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National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, observed on Oct. 8 to reflect hydrogen’s atomic weight (1.008), may go unnoticed by many. However, for Hollister renewable energy expert Ed Bless, the day’s concepts and potential are cause for celebration.
“Hydrogen is everywhere,” he said. “90% of all of the atoms in the universe are hydrogen atoms. And if you run it through a fuel cell, it’s absolutely pollution-free and 2.4 times more powerful than gasoline.”
Hydrogen fuel cells, according to Bliss, were first developed in 1839 and work on a relatively simple principle. As the gas passes through a membrane, it is split into electrons, which produce electricity, and protons, which combine with oxygen as waste to produce water vapor.
“The ability to create hydrogen,” he said, “is as simple as taking a positive lead on the DC battery and a negative lead and putting it in water. In my opinion, it is the redemption fuel. It is the perfect fuel for mankind.”
In 2001, the same year Bliss founded his company, H2 Solutions, he said that General Motors debuted a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle concept car called the Autonomy, describing it as “the shape of all things to come.”
By 2003, he said, interest in hydrogen as a fuel had increased, jump-started by a $1.2 billion initiative under President George W. Bush to further the development of hydrogen technology and infrastructure as a way of reducing U.S. reliance on foreign oil and decreasing pollution from vehicles.
“Petroleum is a finite resource,” Bliss said. “The most profitable corporation in the entire world is the national oil and gas company of Saudi Arabia. And we allow groups like the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to call the shots.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hydrogen fuel cells are becoming increasingly important in industry. There are more than 300,000 stationary fuel cell systems worldwide, and, in the U.S., they provide more than 500 megawatts of power, serving more than 40 states. There are also more than 35,000 hydrogen fuel cell forklifts and 60 hydrogen fuel cell buses in use across the U.S.
In a recent webinar hosted by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, industry expert Sunita Satapal estimated that the global hydrogen market has reached $2.5 trillion, and has seen $110 billion in recent investments.
“There’s so much global momentum,” she said, “and we have been able to assert the value of hydrogen to our policymakers. I think this is a critical window of opportunity for the industry, but there are still lots of challenges.”
One of the challenges is the domination of the market by electric vehicles powered by lithium batteries, which were introduced in 1998 with the Nissan Altra. Bliss describes the use of lithium batteries in cars such as the Tesla as a “game changer” that temporarily disrupted the progress in hydrogen powered cars.
“I hate to disagree with Elon Musk,” he said, “but lithium batteries are not the end goal or answer. The more batteries an electric vehicle has, the heavier it gets, resulting in less mileage. And you also have to deal with the waste of the battery, which is substantial.”
Bless said that lithium batteries also make us just as dependent on foreign resources as foreign oil for gasoline. And safe refueling of fuel cell vehicles, he said, can be done in three to five minutes for a range of 300–400 miles on a single tank of fuel.
“This is what we should be doing,” he said. “Eighty percent of all of the lithium-ion batteries are being produced in China. I just don’t see this as a good deal. With hydrogen, we are actually replacing the battery in the car.”
Hydrogen-powered cars are of particular interest to Bless, who is developing a home hydrogen recharging station called “HOMER,” similar to systems installed in garages for electric vehicles.
While hydrogen-powered cars, like the Toyota Mirai, are currently available, the lack of refueling stations is an obstacle to broader acceptance. According to the DOE, there are only 45 hydrogen stations in the U.S., and 42 of them are located in California. HOMER would, in part, change that.
“We have engineered the beginning of a different type of product,” Bliss said. “This is like a propane tank, but replacing the propane with hydrogen. The cost of gasoline is going up. The price of hydrogen is coming down.”
Ideally, Bless said, beyond fueling a hydrogen vehicle at home, a home solar system could also generate the hydrogen for the car by electrolyzing water, resulting in “something that’s incredibly non-polluting and a full circle in a way.”
Once prototypes of the HOMER unit are developed and their reliability is proven, Bliss plans to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by undertaking a cross-country drive in a hydrogen-powered vehicle. This would require installing HOMER units near locations within the Clean Cities Coalition, a DOE partnership aimed at advancing clean transportation nationwide.
Bliss was involved in the creation of the Silicon Valley Clean Cities program which, according to DOE statistics, reduced annual emissions in the San Jose area by 152,203 tons of carbon dioxide in 2023.
“I’d like to see Hollister be dramatically involved in this whole notion,” Bliss said. “If we can drive a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle across the United States from Hollister and back, it will give incredible credit to our city and make it a worldwide destination.”
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