SN Tripathi Memorial Lectures (2011)…

'BMW Has Cars Ready That Run on Hydrogen Cells...'
Dr CM Nautiyal


USA and Europe have spent tens of billions of dollars over more than a decade on fuel cell car research . These include GM, Ford, BMW, Daimler-Chrysler, Honda and other leading brands.

Institutions like Joint Research Centre, Juelich are actively engaged

About 70 hydrogen filling plants exist world- wide i.e. in USA, Europe,Japan

The Challenges

• The fuel itself- high- mileage, low pollution, cheap, available in plenty, low volume, light
• Its storage without loss
• Its storage in reasonable amount (At present a car ran 550 kms on 11 Kgs of hydrogen)
• Safety considerations

Dependence on Research in Other Fields

• To store hydrogen, cryo- storage techniques are needed
• This demands very high surface to volume or surface to mass ratio.
• This means very small, nano- sized, particles are needed which would facilitate efficient adsorption of hydrogen e.g. material (Pt- coated C) developed provide 150- 300 m sq surface per gm.