Turn of the century refueling: A review of innovations in early gasoline refueling methods and analogies for hydrogen

During the first decades of the 20th century, a variety of gasoline refueling methods supported early US gasoline vehicles and successfully alleviated consumer concerns over refueling availability. The refueling methods employed included cans, barrels, home refueling outfits, parking garage refueling facilities, mobile stations, hand carts and curb pumps. Only after robust markets for gasoline vehicles had been firmly established did the gasoline service station become the dominant refueling method. The present study reviews this history and draws analogies with current and future efforts to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. These comparisons hold no predictive power; however, there is heuristic value in an historical review of the first successful and large-scale introduction of a vehicle fuel. From an energy policy perspective, these comparisons reinforce the importance of a long-term and portfolio approach to support for technology development and innovation

Wind Energy Biography: A Review of Wind Turbine Technology and Economics

Wind energy is widely acknowledged as one of the most sustainable sources of electricity: environmental impacts are relatively low, further reductions in production costs are expected, the distribution of global wind resources is diverse, and the potential for market expansion is large. Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of wind energy are approximately ninety percent less than emissions from conventional fossil fuel power sources, and bird population impacts and of noise pollution have been reduced significantly in recent years. For these and other reasons, a range of policies have been adopted in various countries to promote wind energy development.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/192142/1/CSS04-17.pdfDescription of CSS04-17.pdf : ReportSEL

Turn of the century refueling: A review of innovations in early gasoline refueling methods and analogies for hydrogen

During the first decades of the 20th century, a variety of gasoline refueling methods supported early US gasoline vehicles and successfully alleviated consumer concerns over refueling availability. The refueling methods employed included cans, barrels, home refueling outfits, parking garage refueling facilities, mobile stations, hand carts and curb pumps. Only after robust markets for gasoline vehicles had been firmly established did the gasoline service station become the dominant refueling method. The present study reviews this history and draws analogies with current and future efforts to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. These comparisons hold no predictive power; however, there is heuristic value in an historical review of the first successful and large-scale introduction of a vehicle fuel. From an energy policy perspective, these comparisons reinforce the importance of a long-term and portfolio approach to support for technology development and innovation

Initiating hydrogen infrastructures: Analysis of technology dynamics during the introduction of hydrogen fuel for passenger vehicles.

The introduction of hydrogen fuel for passenger vehicles faces many technology development and policy challenges. These include the establishment of a hydrogen refueling infrastructure, limitations of hydrogen storage technologies, high fuel cell production costs, lack of public awareness of the benefits of hydrogen, and production of inexpensive hydrogen from low-carbon energy sources. Of these major challenges, the coupled deployment of refueling infrastructure and vehicles, often referred to as the chicken-and-egg problem, will require significant technology innovation, policy intervention and business initiative. One hydrogen infrastructure development strategy is to install a large number of refueling locations within a short period of time, providing a minimal level of refueling availability to a significant percentage of the general population before hydrogen vehicles are introduced. This initiation strategy, if coordinated with the mass production of hydrogen vehicles, could reduce many of the risks posed to major stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturers, fuel providers, government agencies and consumers. This strategy has been modeled on a national scale, relying upon: (1) estimates of a sufficient number of early hydrogen stations, (2) a cost analysis of hydrogen stations employing onsite steam-methane reformer technology, and (3) a characterization of relative station sizes within urban refueling station networks. Installing 9,200 hydrogen stations within major U.S. urban areas and along major interstates would require approximately $5.1 billion in capital. As hydrogen vehicles are deployed and infrastructure utilization rates increase, the cost of hydrogen is reduced over time. In an optimistic deployment scenario, the average cost of hydrogen could approach$3.50 per kg by 2030. The high risk and interdependent nature of stakeholder decisions during the early phases of hydrogen infrastructure development suggests that some type of government intervention will be required to ensure the successful introduction of hydrogen fuel for vehicles. Based upon challenges posed by the structure and rate of deployment of early hydrogen station networks, it is proposed that a regulatory environment supporting longterm development goals could ensure adequate early stakeholder coordination. As hydrogen fuel markets become robust, competitive mechanisms could be introduced to ensure efficient use of resources and stimulate further technological innovation.Ph.D.Applied SciencesAutomotive engineeringEnvironmental scienceHealth and Environmental SciencesSystems scienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/125448/2/3192727.pd

Turn of the century refueling: A review of innovations in early gasoline refueling methods and analogies for hydrogen

During the first decades of the 20th century, a variety of gasoline refueling methods supported early US gasoline vehicles and successfully alleviated consumer concerns over refueling availability. The refueling methods employed included cans, barrels, home refueling outfits, parking garage refueling facilities, mobile stations, hand carts and curb pumps. Only after robust markets for gasoline vehicles had been firmly established did the gasoline service station become the dominant refueling method. The present study reviews this history and draws analogies with current and future efforts to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles. These comparisons hold no predictive power; however, there is heuristic value in an historical review of the first successful and large-scale introduction of a vehicle fuel. From an energy policy perspective, these comparisons reinforce the importance of a long-term and portfolio approach to support for technology development and innovation.UCD-ITS-RP-07-16, Civil Engineering

Refueling availability for alternative fuel vehicle markets: Sufficient urban station coverage

Alternative fuel vehicles can play an important role in addressing the challenges of climate change, energy security, urban air pollution and the continued growth in demand for transportation services. The successful commercialization of alternative fuels for vehicles is contingent upon a number of factors, including vehicle cost and performance. Among fuel infrastructure issues, adequate refueling availability is one of the most fundamental to successful commercialization. A commonly cited source reports 164,300 refueling stations in operation nationwide. However, from the perspective of refueling availability, this nationwide count tends to overstate the number of stations required to support the widespread deployment of alternative fuel vehicles. In terms of spatial distribution, the existing gasoline station networks in many urban areas are more than sufficient. We characterize a sufficient level of urban coverage based upon a subset of cities served by relatively low-density station networks, and estimate that some 51,000 urban stations would be required to provide this sufficient level of coverage to all major urban areas, 33 percent less than our estimate of total urban stations. This improved characterization will be useful for engineering, economic and policy analyses.