membrane fuel cell units inboth small and large-scale applications.HARC plans to operate fuel cells frommultiple US and foreign-basedmanufacturers, first looking at a large250 kW fuel cell system. Based inToledo, Ohio, Dana Corp. is one of theworld’s largest independent suppliers tovehicle manufacturers. Salt River Projectis the third largest public power utility inthe US. Southern Co., based in Atlanta, isan international energy company. TexacoEnergy Systems Inc. is exploringbusiness opportunities in fuel cells,hydrocarbons-to-liquids, and alternativefuels (http://www.harc.edu).

Record 3 M hours of ‘green’ powerA fleet of PC25 commercial fuel cellpower plant systems, developed byInternational Fuel Cells Inc., and

manufactured and serviced by ONSICorp., has accumulated more than 3 Mhours of in-service operation, breaking itsown world record. ONSI has producedmore than 200 of the power plant systemswhich are operating in 84 citiesthroughout the US as well as 11 countriesin Europe, Asia and North America. Thefleet’s previous record, 2 M hours ofoperation, was set in June 1998. EachPC25 power plant provides 200 kilowattsof power, operating on a variety of fuels.While most use natural gas, some usemethane from anaerobic digesters atwaste water treatment plants or landfills,others use propane, butane, purehydrogen or methane. The PC25 systemcontains the fuel cell itself and thecomponents to make it commerciallyviable, including the fuel processingequipment and the devices needed toconvert the direct current from the fuelcell into the alternating current normallyused in homes and businesses.International Fuel Cells and itsmanufacturing arm, ONSI, both of SouthWindsor, Connecticut, are world leadersin fuel cell production(http://www.internationalfuelcells.com).

New US hydrogen fuel cell stationEnergy and motor companies are to set upa dedicated hydrogen filling station andfuel-cell vehicle centre in 2000 atSacramento, California, at the headquartersof the California Fuel Cell Partnership—agroup including the state government,energy firms and vehicle manufacturers.The fuelling facility, jointly funded byShell International, Arco (AtlanticRichfield Co.) and Texaco Inc., willdispense liquid and compressed hydrogenfuel for 16 fuel-cell powered passengervehicles. “Refuelling is one of the keyissues for enabling fuel-cell vehicles toreach the mass market,” said Don Huberts,chief executive of Shell Hydrogen.

Automobile companies involved inthe venture include DaimlerBenz AG,Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. Ltd.and Volkswagen AG, and each will havegarage bays at the centre for servicing,repairs and diagnostics(http://www.drivingthefuture.org).

Ballard Power SystemsBallard have produced a new fuel cell,the Mark 900, which was included in thenew Ford prototype fuel-cell vehicle, theTH!NK FC5, presented at the NorthAmerican International Auto Show inDetroit in January 2000(http://www.ballard.com andhttp://www.thinkmobility.com).

DaimlerChryslerDaimlerChrysler have stated that theybelieve it will take another 10 years toproduce fuel-cell-powered vehicles thatare truly competitive with conventionalcars. Despite this, the company plan tostart selling such cars by 2004 and theybelieve that the market for them willreach 25% of the global market forvehicles in 2020. Popular Sciencemagazine, in its 1999 “Best of What’sNew” issue, awarded theDaimlerChrysler NECAR 4 the GrandPrize as the year’s best achievement inscience and technology.

For more information on developmentsin the application of fuel cells totransportation see the Online Fuel CellInformation Centre developed by FuelCells 2000 at http://www.fuelcells.org/,the Fuel Cells Network(http://www.keele.ac.uk/deps/ch/fuelcell/network/board/htm) andhttp://evworld.com.

Future outlookMost people involved in the industry nowagree that fuel cell technology will playan important role in the future oftransport. The only real question is overhow long this will take before asignificant impact is made: 10, 20 or 30years? There are still several key technicaland economic questions to be answered,but with the sheer volume of high qualityresearch going on it is surely only aquestion of a few years before we start tosee fuel cell powered cars on the forecourt.

In the meantime, as the article on theFord EV pick-up highlights, existingclean technology solutions willcontinue to find niche markets but eventhe most ardent enthusiast does notbelieve the electric battery powered carwill become widely used. Whilst theworld waits for the new cleantechnologies to come on stream, smallbut valuable incremental improvementscan still be made. Leaded gasoline willsoon be phased out in many parts of theworld and more stringent control oflevels of sulfur in both diesel andgasoline are being introduced.Designers are still striving for theperfect aerodynamic shape but for allpractical purposes we must surely benear the limit of where this area ofresearch can have a significant impacton fuel efficiency.

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