This article needs to be updated.(October 2024) |
Japan's hydrogen highway is a network of hydrogen filling stations placed along roadsides that provide fuel for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCV). An HFCV is a vehicle that uses a fuel cell to convert hydrogen energy into electrical energy. The hydrogen that is used in fuel cell vehicles can be made using fossil or renewable resources. The hydrogen highway is necessary for HFCVs to be used. HFCV reduce tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases. [1] By May 2016, there were approximately 80 hydrogen fueling stations in Japan. [2]
Since 2014, Toyota and Honda have begun to introduce Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV) that convert hydrogen into electricity while only emitting water vapor at the tailpipe. FCV sales are limited by the need for a Hydrogen supply infrastructure network. This network's purpose would be to make the purchase of hydrogen powered vehicles more appealing to the public.
The first two hydrogen fueling stations were built for the Japan Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Demonstration Project (JHFC) Expo, to promote the usage of hydrogen fuel, in March 2005. [3] The fuel stations were displayed in two different sides in the city of Seto (Seto-North and Seto-South). This Expo for introducing hydrogen fuel cell technology proved effective as over 1,300 kg of fuel was dispensed from the stations. [4] At the end of 2012 there where 17 hydrogen stations. [5]
The Japanese government planned to add up to 100 public hydrogen stations under a budget of 460 million dollars covering 50% of the installation costs with the last ones hoped to be operational in 2015. [6] [7] JX Energy expected to install 40 stations by 2015. [8] Toho Gas and Iwatani Corp [9] expected to install an additional 20 stations. [10] Toyota Tsusho and Air Liquide made a JV to build 2 hydrogen stations hoped to be ready by 2015. [11] A "task force" led by Yuriko Koike, Japan's former environment minister, and supported by the country's Liberal Democratic Party was set up to guide the process. [12]
By May 2016, there were approximately 80 hydrogen fueling stations in Japan, [13] and as of 2024 there are at least 157, with 7 more in development. [2]
The two motivations for the research and development of fuel cells were because of the energy policy and the industrial policy. Japan's energy policy promotes finding and creating new sources of renewable energy and staying technologically competitive with other countries and companies. Japan's industrial policy promotes maintaining a competitive economy through advanced technology. [1]
The cost of these Hydrogen gas stations is not cheap so there are many car and oil companies that are supporting this transition. There are 13 main companies that are paying for the new source of fuel. [14]
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an oxidizing agent into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen to move. Hydrogen vehicles include some road vehicles, rail vehicles, space rockets, forklifts, ships and aircraft. Motive power is generated by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy, either by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to power electric motors or, less commonly, by hydrogen internal combustion.
The hydrogen economy is an umbrella term for the roles hydrogen can play alongside low-carbon electricity to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The aim is to reduce emissions where cheaper and more energy-efficient clean solutions are not available. In this context, hydrogen economy encompasses the production of hydrogen and the use of hydrogen in ways that contribute to phasing-out fossil fuels and limiting climate change.
A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate electricity generally using oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen. Most fuel cell vehicles are classified as zero-emissions vehicles. As compared with internal combustion vehicles, hydrogen vehicles centralize pollutants at the site of the hydrogen production, where hydrogen is typically derived from reformed natural gas. Transporting and storing hydrogen may also create pollutants. Fuel cells have been used in various kinds of vehicles including forklifts, especially in indoor applications where their clean emissions are important to air quality, and in space applications. Fuel cells are being developed and tested in trucks, buses, boats, ships, motorcycles and bicycles, among other kinds of vehicles.
The Honda Clarity is a nameplate used by Honda on alternative fuel vehicles. It was initially used only on hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles such as the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity, but in 2017 the nameplate was expanded to include the battery-electric Honda Clarity Electric and the plug-in hybrid electric Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, in addition to the next generation Honda Clarity Fuel Cell. Clarity production ended in August 2021 with US leases for the fuel cell variant continuing through to 2022.
Toyota Tsusho Corporation is a sōgō shōsha, a member of the Toyota Group. Toyota Tsusho has a worldwide presence through its many subsidiaries and operating divisions, including over 150 offices, and 900 subsidiaries and affiliates around the world. Its main business is supporting Toyota Motor's automobile business and other Toyota Group companies, but Toyota Tsusho's business is very diverse, spanning industrial, commercial, and consumer sectors. Business areas run the gamut, including industrial raw materials, agricultural products, and high technology.
A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is their essential function when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyser: separation of reactants and transport of protons while blocking a direct electronic pathway through the membrane.
The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) is a public-private partnership to promote hydrogen vehicles (including cars and buses) in California. It is notable as one of the first initiatives for that purpose undertaken in the United States. The challenge is which come first, hydrogen cars or filling stations.
Hydrogen technologies are technologies that relate to the production and use of hydrogen as a part hydrogen economy. Hydrogen technologies are applicable for many uses.
The Toyota FCHV is a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development programme of the Toyota Motor Corporation, which was leased to a limited number of drivers in the United States and Japan beginning in 2002. The Toyota FCHV and Honda FCX, which began leasing on 2 December 2002, became the world's first government-certified commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Its first commercial fuel cell vehicle was developed from the FCHV-4, which was adapted from the Toyota Highlander body. "FCHV" stands for "Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle". A number of prototypes have been produced, up to the latest FCHV-adv ("advanced").
The Honda FCX is a family of hydrogen fuel cell automobiles manufactured by Honda.
A fuel cell bus is a bus that uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its power source for electrically driven wheels, sometimes augmented in a hybrid fashion with batteries or a supercapacitor. The only emission from the bus is water. Several cities around the world have trialled and tested fuel cell buses, with over 5,600 buses in use worldwide, the majority of which are in China.
A hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle (HICEV) is a type of hydrogen vehicle using an internal combustion engine. Hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles are different from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Instead, the hydrogen internal combustion engine is simply a modified version of the traditional gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. The absence of carbon means that no CO2 is produced, which eliminates the main greenhouse gas emission of a conventional petroleum engine.
ITM Power plc is an energy storage and clean fuel company founded in the UK in 2001. It designs, manufactures, and integrates electrolysers based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology to produce green hydrogen using renewable electricity and tap water. Hydrogen produced via electrolysis is used for mobility, Power-to-X, and industry.
Oorja Fuel Cells is an energy company that designs, manufactures, and commercializes direct methanol fuel cells for use in the logistics, automotive, distributed generation (micro-grid), and telecommunication industries. Oorja develops direct methanol fuel cells ranging in power from 0.5 to 100 kilowatts.
The Toyota Mirai is a mid-size hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) manufactured by Toyota, and is the first FCV to be mass-produced and sold commercially. The Mirai was unveiled at the November 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. As of November 2022, global sales totaled 21,475 units; the top-selling markets were the U.S. with 11,368 units, Japan with 7,435 and the rest of the world with 2,622.
Hydrogenics is a developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products based on water electrolysis and proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technology. Hydrogenics is divided into two business units: OnSite Generation and Power Systems. Onsite Generation is headquartered in Oevel, Belgium and had 73 full-time employees as of December 2013. Power Systems is based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, with a satellite facility in Gladbeck, Germany. It had 62 full-time employees as of December 2013. Hydrogenics maintains operations in Belgium, Canada and Germany with satellite offices in the United States, Indonesia, Malaysia and Russia.
The World Hydrogen Council is a global CEO-led initiative of 132 leading energy, transport, industry, and investment companies that seeks to develop the hydrogen economy. It claims to accelerate investment in the development and commercialization of the hydrogen and fuel cell sectors and encourage stakeholders to increase their backing of hydrogen as part of the future energy mix.
The FV-E991 series (FV-E991系), nicknamed HYBARI, is a hydrogen fuel cell electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company from 2022.