In the automotive world, hydrogen could be the goddess of temptation. As an alternative fuel for cars, it seems to answer the prayers of governments, Greens and the great and would-be good of the industry. But, like so many things that seem too good to be true, it probably is.
There are issues about how it can be produced on a vast industrial scale and the level of emissions involved in that production – and the lack of infrastructure to supply it to consumers.
Yet some companies optimistically believe that its potential has not been blown up out of all proportion and remain set on seeing hydrogen win through in the end: one of them is Mazda.
To show Europe what it can offer, the company is collaborating with the joint industry HyNor (Hydrogen Road Norway) project in support of the development of a hydrogen economy in the country. HyNor is to purchase 30 dual-fuel Mazda RX-8s powered by hydrogen or petrol, each fuel selectable via a dashboard switch.
Another issue for hydrogen is that it has received some extremely negative publicity involving the fiery demise of the Hindenburg and R101 airships. Those disasters were long ago and bear no relation to the Mazda RX-8H RE I was driving. But Akiro Kashiwagi, Mazda’s hydrogen programme manager, sparked my imagination by saying: “Hydrogen is a very combustible fuel compared with petrol.”
In that moment, the A-word had popped into my mind: airships.
But the Mazda’s pressurised fuel tank has been designed and tested for maximum safety and might well be the most crashworthy item in the car.
So, less emotion and more fact from Mr. Kashiwagi: “Vehicles powered by hydrogen emit only water; that is why they are called ‘ultimate clean vehicles’. There are two main ways to extract energy from hydrogen: to generate electricity via a fuel cell or combust it directly in an internal combustion engine.”
He quickly slammed the door on fuel cells: “They are very expensive and not reliable enough.”
So, Mazda is for burning – and uses its rotary engine to do the job. That’s because the rotary makes the most of hydrogen’s propensity to go bang efficiently and does it in a controlled way.
The HyNor initiative aims to demonstrate use of hydrogen vehicles on a 360 mile route from Oslo to Stavanger to encourage a significant reduction in carbon emissions into the country’s atmosphere. Hydrogen refuelling stations are being built but for longer journeys (over 100 miles) petrol is the alternative fuel for the Mazda.
Norway’s hydrogen is produced from several sources, including natural gas reforming, biomass and chlorine manufacture.
My hydrogen Mazda drive was a steady experience because the very special RX-8H RE only produces 107bhp when running on the fuel. Hydrogen combustion is noticeably louder.
Mazda has been focused on its hydrogen programme for 18 years but it is not the only possible answer to reduce emissions. Research and development boss Seita Kanai said that several other solutions are in the frame to achieve an average 23 per cent improvement in CO2 emissions by 2015 compared to those of 2008. The target is an average 95g/km. He explained that Mazda’s engines will become more efficient, vehicle weight will reduce by more than 200lb, and plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles will be developed.
Other manufacturers – notably BMW over the past 25 years with its special dual-fuel 7-series – have also looked at using hydrogen to fuel internal combustion engines. Mercedes-Benz, though, prefers to use it for its fuel cell B-Class, due to appear in production form later this year.
Concerns about refuelling hydrogen cars have been overcome by safe but simple-to-use pumps. And, contrary to popular myth, when I refuelled my RX-8H, it did not lift gently from the gas station forecourt like a stately airship. Oh, dear, I’ve mentioned the A-word again.