3. On June 5 a rally of
hydrogen-powered cars and
other eco-friendly vehicles
will drive from Brighton to
London. For details, see
pages 7-10
I
n 2020 the world is expected to
reach a motoring landmark: the
number of cars on the roads will
hit 1 billion for the first time.
Traditional economists would see it as
a positive achievement that with the
global population up to about 8 billion
by then, we should be rich enough for
one in eight people to own a car.
There is, of course, a price to be
paid. We now know that every time
we exercise our personal freedom to
drive, we are putting the planet’s
future at risk.
The latest global warming reports
from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change say that within a few
generations, human beings may face
an impoverished world of expanding
deserts, wildlife extinctions and
acidifying oceans.
Faced with such threats it could
seem foolish and selfish for us to keep
on driving, flying and consuming at
greater and greater levels than before.
But since most of us want to — and
will — the best hope seems to lie in a
technological solution that can ensure
the growing demand for fuel is met
without damaging the planet. Could
fuel cells and hydrogen power be that
solution? Ostensibly they are the
cleanest kind of power source you
could hope for, burning hydrogen and
oxygen to produce water and power
but no greenhouse gases.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of
California, is already converted. He is
pushing to get up to 200 hydrogen
filling stations built in the next five
years, part of a plan to build a
“hydrogen highway” stretching from
Vancouver, Canada, down to Baja,
California.
The economist Sir Nicholas Stern,
part of a Treasury group looking at
green fuels and transport, is a cautious
optimist. “Hydrogen could potentially
offer complete diversification away
from oil and provide very low carbon
transport,” he said in his 2006 report
on climate change, compiled while he
was the government’s chief economic
adviser. “Hydrogen can produce as
little as 5% of the emissions of
conventional fuel if produced by
low-emission technologies.”
Note that caveat. Hydrogen is a
reactive gas so it occurs bound up with
other elements. We need to use energy
to extract it and that energy has to be
green and cheap or the process
becomes self-defeating.
At the moment the only way of
generating hydrogen in sufficient
quantities without producing
greenhouse gases is through nuclear
power. Building all the power stations
necessary would be hugely expensive
and controversial.
This is one of the reasons why the
fuel cell remains largely obscure even
though it was invented in 1839 and
has been touted as the power source
of the future for more than a century.
But the growing number of cars,
surging price of fuel and concern
about global warming mean that car
makers and fuel companies are taking
a closer look at the technology.
This month sees the European debut
of the FCX Concept, Honda’s fuel
cell-powered saloon, which is due to
go on public sale in America next year.
The German gas and engineering
company Linde has just built one of
Europe’s first public hydrogen filling
stations in Munich. “The infrastructure
for a hydrogen economy is not yet
established,” says Carolyn Diehl of
Linde. “If people are going to invest in
hydrogen then companies like ours
have to put money into making fuel
available. We are making that
commitment.”
Storing hydrogen is another
problem. Compressing or liquefying
the gas uses precious energy and
hydrogen is such a tiny molecule that,
over time, it can escape from almost
any pressurised container. Not many
car owners would be impressed by a
fuel that disappeared while their
vehicle was parked.
Professor Bill David of Oxford
University oversees a research
consortium that is designing fuel tanks
from materials that hold hydrogen by
absorbing it onto their surfaces. He
says: “The holy grail is a hydrogen
fuel tank that weighs the same as a
conventional one filled with petrol. We
are making good progress but we are
still some way off.”
We are certainly some way off from
knowing whether hydrogen can be
made cheap and green enough to
replace fossil fuels. If not, the
hydrogen highway will soon turn into
another dead end. But if the answer is
yes, we will all get on the road to a
greener future.
Governor Schwarzenegger
wants to see hydrogen stations
throughout the state of California
Revolve Eco-Rally
THE SUNDAY TIMES • JUNE 3, 2007
3www.revolve.ws
Honda’s FCX Concept saloon;
below, one of the first public
hydrogen filling stations, in Munich
Clean-up squad
gets rolling
Ann Johansson
The ‘hydrogen highway’ has been hailed as the
road to salvation from global warming. Can gas
power really save us, asks JONATHAN LEAKE
4. 1839 The fuel cell is invented by Sir William Grove, a British judge and
amateur scientist. Grove was studying electrolysis — where electricity is
used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. He reasoned that the
reverse process — reacting oxygen and hydrogen — could be a way of
generating power. He called his invention a “gas battery”
1889 Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer coin the term “fuel cell” during
research to build the first practical device using air and coal gas
1959 A Cambridge university engineer called Francis Bacon, a direct
descendant of his 17th-century
philosopher namesake, develops a
5 kilowatt (kW) fuel cell capable of
powering a welding machine. The
same year a US team led by Harry
Ihrig installs a 15kW fuel cell in a
tractor, demonstrating it at farming
shows across America
1964-66 Nasa recognises
potential for fuel cells in space
exploration, installing them on its
Gemini mission. Every Nasa space
mission since then has used fuel
cells, including the Apollo moon
landings
1967 Shell research centre in Chester unveils hydrazine-powered fuel
cell Daf car
1988 Los Alamos laboratories in New Mexico develops viable fuel cell
technology that requires far less platinum than was previously the case
1993 Ballard, a Canadian company, unveils the first fuel cell-powered
production vehicle, a transit bus
1997 Daimler Benz invests half a
billion dollars in fuel cell
technology
2003 Ken Livingstone, mayor of
London, establishes a £4m trial of
three fuel cell-powered buses
2007 Honda demonstrates its
FCX Concept vehicle, powered by
hydrogen fuel cells. It is capable of
reaching 100mph and has a
350-mile range. An American
production vehicle is expected next
year
4
What is a fuel cell?
Fuel cells resemble batteries in that
they generate electricity from a
chemical reaction. Where they differ is
that they can be refuelled over and
over again. As long as hydrogen and
oxygen are supplied, a fuel cell can
produce heat and power indefinitely.
How do they work?
Fuel cells are much simpler than
engines. They comprise a negatively
charged anode, a positively charged
cathode and an electrolyte — a liquid
that will carry charged particles. When
hydrogen enters the fuel cell it passes
over a catalyst, which splits it into
protons and electrons. The electrons
flow into the cathode and round a wire
towards the anode, creating an
electrical current. Meanwhile, the
protons move through the electrolyte
towards the anode, where they
combine with oxygen and electrons to
form heat and water.
Fuel cells have been around for
years. Why are people keen now?
Energy has been getting more
expensive while fuel cell technology
and materials are getting cheaper and
better. Sometimes they can be less
expensive than conventional power, as
in generating electricity for installations
such as mobile phone masts.
How efficient are fuel cells?
Burning fossil fuels for energy, in a car
engine for example, is about 15%
efficient — meaning 85% of the energy
is lost as heat. A typical fuel cell is
40%-50% efficient and the waste heat
can be harnessed to generate hot
water or run power systems, raising
efficiency to more than 80%.
Is using fuel cells better for the
environment?
The efficiency of fuel cells, plus the
fact that they emit no carbon dioxide,
implies they are very green but it’s not
that simple. The key is where they get
their fuel from. Currently most
hydrogen is obtained by breaking
down fossil fuels — a process that
generates greenhouse gases and other
pollutants. This is known as “brown”
or “black” hydrogen.
Is there such a thing as “green
hydrogen”?
Yes. It’s possible to make hydrogen by
breaking down water with electricity. If
the electricity comes from renewable
sources, it is a completely green
energy system. Also, hydrogen can be
made from organic waste, such as
sewage.
Can we make enough hydrogen
for our needs this way?
It would mean transforming our urban
and rural landscapes with wind
turbines and solar panels everywhere.
What about nuclear power?
Nuclear power is ideal for generating
hydrogen — but is it green? Some
environmentalists, such as James
Lovelock, originator of the Gaia
hypothesis, think using nuclear power
in this way is essential to achieve
sustainability. Others say the longevity
of nuclear waste and risk of a serious
accident make it unacceptable.
How small can fuel cells be
made?
Tiny. Japanese electronics firms are
about to launch fuel cell-powered
laptops and mobile-phone chargers.
And how big?
The biggest installation is an 11
megawatt fuel cell power station near
Tokyo, which is powerful enough to
supply 10,000 homes.
Who will be the first significant
users of fuel cells?
Businesses, institutions and
governments. Fuel cells produce a
smoother power supply than the
national grid, which makes them
attractive to organisations that rely on
sensitive electronic equipment.
What about space exploration
and the military?
Fuel cells were developed by Nasa to
power space missions. The British
Army hopes they will cut the weight of
equipment soldiers carry and provide
more reliable power than costly and
heavy batteries. Large fuel cells are
being used in ships and submarines.
Can fuel cells save you from
power cuts?
It’s no coincidence that California,
where power cuts are rife, is adopting
the technology faster than anywhere
else. It provides an independent fuel
supply and protection from blackouts.
When will we get them in our
homes?
Fuel cells should excel as a home
power source, providing electricity and
heat with a potential efficiency greater
than 80%. However, cost and safety
issues have to be resolved so it will be
a few years before they are feasible.
Could fuel cells power aircraft?
They would be fantastically heavy
using today’s technology, but Boeing is
building a demonstration light aircraft
and fuel cells will provide auxiliary
power on its new Dreamliner.
What about public transport?
Fuel cells should be ideal once weight
and cost problems are solved. London
has taken part in a European trial of
fuel-cell-powered buses.
Why can’t I buy a fuel cell car?
The success of the Toyota Prius, a
petrol-electric hybrid, has shown there
is a market for green cars. Most
makers have built prototypes but there
are no production models. Honda’s
FCX Concept fuel cell car is expected
to reach showrooms as early as 2009.
GM says its Sequel model will go on
sale in 2010 at about £30,000.
Intelligent Energy is seeking
manufacturing partners for its ENV
fuel cell motorcycle, which does up to
50mph with a 100-mile range.
Why the delay?
Making cheap, mass-produced fuel
cells that are small, light and powerful
enough to propel a car is a challenge.
Also, hydrogen is hard to store.
Other alternative fuels have not
been popular. Why should this
one take off?
It’s true that liquefied petroleum gas,
compressed natural gas and plug-in
electric vehicles have not been a big
success. Hybrids such as the Prius
remain a niche. The reasons are
simple: these vehicles are costly and
the direct benefit to drivers is limited.
However, there have been successes,
such as using sugar cane and corn to
make ethanol in Brazil and America.
The key to their popularity was
government subsidy and regulation
that obliged motorists and oil
companies to use biofuels. If hydrogen
is to go mainstream, it will need
government support and investment.
Do car makers see a future in
fuel cells?
A report from the US National
Academies of Science in 2004 found
that most manufacturers regard fuel
cells as the best long-term option to
keep people on the road while cutting
carbon emissions. They say fuel cells
are the first alternative fuel to offer
immediate benefits such as cheaper
maintenance and quiet operation.
BMW, however, is promoting a system
in which liquid hydrogen is burnt in
an internal combustion engine.
Would a fuel cell car be left
standing at the lights?
Not at all. Fuel cells generate lots of
low-end torque — the muscle power
that rapidly accelerates a vehicle. Boy
racers could be disappointed, however,
as they are almost silent, so revving
the engine would sound like a milk
float going uphill.
JUNE 3, 2007 • THE SUNDAY TIMES
www.tfl.gov.uk
Inventor Sir William Grove
Fuel cells: electric
power from
hydrogen fuel
Fuel cell
The gas is fed into
a fuel cell where it
reacts with oxygen to
create electricity and
water vapour
2
Power unit
The electricity powers
a drive unit under the
bonnet. The water
vapour is piped away
to the atmosphere
3
High-pressure
hydrogen tanks
The compressed or liquefied
gases are contained in
secure tanks capable of
resisting crash impacts
1
How fuel cells create electricity
A Hydrogen atoms fed into
fuel cell anode where
catalyst splits them into
electrons and protons
B Electrons are channelled
through a circuit to
produce electricity
C Protons pass through
membrane to cathode to
combine with electrons and
oxygen to make water
Hydrogen
Electrons
Oxygen
Heat
and
water
Anode
Cathode
Protons
Membrane
THE SUNDAY TIMES • JUNE 3, 2007
5www.revolve.ws
Part of Nasa’s Gemini 7 spacecraft
Key dates
The ENV fuel cell motorcycle can do up to 50mph and has a 100-mile range
From thin air, the gas that’s all revved upRon Sachs/Rex Features
How is it produced? Could it heat my house?
And why can’t I have it now? JONATHAN LEAKE
answers the questions about hydrogen power
5. We can’t make the
best of hydrogen till we
find the cleanest way
to produce it, says
JONATHAN LEAKE
H
ydrogen has a dirty secret. It
is touted as a clean green
fuel because water is the
only by-product from
burning it but what the enthusiasts
often fail to mention is how the
hydrogen itself has been produced.
Hydrogen is the most abundant
element in the universe and very
common on earth. But it is unusual to
find it in its pure form because
hydrogen is reactive — it loves to
combine with other elements.
When it combines with oxygen it
makes water. This means that our
oceans, lakes and rivers are one of the
biggest potential sources of hydrogen.
It also combines well with carbon,
which makes it a significant
component of organic substances
ranging from oil to agricultural waste.
The only way to get hydrogen in its
useful pure form is to extract it from
one of these sources. But if this
process itself produces significant
greenhouse gases and other harmful
by-products, then it is hardly green.
Most hydrogen is made this way —
in refineries processing fossil fuels for
energy. The process emits carbon
dioxide and adopting it on a global
scale may be unsustainable. So what
are the alternatives?
Electrolysis: Passing an electric
current through water splits it into
hydrogen and oxygen, which can be
collected easily. The problem is that
this method requires a lot of electricity
to provide usable amounts of
hydrogen, which becomes
unsustainable if that electricity comes
from fossil fuels.
Ideally, the power for electrolysis
would come from renewable sources
such as sunlight, wind and burning of
biomass (plant and animal material)
but the infrastructure does not yet
exist. There are proposals for home-
generation systems, where every home
would generate its own electricity and
hydrogen from solar panels and wind
turbines, but this is a long way off.
Perhaps the best source of energy for
electrolysis would be nuclear, but this
form of power is highly controversial
and potentially expensive.
Fossil fuels: Hydrogen can be
extracted or “reformed” from natural
gas, oil and coal, but this generates
carbon dioxide. Capturing this
greenhouse gas and “sequestering” it
underground could reduce the
emissions. This is technically feasible
but not yet economic. Also, supplies of
natural gas and oil are declining so
this method will become increasingly
costly.
Biomass gasification: Woodchips,
farm waste and even sewage could
become valuable in a hydrogen-based
economy. Heating them in a controlled
atmosphere yields synthesis gas:
carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide
(CO2) and hydrogen (H2). But the
process is seen as “carbon neutral”
because the plant matter was recently
removing CO2 from the atmosphere
through photosynthesis. The gas could
also be sequestered.
Photoelectrolysis: This
experimental technique using sunlight
to split water involves immersing a
photovoltaic cell in water. As incoming
light hits the cell, it generates power to
split the water into hydrogen and
oxygen.
Biohydrogen: This system harnesses
the power of certain green algae to
produce hydrogen in the presence of
sunlight. Scientists have even
manipulated spinach plants to make
hydrogen. Such techniques look
promising in the long term.
Underground hydrogen: Some
scientists believe that the rocks deep
beneath our feet contain inexhaustible
reserves of hydrogen. Friedemann
Freund, a Nasa scientist, reported in
the journal Astrobiology that rocks
which were once molten generate
molecules of hydrogen as they cool.
Such hydrogen can dissolve into water
or form underground reservoirs.
Usually, he said, these reservoirs form
far deeper below ground than gas and
oil reserves but sometimes they are
found higher up.
Oil companies and deep coal miners
often stumble on pockets of hydrogen.
The question is how to find and
exploit underground hydrogen
reserves.
Solar furnace: The Weizmann
Institute of Science in Israel has
harnessed the power of the sun in a
“solar furnace”: dozens of large
mirrors focused on a tower where the
combined rays generate heat in excess
of 1,000C. This energy is used to smelt
magnesium compounds, leaving just
the metal. The magnesium is reacted
with boron oxide to create pure boron,
which is highly reactive with water,
generating large amounts of hydrogen.
If the technology were used to
power cars, the boron and water
would be stored separately in two
containers in the vehicle. Mixing
them in a controlled fashion would
release hydrogen as demanded by the
engine. The only by-product is boron
oxide, which can be separated from
the oxygen and reused again and
again for hydrogen production.
Clean energy catalyst: The ability
to store hydrogen could be what
makes the whole renewables industry
work on a large scale. For example, a
wind farm, at the mercy of variable
weather, would be able to take full
advantage of the wind whenever it
blows, producing and storing
hydrogen to be used on demand for
transport or electric power.
Pipelines: Projects are exploring the
potential to deliver hydrogen via
existing natural gas pipelines.
Shining examples
Weizmann Institute
JUNE 3, 2007 • THE SUNDAY TIMES
www.tfl.gov.uk6
Dozens of mirrors harness
the sun’s power at the
Weizmann Institute of
Science in Israel
6. THE PRINCE OF WALES, whose
interest in the environment and
possible technological solutions to
its woes is well known, will have the
chance to test-drive four of the low-
and zero-emission vehicles at a
private event at Hampton Court
Palace tomorrow, the day before the
rally. He will be joined by Sir Stirling
Moss and Quentin Willson, both of
whom will be driving in the Brighton
to London run.
Eco-Rally organiser Steven Glaser
says Charles’s involvement is very
welcome given his long-term interest
in environmental issues.
“This event gives Prince Charles
the opportunity to show his support
for green motoring without having to
ally himself to any one
manufacturer,” says Glaser. “At
Hampton Court he will drive several
examples of state-of-the-art design
and technology.”
Crawley
Burgess
Hill
LONDON
M25
A23
A23
M23
Croydon
Clapham
FINISH
Trafalgar
Square
START
Brighton
Madeira Drive
5 miles
1
See the route at
www.revolve.ws
Timetable
1 10.30am: Vehicles and celebrity drivers assemble at
Madeira Drive, Brighton. After a rousing address from
Quentin Willson, at 11am the convoy moves off to the A23
2 12.30pm: Cars arrive at North End, central Croydon,
and remain for about 90 minutes for public viewing and
presentations from Malcolm Wicks, minister of state for
science and innovation, and others. Rally heads for
central London at 2pm
3 3.30pm: About now, the cars should be crossing the
Thames at Westminster Bridge, before proceeding to
Trafalgar Square, where they will be welcomed by
Nicky Gavron, deputy mayor of London,
All timings subject to traffic conditions
Revolve, the organiser, would like people who photograph
the rally vehicles en route to upload their pictures to
www.flickr.com and ‘geotag’ the location ‘revolve050607’
on the world map. Revolve has model fuel cell cars to give
as prizes to the best 10 entrants.
To see the photos taken en route, visit www.flickr.com
and enter ‘revolve050607’
3
2
The Revolve
Eco-Rally
On June 5, a convoy of
environmentally friendly
vehicles will drive from
Brighton to London
Trafalgar Square: the
drivers’ destination
Trafalgar Square: the
drivers’ destination
Brighton: the rally
starts by the sea
A rally of eco-friendly
cars will bring the
future of motoring into
today’s traffic, says
GARETH HUW DAVIES
F
or many years London to
Brighton has been a
memorable route for the
motor car. We have doffed our
caps to noble and ancient automobiles
taking a spin through the mists of
nostalgia, then got on with polluting
the world with our modern-day
versions of the internal combustion
engine.
On Tuesday, with neat symbolism,
the route will be driven backwards, as
if, after 100 years of pain to our lungs
and the atmosphere, the relentlessly
polluting progress of the petrol-driven
car is being put into reverse.
Organisers of the inaugural Revolve
Eco-Rally, which is taking place on
World Environment Day, claim it is the
first event of its kind to showcase so
many hydrogen-powered cars in one
place, alongside other low-emission
vehicles from leading manufacturers —
about a dozen cars in all. Many of the
vehicles will be in the UK for the first
time. Some will be driven by motoring
celebrities, including Sir Stirling Moss
and Quentin Willson.
Look closely if you are in Brighton,
Croydon, along the route or in the
vicinity of the finishing line in
Trafalgar Square. It could be akin to
the experience of your forebears when,
a century ago, they saw a pioneering
car for the first time. These are the
machines that may change motoring as
we know it — and go some way to
saving the planet.
The 52-mile rally from Brighton to
London is designed to take the
vehicles of tomorrow off the test-bed
and into the street for us all to see,
alongside the low- and zero-emission
vehicles that are already available for
us to buy.
The idea is to show off the vehicles
on real roads, where they are subject
to the everyday pressures from traffic
and other people’s driving we all
endure, in order to demonstrate that
fuel-cell and other motoring
technologies are a practical and
effective option.
The rally and the accompanying
displays of low- and zero-emission
vehicles in the Science Museum and
Trafalgar Square is organised by
Revolve, which campaigns for
emissions reductions and solutions to
the motor vehicle’s contribution to
global warming. It will all add up to a
week-long event celebrating a clean
future for the car.
The first opportunity to view some
of the green machines that will be
taking part in the Brighton to London
rally will be today at the Science
Museum in London. A selection of the
vehicles will also be on display at the
museum after the rally, for five days
starting on June 6. The museum is
open from 10am to 6pm daily and
admission is free. For further
information, telephone 0870 870 4868
or visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk.
On Tuesday, stage one of the rally
will start on Brighton’s Madeira Drive
at 11am. The public will have the
chance to inspect the vehicles before
they move off. On the first leg, they
will travel in convoy along the A23,
arriving in North End, Croydon, at
about 1pm. They will be on display
there for about 90 minutes.
The final leg, beginning about
2.30pm, will be between Croydon and
central London. The vehicles will be
routed over Westminster Bridge, for
arrival in Trafalgar Square at about
3.30pm (exact timings will depend on
traffic conditions), to be met by Nicky
Gavron, deputy mayor of London.
From the start of the rally, spectators
in Trafalgar Square will be able to
follow its progress on a big screen, via
the vehicles’ onboard tracking systems.
This will also be available online
through www.revolve.ws.
The vehicles will remain in Trafalgar
Square until the evening, and
representatives from the car makers
and fuel companies will answer
questions and explain more about the
vehicles and the technology.
GreenFleet, which promotes cleaner
fleet vehicles for business, will show a
variety of clips and presentations on
the big screen, including a montage of
all the vehicles in the rally.
n The Eco-Rally is supported by
Transport for London, the London
Hydrogen Partnership, the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, ISIS/Science and
Technology Facilities Council, Linde,
GreenFleet, WhizzGo, Ricardo, Love
London/London 21, Westminster,
Camden, Croydon and Brighton & Hove
councils, Croydon BID, the mayor of
London and the GLA
Hydrogen hits the road
Prince Charles plans a test drive
Royal appointment
THE SUNDAY TIMES • JUNE 3, 2007
7www.revolve.ws
Alamy
7. STEVEN GLASER believes the low-
and zero-emission machines in
the Revolve Eco-Rally, including
probably the largest ever
gathering of hydrogen-powered
vehicles, represent real,
affordable motoring choices,
writes Gareth Huw Davies.
“These are not visionary
machines,” says the organiser of
Tuesday’s Revolve Eco-Rally.
“They are the real functioning
product from major international
companies, demonstrating the
present and the future. We are
promoting the idea that the car
industry is developing these new
technologies. We want people to
see for themselves how quiet
these vehicles are, particularly
the electric and fuel cell cars.
“As well as the public, we want
to reach the chief executives of
big companies who may want to
get involved in new technologies.
Then we want the government to
show its confidence in these
machines and take a lead in
getting British industry involved.”
All four of the most promising
technologies for cleaner cars —
hydrogen, biofuels, hybrid and
electric (battery) — will be on
display. The vehicles in the rally
(see a selection, left) are fully
functioning, although some are
prototypes. They range from
low-emission models already on
sale, such as hybrids and cars
running on bioethanol or
batteries, to vehicles powered by
fuel cells or internal combustion
engines running on hydrogen.
Glaser says it is appropriate
that the rally, which he hopes will
become an annual event, is
ending in London, where three
fuel cell buses have successfully
completed a three-year trial. He
expects to see the mass
exploitation of fuel cell technology
first in buses rather than cars.
“But success in public transport
is not going to be enough. How
many people base their car
purchase decision on a bus
journey they have just taken?”
Public awareness of the fuel
cell is low in the country where it
was invented, he says. “It’s the
British mentality. We don’t share
the Americans’ strong belief that
technology will provide solutions.
“Clean propulsion technologies
don’t have all the answers but
they are essential to ensuring the
future of sustainable motoring.
And once they know what is
available, the British public has a
far greater propensity to spend its
money on green alternatives than
people in many other countries.
“For example, the hybrid
Toyota Prius is very popular here,
although that may in part be
because we don’t have our own
branded car industry any longer.”
Honda Civic
Hybrid
Saab 9-5 BioPower BMW Hydrogen 7 Series
Reva
G-Wiz
A light-footed driver should make
London from Brighton (52 miles)
in the Honda Civic Hybrid on a
single gallon of diesel (it promises
65.7 miles per gallon).
The Toyota Prius’s only
competitor available in the UK,
the £16,000-ish car is a stop-gap
until Honda’s FCX Concept
fuel-cell car is launched (it will be
on limited sale in America and Japan in 2008). The Civic Hybrid, like the Prius, has an electric motor to
assist a petrol engine when accelerating. Reviewers say “the more direct steering and sharper handling is
better than the Prius, with more power, more torque and better economy”. The car is exempt from the
London congestion charge, saving daily commuters more than £1,500 a year. They should also save an
estimated £1,000 in fuel costs over three years compared with the nearest petrol-engine equivalent.
General Motors HydroGen3
Microcab
Modec van
Vectrix electric scooter
Ford Explorer
JUNE 3, 2007 • THE SUNDAY TIMES
8 www.tfl.gov.uk 9www.revolve.ws
The real deal
Joining the rally: the clean cars of tomorrow
It may seem an unlikely meeting of minds, but the Swedish government is thinking what President Bush is thinking.
Sweden has decreed that it will eliminate the use of petrol by the year 2020. Bush doesn’t go that far but he still wants to
reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. Both see biofuels as an answer.
The difference is that Sweden is already reaping the benefits of its biofuel revolution. Saab will be entering its 9-5
BioPower in the Eco-Rally: running on E85 (85% bioethanol/15% petrol) fuel (or regular petrol, if biofuel is not available),
the car is the best-selling environmentally friendly vehicle in Sweden. These are top-of-the-range cars, satisfying style
aspirations as well as salving consciences. They went on sale in the UK in 2006 and the only problem so far is the
availability of biofuel — most of the filling stations are in East Anglia and Northamptonshire.
BMW’s Hydrogen 7 Series, launched last month, promises luxury without compromise.
Rather than choosing fuel cell technology, the company decided to convert a
conventional internal combustion engine to run on both liquid hydrogen and petrol. The
manufacturer says the 260hp, 12-cylinder engine zips from 0 to 62mph in 9.5
seconds, with a top speed of 143mph, on either fuel.
Hydrogen is the default power. The 17.6lb tank has a 120-mile range, after which
the petrol tank kicks in for a further 300 miles. The car will be 100% hydrogen-powered
as soon as technology and the hydrogen infrastructure allows. Initially 100 will be built
and UK “decision-makers and opinion leaders” will be given some to try this summer.
If there is a genuine “people’s car” among the rally participants, it must be the G-Wiz. The
manufacturer says it is the bestselling low- or zero-emission vehicle (depending on whether
green electricity is used), with 2,000 sold worldwide and 750 on the road in London. Top
Gear recently staged a crash test that did significant damage to the plastic vehicle, made in
India. The manufacturer says that with more than 20m miles driven by customers worldwide,
there have been no reported serious injuries. It went on sale in 2004 and uses
well-established electric battery technology, which produces a top speed of 40mph.
The fuel-cell car General Motors is running in the Eco-Rally, the HydroGen3, a prototype based on the
Opel Zafira, should have no problem completing the course. In 2004 it clocked up 6,060 miles over 38
days, travelling between Norway and Portugal, in the then world record for a fuel-cell vehicle.
General Motors has been testing a mini-van version of the HydroGen3 with the US Postal Service in
California and Washington DC, and the company expects the cars to be on sale by 2010, costing roughly
the same as the equivalent petrol or hybrid vehicles.
The vehicle has a top speed of 100mph and a range of 168 miles. It is one of 30 or more fuel-cell
vehicles and concept cars GM has built and tested over the past 10 years. The company’s bold goal is to
be the first car maker to sell a million fuel-cell vehicles.
Motoring consultant Stephen Skojec took a test drive in the vehicle in America last autumn. “The driving
experience was a little underwhelming. It was just like driving any four-cylinder small mini-van.” Another
test driver, John Liskey, noted that engineers didn’t have to add coolant to the car because it doesn’t get
as hot as in an internal combustion engine. And he found a big improvement in the technology. “When I
started following fuel-cell developments, the cars had no passenger room, and malfunctions seemed
common. There were no problems this day. The drive was not all that different from my conventional car.”
A full-size “exploded” model of a GM fuel-cell car will also be on display in Trafalgar Square on June 5.
The Microcab could be the first affordable fuel cell car to reach the
showrooms. The designer, university lecturer John Jostins, predicts
that it will go on general sale in “two and a half to three years, at
about £15,000”.
The car, initially conceived as a compact taxi, has a 30mph top
speed and a 100-mile range. It is about half the weight of a Mini.
Comparisons to the Mini are obvious. That revolutionary, no-frills
car was British-designed, too, and first rolled out of a factory not
far from Coventry, where Jostins is a university lecturer.
The Microcab boasts a gunfire-resistant hydrogen tank. It has
not yet been passed to drive on public roads so it will be on static
display in Trafalgar Square. Jostins describes a drive in his car:
“When you start, all you hear is a click, then the sound of digital
things going on as the system checks and tests equipment. Then
the fuel cell starts up. You select the driving gear, press the
accelerator and drive off. The sound of a fan is all you hear, like
the one on the back of your computer.”
Should white van man be thinking about going green? Definitely,
says the broadcaster and writer Quentin Willson, because the
current range of vans is often as polluting as the much-criticised
4x4s.
The battery-powered Modec van, launched last year, will be
paraded at the rally as an attractive option for the van driver. It
can handle a range of 100 miles between battery charges and its
top speed is 50mph when carrying a load of up to 2 tons.
Department of Transport statistics suggest a big market: the
average white van drives 62 miles a day.
Modec says the urban delivery vehicle, constructed in Coventry,
is comparable in economy and performance to diesel equivalents.
It is exempt from road tax and from the London congestion
charge.
The £23,000 van has been designed with large fleets in mind. It
is easy to maintain, with only three moving parts in the electric
motor instead of the usual 300 in a diesel engine. The
manufacturer highlights another bonus: the vehicle is virtually
silent so it should cause less disturbance during night deliveries in
urban areas.
Tesco has bought 15 Modec vans and is testing them on
delivery runs in Shrewsbury and London.
It’s clean, it’s green and you can buy it today. The
Vectrix electric scooter went on sale to the public on
April 30. Recharging stations are being installed on the
streets of London to provide an alternative to charging
the battery at home on the mains.
A full charge takes about two hours, using about
20p-worth of electricity. The range is 68 miles at
25mph. Its maximum speed is 62mph with 0 to 50mph
in 6.8 seconds.
The controls are basic. Twist back the throttle to
accelerate; twist forward to slow down and stop. The
regenerative braking means you recycle energy into the
battery every time you decelerate, extending ride time.
Detractors note that, at £6,930, it is costlier than
conventional commuter motorbikes. The company says
the high initial price will be offset by low running costs.
It is exempt from parking and congestion charges.
Outwardly, it’s a gas-guzzling stalwart of the American
highway, but this Explorer has an eco-friendly heart
within. It runs on fuel cell power yet still has a generous
range of more than 350 miles. Ford sees storage
capacity as a key element because it wants the range of
green vehicles to be comparable to conventional cars,
most of which do more than 300 miles on a tank of
petrol. The design team decided the answer was to fit a
storage tank that will operate at double the normal
pressure, allowing 60% more hydrogen to be stored.
Andy Watts/Stuart Clarke
8. The Revolve Eco-Rally 2007 is
on World Environment Day,
which has been marked each
year since 1972 on June 5. This
year the United Nations has
declared Tromso, Norway’s most
northerly city, to be the lead
city, with its Arctic location
reflecting this year’s theme of
Melting Ice — a Hot Topic? Other
events will take place all around
the world, over several days.
www.unep.org/wed/2007
Details of the Revolve Eco-Rally
correct at time of going to press.
Check for latest news and
details at www.revolve.ws
Driving in the rally could be
considered a guilty pleasure for Jenny
Jones, a Green member of the London
Assembly, who rarely gets behind the
wheel of a car. As the mayor’s green
transport adviser, she is doing her best
to reduce the number of private
vehicles on the capital’s roads, so why
is she taking part in the Brighton to
London run? Jones wanted to show
that for those journeys that cannot be
avoided, driving with zero or low
emissions can be fun.
I have a very light carbon
footprint. I use public transport
and cycle around London and I
haven’t flown for about two years. I
reckon I can have the occasional small
splurge and have some fun. So that is
how I square it with my conscience.
Living in London, I don’t think you
need a car. Even low- or zero-emission
vehicles still have an environmental
impact.
They’re not carbon-neutral options
because of all the resources going into
making them as well as the energy
used for repairs and that sort of thing.
But if we are to use cars, they
should at least be enjoyable and a
clean option.
Jenny Jones
Former Top Gear presenter Quentin
Willson has clocked up many miles in
low- and zero-emission cars, and has
driven all of the vehicles taking part in
the rally. His first experience was the
ill-fated General Motors EV1, the
electric car scrapped in the mid-1990s
after $1 billion investment. Willson,
who once sold secondhand Ferraris
and Maseratis, has more recently tried
the more frugal Toyota Prius hybrid
and the G-Wiz electric car.
Unlike my friend Jeremy
Clarkson, who says if you want a
green car, buy a green
Lamborghini, I feel we should do
something about carbon emissions.
Whether you believe in climate
change or not, two salient facts remain:
we can’t carry on chucking this stuff
into the atmosphere; and our
dependence on fossil fuels has cost
many lives and caused much
unhappiness around the world. So
anything I can do to raise awareness
that there are alternative forms of
propulsion, which are now way
beyond the embryonic, has to be good.
Hydrogen is the way ahead but that
is a decade or maybe two away
because we don’t have the refuelling
infrastructure or the storage facilities.
The interim solution is going to be a
combination of hybrids and biofuels.
Hybrids are advancing and we’ll soon
see the 100 miles per gallon version.
I’ve driven the BMW 7 Series
hydrogen car and it is fantastic.
Although it will cost a small hill of
money to buy [the conventional 7
Series starts at about £50,000], it does
everything the standard model does as
well as salve your conscience. It is just
unforgivable that we don’t have a
hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. If
we did, people would be buying that
car within a couple of years.
I still don’t see a genuine evangelical
zeal within the government about
greener driving. There should be
subsidies to encourage people to buy
hybrid cars, which cost far more than
conventional models, and changes in
duty to encourage use of greener fuels.
There are a lot of people who want to
change their behaviour to combat
climate change but you can’t expect
them to do it without some form of
incentive.
By taking part in this rally, I am
adding my name to the growing list of
people who say we are not doing
enough. We need to get people to
embrace this hugely important change.
We need to make these new forms of
driving mainstream, and
honourable, as well as interesting
and fun.
The television presenter Lisa Rogers
has seen a lot of unlikely vehicles in
her role as host of the Channel 5 show
Scrapheap Challenge, and her own car
is far from the norm. She has
embraced low-emission motoring by
converting the diesel Audi A4 to run
on vegetable oil. The car now uses
diesel from a separate tank only for
the first few minutes of driving while
the engine warms up.
Alternative energy cars are still
seen as being quite left-field. That
has to change. They need to
become mainstream.
The guys who appear in Scrapheap
Challenge rib my co-presenter Robert
Llewellyn [also taking part in the rally],
who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid. But
this is no longer a technology to make
fun of, with the Tesla electric sports
car being launched this year.
People have to have faith. I hear the
arguments about, for example,
growing crops for bioethanol fuel
taking land in a way that could be
environmentally damaging. But you
can always put up counter-arguments.
If we don’t change the way we behave,
the human race is in deep trouble.
And the poorest people will suffer
first.
05.06.07
Stay connected
Sir Stirling Moss was king of the road
in the 1950s. The racing driver
competed in 529 events, winning 211
of them, until a serious accident halted
his career in 1962. He drove
gas-guzzling big names, such as
Mercedes and Maserati, but now, at
77, is a keen advocate of cleaner
transport. He recently helped to launch
the Vectrix electric scooter, which
promises up to 62mph and a 68-mile
range from a two-hour charge on a
domestic socket, and is eager to try
fuel cell power.
This is the technology of our times.
I’m really in the market for owning
one of these zero- or low-emission
cars. Yes, I can see these as vehicles for
the mass market in the not too distant
future. There are a lot of good brains
working on the job. There’s a lot of
talent in this country to make these
things work.
It was so different when I was driving
racing cars. We were using
nitromethane, which was virtually an
explosive. The idea of getting out of
fossil fuels never entered anybody’s
mind.
The Vectrix scooter is incredible. It
goes like hell, and a bit faster than I
wanted. I’m not talking about the
maximum speed but the acceleration,
which was daunting. I’m waiting for the
three-wheeler version. I told the chief
executive they shouldn’t stop there
but go on and produce a four-
wheeler version, like a small car.
Moss, top, backs low-emission cars, Willson says hydrogen is the way ahead and Rogers runs her Audi on vegetable oil
JUNE 3, 2007 • THE SUNDAY TIMES
www.tfl.gov.uk10
Quentin Willson
Start
your
engines
James Mann/Channel 5
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
GARETH HUW DAVIES
meets green celebrities
as they gear up to drive
the eco-cars from
Brighton to London
Lisa Rogers
Stirling Moss
9. Elephant grass, seen here near Exmoor, could produce ethanol
All kinds of raw ingredients are on the
menu to create sustainable sources of
energy, finds JONATHAN LEAKE
T
here are plenty of
other fuels that offer
greener motoring, from
electricity to
bioethanol, but the relatively
low cost of oil and the lack of
government action has meant
there has been little incentive
for big business to develop
them.
Now government regulations
and growing public demand for
green vehicles means energy
companies and car makers are
under pressure to improve
efficiency and cut greenhouse
gas emissions. One way of
achieving this is through the
introduction of new fuels and
propulsion systems. So how do
the alternatives compare?
Biofuels
When Henry Ford told a New
York Times reporter that ethyl
alcohol was “the fuel of the
future” in 1925, he was
expressing an opinion that was
widely shared in the motor
industry. “There is fuel in every
bit of vegetable matter that can
be fermented. There’s enough
alcohol in one year’s yield of an
acre of potatoes to drive the
machinery necessary to
cultivate the fields for 100
years,” he said.
So far, however, the only
country to move close to
realising Ford’s dream is Brazil,
which gets about a fifth of its
transport fuel from converting
sugar into ethanol.
Other governments are trying
to catch up. In Britain,
government subsidies are
supporting plans to turn sugar
beet into alcohol. There is also
research into other crops that
could be turned into ethanol,
including wheat and elephant
grass. In Europe and America,
there are similar schemes.
There are big problems. In
theory, fuels made from plants
can reduce the amount of
carbon dioxide emitted by
vehicles. Plants absorb carbon
as they grow and release it
again when the fuel is burned
so there is no overall increase
in the greenhouse gas levels.
In practice, biofuels take a lot
of energy to grow and process.
In some cases it takes almost as
much energy to make
bioethanol as you get out of it,
meaning that the only thing
that keeps the system going is
subsidies — and the cut in
emissions is minimal.
What’s more, the demand for
biofuels can lead to the
destruction of rainforests and
create a competition for crops
between cars and people. And
when those who can afford to
drive are richer than those who
need food, guess who wins?
Electricity
Decades of research have gone
into electric vehicles but they
got their biggest boost when
Tom Cruise leapt into a
futuristic electric sports car in
the film Minority Report. The
bright red, low-slung two-seater
banished at a stroke every
prejudice about electric vehicles
being slow and boring.
There was speculation it was
a petrol vehicle in disguise but
film director Steven Spielberg
had asked Lexus to design a
high-performance sports car for
2054 — and what the company
foresaw was an electric vehicle
that could hit 90mph and
achieve 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds
The Lexus illustrates the
progress made in the
technology but it was hardly
affordable — or even available.
Ford is further ahead with its
prototype electric E-Ka, fuelled
by lithium-ion batteries, with
performance similar to a petrol
engine equivalent.
For electric cars, however,
there is still a problem: where
do they get their power from? If
they are charged using
renewable energy, then they
truly are green. If the electricity
was produced by fossil fuels,
there’s no real benefit. So if you
get an electric car, you’ll need a
green energy supplier.
Gas
Compressed natural gas can be
a highly efficient fuel. The
downside is a bulky tank and a
low range but the fuel works
well for small, light vehicles or
those travelling short distances.
Last year researchers at Bath
University demonstrated their
vision of the future: a tiny
gas-powered, three-wheeled car
capable of 60mph. The
prototype is the result of a
project by researchers in nine
European countries to produce
a new class of motor vehicle.
“The idea is to try to marry the
size and efficiency of a
motorcycle with the comfort
and safety of a car,” says Ben
Drew, a research officer at the
university.
Hybrids
Hybrid cars are the most
promising alternative to come
to market, and the Toyota Prius
is the pick of the bunch. The
petrol-electric vehicle has sold
more than 400,000 worldwide;
in Hollywood it has been
bought by Cameron Diaz and
Leonardo DiCaprio.
A hybrid car uses both an
internal combustion engine and
an electric motor. The idea is to
reduce petrol consumption by
allowing the electric motor to
take over tasks that involve
high fuel usage, such as
starting the engine and rapid
acceleration. If you want your
motoring to go green, they may
be the place to start.
THE SUNDAY TIMES • JUNE 3, 2007
11www.revolve.ws
Woodchips power a biomass boiler at Kingsmead primary school in Northwich, Cheshire
Bath University’s innovative three-wheeled vehicle uses natural gas and can reach 60mph
New fuels, with
chips or greens
Barry Batchelor/Tim Cuff/Roy Kilcullen
10. I
t’s perhaps one of the stranger
quirks of history that Germany is
now supplying some of the
world’s deadliest U-boats to the
nation of Israel.
Its 1,925-ton Dolphin class
submarines have the most advanced
sailing and combat systems in the
world — largely powered by fuel cells.
The Israeli navy has bought at least
three for use in the Mediterranean,
Red Sea and Persian Gulf, which it
sees as key potential battlegrounds
over the coming decades, and is
understood to be considering further
purchases.
An important role for such hunter,
killer and patrol submarines is the
destruction of enemy shipping, but
subs must be able to do this without
themselves being detected.
For the Israeli defence chiefs, fuel
cell power units deliver the secrecy
and stealth that are vital for a navy
operating in some of the world’s
busiest waterways. They are more
difficult to detect because they are
virtually silent.
Also, their waste heat can be
collected and used for other purposes,
such as heating water, while the
absence of moving parts makes
maintenance easy.
The fuel cells are the central part of
a propulsion system that includes a
diesel generator and a lead acid
battery. During slow cruising the
vessel uses just its fuel cells — nine of
them linked together and powered by
compressed hydrogen and oxygen. For
higher speeds, the subs add their
high-performance lead acid battery
into the power circuit. The battery can
be recharged by a diesel generator
contained in a sound-insulated
module.
The subs can carry anti-ship
missiles, mines, decoys and
wire-guided torpedoes. The
surface-to-surface missiles may also
have the power to carry nuclear
warheads.
Howaldswerke-Deutsche Werft, the
German company that built the
submarines for Israel, has supplied
similar vessels to several other navies
including those of Italy, South Korea
and Greece.
H
umankind’s return to the
moon and plans for going to
Mars will depend on power
generated by fuel cells. Since
the 1960s, Nasa and other space
agencies have relied on the devices to
provide electricity for spacecraft
ranging from the early Gemini vessels
to the space shuttles. Apart from their
ability to produce steady reliable
power, they generate drinking water
and heat — both invaluable
commodities in space.
The big hope now is that some form
of hydrogen, or one of its compounds
such as ice, will be found on the
moon. If so, it would be more valuable
than gold because it would offer a way
of generating fuel for fuel cells.
Nasa announced its plans for a
permanently staffed base on the
surface of the moon four years ago,
suggesting that construction would
begin soon after 2020, with astronauts
living there within four years.
A robotic probe will be sent next
year to scout potential sites, but the
settlement is likely to be built on the
moon’s south pole. This faces the sun
for 75% of the time and would allow
for the best harvesting of solar power.
“Conditions at the south pole appear
to be safer,” says a Nasa spokesman.
“Blasting fuel out of Earth’s gravity is
very expensive. But if water is found
on the moon, hydrogen to make fuel
could be extracted.”
Professor Stephen Hawking, the
Cambridge cosmologist, has warned
that the long-term survival of the
human race is at risk if it is confined to
a single planet.
“Sooner or later, a disaster such as
an asteroid collision or a nuclear war
could wipe us out. But once we spread
out into space, and establish
independent colonies, our future
should be safe,” he says.
It remains to be seen if Hawking’s
vision can be achieved but, if it is, fuel
cells will have helped to make it a
reality.
T
he airline industry has won
itself a bad name among
environmentalists.
Commercial aircraft pour out
carbon dioxide and other emissions
right where it hits the atmosphere
hardest. Greenhouse gases cause far
greater global warming when emitted
at high altitudes — a powerful
argument against expanding aviation.
The criticism is doing some good,
though: aircraft manufacturers know
there is now a premium for greening
their aircraft.
Boeing’s response to the
environmental pressure is the 787, or
Dreamliner, which has reduced
emissions thanks to the replacement of
some engines with fuel cells. However,
the engines replaced are not the ones
that push it through the air; currently
no fuel cell could generate the kind of
power required. Instead, Boeing is
using hydrogen fuel cells to generate
onboard electrical power, replacing the
kerosene-fuelled auxiliary power units
usually found in the tail of a plane.
Boeing is also working with Airbus
to develop fuel cells for use on aircraft.
The growing mood for action to stem
global warming was evident at the
industry’s aviation and environment
summit in Geneva last year, where
Philippe Jarry, Airbus senior
vice-president of product policy, said:
“It’s our responsibility and it’s up to us
to do it.”
Boeing has been researching fuel
cell technology at its centre in Madrid
since 2003. The company is also
developing a light aircraft powered by
fuel cells and electric motors. It would
emit no carbon dioxide or other
pollutants, leaving just a trail of water
vapour. It would also be almost
completely silent. The hitch? It would
fly at only 70mph.
Boeing is working with Intelligent
Energy, a British fuel cell designer, on
the two-seater aircraft, which it hopes
will make its maiden flight in the next
12 months.
The aircraft is based on the
Diamond Super Dimona, a lightweight
Austrian plane. Boeing engineers
replaced its fuel tank with a bottle of
compressed hydrogen that will feed
into a fuel cell. There, the hydrogen
will be combined with oxygen to
generate power. This will be fed to an
electric motor to turn the propeller.
The project would be the first
manned fuel cell-powered aircraft. In
2005 AeroVironment, a Californian
firm, flew an unmanned surveillance
plane powered by a fuel cell.
T
he idea is simple: chemicals
such as methanol contain so
much energy that an
electronic device could run for
much longer on a fuel cell than on a
battery occupying the same volume
within the device. The difficulty lies in
building a fuel cell small and reliable
enough to generate energy, without
risk of fire from the flammable fuel.
Four years ago the Japanese
electronics firm NEC unveiled a
prototype laptop whose fuel cell
provided power for five hours at a
time, already longer than most
batteries. Within two years, said NEC,
running times between fuel cell refills
could be 40 hours or more — but
there’s still nothing available.
However, the wait could soon be
over. Toshiba is developing a system
for media players, Olympus is working
on the technology for its camera range
and Motorola is developing them to
power mobile phones.
Toshiba has promised to put
products in shops this year. Using
alcohol or hydrogen as fuel, the cells
can offer five to 10 times the power
per unit weight as lithium-ion
batteries. The company is developing
two versions of the fuel cell. Its
100-milliwatt version is similar in size
to a pack of chewing gum; it can
power a Flash-based digital music
player, such as an Apple iPod Shuffle,
for about 35 hours on a single charge.
The 300-milliwatt version, the size of
a pack of playing cards, can power an
HDD-based player, such as Apple’s
iPod Photo or Toshiba’s Gigabeat, for
about 60 hours on a single charge.
SUBMARINES
SPACECRAFT
JUNE 3, 2007 • THE SUNDAY TIMES
www.tfl.gov.uk12 THE SUNDAY TIMES • JUNE 3, 2007
13www.revolve.ws
Power in your pocket — and in outer spaceYuriko Nakao
Fossil fuel depletion, rising prices and awareness
of the damage done by carbon emissions are all
accelerating the quest for alternative energy —
and not just for the cars we drive. Fuel cells, with
their lack of moving parts, ability to supply
electricity, heat and water, and potential for
compact sizing, are being tried out on a range of
applications, reports JONATHAN LEAKE
The Boeing Dreamliner
cuts harmful emissions
A prototype phone
powered by methanol,
left, and a submarine
that uses fuel cells
Nasa hopes to find ice
or water on the moon
AIRCRAFT
ELECTRONICS
11. Population: 7.2m, forecast
to grow to 8.7m over next
20 years
Total annual CO2 emissions
from industry, commerce,
transport and domestic
sources: 51m tonnes
Annual CO2 emissions per
resident: 7.1 tonnes
Target of 60% cut in
greenhouse gas emissions
by 2025
Fleet of 70 hydrogen-fuelled
vehicles by 2009
Diesel buses to be replaced
from 2012
Only ‘clean’ vehicles to be
used for 2012 Olympics
Teesside
Population: 2.5m
Annual CO2 emissions from
industry, commerce, transport
and domestic sources 33m
tonnes; total per resident 13.1
tonnes (figures for whole of
northeast)
Projects include trials of
hydrogen vehicles at the giant
ICI site at Wilton
West Midlands
Population: 5.2m
Annual CO2 emissions 48m
tonnes; per resident 9.1
tonnes
Hopes of rejuvenating car
component makers through
hydrogen technology
South Wales
Population: 2.9m
Annual CO2 emissions 31m
tonnes; per resident 10.8
tonnes (figures for whole of
Wales)
Facilities coming on stream
include plants producing
hydrogen from organic matter
left over from flour milling
Scotland
Population: 7.2m
Annual CO2 emissions 51m
tonnes; per resident 7.1
tonnes
Offshore oil and gas declining;
hydrogen seen as replacement
T
he teeming, congested
streets of London may
seem an unlikely place
to look for ways to
stop climate change but the
city’s efforts to tackle pollution
are providing a blueprint for
the rest of the country.
The city is working with the
Department of Trade and
Industry to be one of five “early
adopter” areas for hydrogen
power and Ken Livingstone, the
mayor of London, has drawn
up a climate-change action
plan, which aims to cut carbon
emissions by 60% by 2025.
The effects of climate change
appear to be starkly evident at
the Thames barrier, built to
save the city from flooding. In
the 10 years from 1986 to
1996, it was raised 27 times. In
the following decade it was
deployed 66 times, and
forecasters predict it may no
longer be able to cope by 2030.
The success of the climate-
change action plan should be
more immediately apparent on
the roads, where public and
private transport proposals are
designed to have the
population breathing more
easily about the environment.
Just over 20% of the carbon
dioxide emitted in the city is
produced by transport. London
is one of three urban centres in
the world — with Singapore
and Oslo — that have
introduced this policy in an
attempt to cut the number of
vehicles on the roads.
Livingstone has been accused
of being more interested in
raising revenue than saving the
planet. But he says the aim is to
get more people onto the buses
and Tube and he has been
successful — bus use has
increased 45% since 2000. One
in three of all bus journeys in
the UK is made in London, and
the public transport system is
demonstrating what can be
achieved with renewable
energy.
Three hydrogen-fuelled
buses operated in the capital
for three years, refuelling at
BP’s special filling station in
Essex, as part of a nine-city
European Union trial of the
technology. They are no longer
running but a fleet of 70
vehicles, police cars and
ambulances as well as buses, is
scheduled to be in operation by
2009. The next target is to
begin replacing the 8,000
traditional diesel buses in the
capital. From 2012, all new
buses will be hydrogen-fuelled.
Transport for London has,
however, admitted slow
progress on introducing a
green version of the black cab.
London is collaborating with
a government “eco-driving”
campaign, run in conjunction
with petrol stations, to educate
motorists about how to change
gear, accelerate and brake in a
manner that conserves fuel —
and reduces emissions.
The city’s renewable energy
campaign received a big boost
when approval was granted for
a wind farm in the Thames
estuary, 12 miles off Kent. The
£1.5 billion project, with 341
turbines, will be the largest in
the world and could provide a
quarter of Greater London’s
energy requirement.
Mark Watts, the mayor’s
principal adviser on climate
change, maintains that while
people will have to change the
way they live, their quality of
life will be enhanced by the
effort to reach the planned
reduction in carbon dioxide.
“By using energy less
wastefully,” he claims,
“London’s economy will
become more efficient. people
and businesses will be better
off through lower energy bills.”
London’s efforts have won
praise from environmental
groups. “The progress is pretty
good,” says Tony Bosworth,
Friends of the Earth transport
specialist. “We hope that what
is happening in London will be
a blueprint for elsewhere.”
The Department of Trade
and Industry has identified four
other areas — Teesside, south
Wales, the Midlands and
Scotland — as early adopters of
fuel cell and hydrogen
technology, but progress has
been patchy.
David Joffe, a researcher at
Imperial College London, says
it has been difficult to persuade
policymakers that hydrogen
power is a realistic option.
“People keep saying it is 10
years away, and so it is always
10 years away,” he says. “We
have no infrastructure, no
refuelling points, but we are
hoping that fleet vehicles like
supermarket lorries and courier
vans, as well as buses, which
leave and return to the same
point on fixed-length journeys,
will be used to demonstrate the
benefits.
“I am quite optimistic this
will take off as a strategy in
London, but elsewhere the
picture is more mixed. It is a
question of whether Britain
really wants to be seen as a
world leader.”
CALIFORNIA claims to have
more hydrogen-fuelled
vehicles than anywhere else
in the world. There are 170
fuel-cell vehicles, including
nine buses, on the roads and
General Motors is giving three
test cars to volunteer families
to get feedback on fuel cell
technology. There are 25
hydrogen refuelling stations in
the Los Angeles area alone,
with 15 more planned.
Ultimately the cost of filling
up with hydrogen is expected
to be half the price of petrol.
But Chris White of the
California Fuel Cell
Partnership, a public-private
group set up to promote the
technology, says that fashion,
rather than cost, will initially
attract motorists to make the
switch.
When the price of petrol
rose briefly above $3 a gallon
in Arizona last year, there was
a flurry of interest in
hydrogen-fuelled cars. The
enthusiasm proved to be
short-lived but Bob Rose of
the US Fuel Cell Council, an
industry-funded body, is
confident there will be a shift
in opinion. “We have quickly
moved from having dozens of
fuel cell vehicles on the roads
to having hundreds of them,”
he says. “Society will reach a
conclusion based on the
accumulation of messages.”
In South America, the
Brazilian city of Curitiba is
investigating the technology to
improve further a public
transport system that has
become a model for the
world. The city began a period
of rapid growth after the
second world war and now
has a population of nearly
2m. About 85% of them use
the privately run bus rapid
transit system, which carries
passengers on dedicated
lanes in the centre of wide
streets and also uses
articulated vehicles to improve
capacity.
The Curitiba public
transport plan has provided a
blueprint for cities including
Rouen and Brisbane. But
now, in response to local
pollution and global warming,
the city is looking to blaze a
trail again by conducting
research into hydrogen-fuelled
buses.
Another Brazilian city, Sao
Paulo, is a step ahead on fuel
cell buses, with a UN-backed
trial expected to begin late
this year.
The global picture
JUNE 3, 2007 • THE SUNDAY TIMES
www.tfl.gov.uk14 THE SUNDAY TIMES • JUNE 3, 2007
15www.revolve.ws
London
Traffic congestion is a familiar sight in London but the city is at the forefront of efforts to improve the environment. From 2012, all new buses will be hydrogen-fuelled
Capital gets the
ideas moving
Paul Thompson/Alamy
London lifestyles are going to have to
change as the city adopts a sustainable
approach, warns LOIS ROGERS
Curitiba’s public transport system has been copied worldwide
Marion Kaplan/Alamy
Alternative fuels may benefit Edinburgh and other Scottish cities
Go-ahead regions
Jon Arnold/Alamy
