Shell backs research into hydrogen fuels
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by Kevin Swallow As the UK's fuel supplies begin to get back to normal after the fuel dispute, oil giant Shell has called for a public debate on ways to make hydrogen the cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel of the future.
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, says on-board fuel cells could be powering HCVs within decades. He called on national governments, non-government organisations and end users to join the discussion.
The Shell group set up Shell Hydrogen last year to assess and develop hydrogen and fuel cell business opportunities on a global basis. All of us want to quickly introduce hydrogen technology and reap its benefits, environmentally and financially," Moody-Stuart added.
Shell says there are significant challenges involving the transportation and storage of hydrogen; the company believes that for the transition period hydrogen extracted from natural gas or gasoline is the best solution.
"Some companies have suggested the use of other transition fuels such as onboard methanol to hydrogen conversion. Such fuels would require significant infrastructure investments, which would be difficult to justify for what could be short-lived solutions." He said. "We [Shell] don't take this solution as given."
Moody-Stuart stressed that involvement with all interested parties is a vital part of the process of introducing a new technology, and co-operation is essential.
Shell Hydrogen is working in Iceland with DaimlerChrysler, Norsk Hydro and the Icelandic consortium Vistorka to develop hydrogen as the country's replacement for fossil fuels. The first project is to run a hydrogen/fuel cell-powered bus service in Reykjavik.