IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2018 - 49

carbon-dioxide emissions, i.e., fuel economy, of which the detailed methods vary
depending on the country. However, the
basic idea is identical for all countries:
impose penalties for using fossil fuels
and encourage using renewables. For
example, the U.S. Corporate average Fuel
economy requirement will be increased
from 37.8 mi/gal in 2015 to 56 mi/gal in
2025 (approximately 4.8% increase per
year), and the penalty for not satisfying
the standard is US$14 per 0.1 mi/gal
under the standard multiplied by the
manufacturer's total production for the
U.S. domestic market, which can reach a
significant amount when calculated
against today's typical fuel economy.
China aims to deploy 5 million new energy vehicles (nevs) by 2020 and has
required that nevs comprise 30% of all
new vehicles purchased by their government. in addition, China provides a subsidy of approximately US$30,000 per
fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCev) until, and
possibly beyond, 2020.
These regulations and standards on
the fuel economy and emissions of
vehicles, which are expected to be gradually augmented until 2050, represent
challenges and opportunities for automakers. despite the improved efficiency
of fossil-fuel-based internal combustion
engines and their hybrid drivetrains, a
yearly improvement of 4-5% will not be
easy, especially considering the maturity of the corresponding technologies.
However, an automaker who overcomes
this difficult challenge may eventually dominate the
market (Figure 1).
another option for carmakers is the production of
zero-emissions vehicles, which include FCevs and other
evs. when an ev runs, it uses the energy stored in its
batteries and emits only heat, as does a smartphone.
This mechanism is perfect for the environment, and the
only possible drawback is that the driver must wait a
long time to charge the batteries. an FCev uses an electric motor to operate, but the energy source is fuel cells,
which are considerably different from batteries. a fuel
cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device, i.e., it
extracts electrical energy from the chemical reactions
between fuels and oxidants. depending on the combination of fuels and oxidants, various types of fuel cells can
be devised. when hydrogen and oxygen are selected as a
fuel and as an oxidant, the final output of their electrochemical reaction is electricity, heat, and water. Therefore, FCevs with hydrogen fuel are as environmentally

friendly as evs (hydrogen fuel cells and simple fuel cells
are practically synonymous in the automotive industry).
a distinct advantage of FCevs over evs comes from the
refueling process. when an FCev is refueled, hydrogen is
physically injected into the hydrogen storage system of
an FCev, whereas the batteries of an ev must be electrochemically charged. as one can imagine, a physical injection process is much faster than an electrochemical
charging process, which indicates that the FCevs can
have a similar usage pattern to the familiar conventional
vehicles. Hydrogen refueling typically takes a few minutes, and the driving range of an FCev can easily reach a
few hundred miles.
even with the aforementioned advantages of FCevs,
the success of FCevs in the emerging, environmentally
conscious automotive market is still considered questionable. The downsides to FCevs include insufficient
performance and durability, unaffordable cost, uncertainty of hydrogen safety, and scarce infrastructure for
hydrogen refueling. are these obstacles truly impossible
to overcome? Can the advancement of this technology
with time and effort solve these problems, as observed
many times before in the history of science and engineering? nobody can predict the future with 100% certainty, but some facts and figures in this article may help
answer these questions.

TaBLE 1. a list of selected intended nationally

determined contributions submitted by the
parties of the 2015 Paris agreement to
reduce climate change.

Country

Plan to Reduce
GHG Emissions

Target
Year

Base
Year

Australia

26-28%

2030

2005

Brazil

37%

2025

2005

Canada

30%

2030

2005

China

60-65% (per unit
of GDP)

2030

2005

European Union

40%

2030

1990

India

33-35% (per unit
of GDP)

2030

2005

Japan

26%

2030

2013

Korea

37%

2030

BAU

Mexico

25% (unconditionally),
40% (conditionally)

2030

BAU

Norway

40%

2030

1990

Russia

70-75%

2030

1990

Singapore

36%

2030

2005

Switzerland

50%

2030

1990

GDP: gross domestic product; BAU: business as usual.
Table assembled from information on http://unfccc.int/focus/indc_portal/items/8766.php.

IEEE Electrific ation Magazine / ma r Ch 201 8

http://www.unfccc.int/focus/indc_portal/items/8766.php

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