In the past, I’ve talked many times about the merits of hydrogen peroxide or H2O2 as a potential future fuel for cars. It is already being used in race cars, race motorcycles, rocket ships, jetpacks and for some batteries.

Recently I’ve talked about the merits of water or H2O plus aluminum creating hydrogen for cars. In fact, many times over the past 4 years I’ve talked about this same subject. But, the last time I had talked about H2O2 plus aluminum creating hydrogen for vehicles was 2007.

Now, high purity hydrogen peroxide (90-percent plus) as opposed to low purity (10-percent) that you buy at the pharmacy, can be corrosive and unstable and must be handled with extreme care. In fact, some would argue that H2O2 is not safe enough to put directly into a vehicle other than a race car, rocket ship or jetpack. Tell that though to the Chinese who produced a prototype called the Habo No. 1 which did use hydrogen peroxide for fuel.

But, what if instead, hydrogen peroxide and aluminum (instead of silver or platinum) were used at the fueling pump to create hydrogen on demand for cars? Or at least it could be produced nearby and the resulting hydrogen could be piped or trucked only short distances.

In this regard, the people who handle the hydrogen peroxide would be the trained professionals who deliver it to the fueling stations or at the nearby off-site production locations. As in splitting H2O, the only byproduct of splitting H2O2 is a little steam and heat.

Anyway, I keep coming back to this point because I see potential in the idea but not a whole lot of development. Any hydrogen fuel producers want to take me up on this challenge?

The eco-friendly Taxi 2020 Concept was designed to be both green, (using hydrogen fuel cell, lithium ion batteries and electric motors), and passenger and driver friendly. This plug-in hybrid would not only run on hydrogen but could be plugged in and recharged using a traditional wall socket or at special recharging stations strategically placed around Melbourne.

As an additional bonus, the Taxi 2020 has a set of small solar panels mounted on the rooftop to recharge the vehicle using the sun’s energy. Granted this may be a bit of overkill because of the hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid capabilities already in place, but as a student design project, this gives additional options for recharging.

For the driver, the Melbourne Taxi 2020 Concept uses GPS, a SmartCard system, and night riding capabilities. For the passengers, there is an entertainment system, disability accommodations and a focus on curbside access.

For safety and fuel efficiency, the aluminum frame covered by a polycarbonate outer shell makes the vehicle lightweight, impact resistant and has high optical qualities for driver visibility. Of course, London will have their hydrogen fuel cell black taxis in place for the 2012 Olympics, which are working vehicles and not just design concepts.

But, the Melbourne Taxi 2020 lets enthusiasts, industry insiders, automotive engineers and others see the possibilities that hydrogen fuel cell cars will be playing within the next 10 years.

A new liquid hydrogen-powered UAV which is also a high altitude long endurance (HALE) aircraft called the Boeing Phantom Eye is getting ready to be demonstrated. According to Boeing Phantom Works president Darryl Davis, “The essence of Phantom Eye is its propulsion system. After five years of technology development, we are now deploying rapid prototyping to bring together an unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] with a breakthrough liquid-hydrogen propulsion system that will be ready to fly early next year.”

The important aspects of the Boeing Phantom Eye include its 150 ft. wingspan, 450 lb. payload capability, 65,000 top altitudes and the ability to stay aloft for 4 days. This makes the Phantom Eye a military aircraft that will be useful for surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance and communication.

But, wait, there’s more (as they say on those cheesy commercials on TV). Boeing is also working on a larger HALE called the Phantom Ray, which will be able to carry a 2,000 lb payload and stay in the air for 10 days. Both the Phantom Eye and Phantom Ray will be propelled by clean hydrogen fuel, fly higher than most typical UAVs and keep military personnel out of harm’s way, while recovering critical intelligence on the ground.

When one thinks of government agencies like NASA and the U. S. military, green energy rarely comes to mind. But, this is the direction both are moving towards and this lead by example philosophy is what we need more of in order to fully realize a hydrogen-based transportation system in the near future.

Now, the CEP will have the support of the Toyota as well. In 2004, the first CEP hydrogen fueling station went online in Messedamn, Berlin, Germany.

In September 2009, I had talked about the H2 Mobility plan for Germany and how 8 major companies signed a memorandum of understanding to expand the current 30 hydrogen fueling stations in Germany to the point of where serial production of hydrogen cars could start in 2015. The members of the H2 Mobility plan include Linde, Daimler, EnBW, NOW, OMV, Shell, Total and Vattenfall.

The CEP is currently in the 2nd phase of development which ends in 2010. Toyota is joining this phase which includes allocating 5 FCHV-adv fuel-cell hybrid vehicles to go along with 10 GM HydroGen 4 minivans and models from 5 other manufacturers to total 40 hydrogen-powered vehicles mostly in Hamburg and Berlin.

These vehicles will also accompany a fleet of H2 buses and 3 new hydrogen fueling stations to be constructed in the above named cities. The third phase of the CEP project will start in 2011 and conclude in 2016. This phase will be preparing and implementing the major commercialization of hydrogen cars and H2 fueling stations.

This commercialization will start in Germany, then expand outwards to the rest of the European Union Hydrogen Highway system and is concurrently expected to spread to Japan, the U. S. and other pro-hydrogen countries as well.

From now, to 2025, the trend is supposed to reverse with the demand for hydrogen fuel cell cars overtaking the initial demand of fuel cells for housing accounting for about $1 billion USD in sales on that date.

Unlike many other market research firms who believe that hydrogen fuel cells for small electronic devices will overtake sales first, such as for cell phones, laptops and other equipment, the Fuji-Keizai Group says this isn’t so for Japan. In fact, they are predicting that fuel cells for housing and cars will account for 90-percent of the market share by 2025.

Perhaps the Japanese firm is banking on breakthrough technology between now and then such as the Graphene hydrogen storage solution developed by PhD student Javad Rafiee.

According to the Rensselaer School of Engineering, “Rafiee used a combination of mechanical grinding, plasma treatment, and annealing to engineer the atomic structure of graphene to maximize its hydrogen storage capacity. This new graphene has exhibited a hydrogen storage capacity of 14 percent by weight at room temperature — far exceeding any other known material. Rafiee’s new graphene material holds the promise of opening the door to better, more affordable hydrogen-powered cars and trucks.”

The Japanese firm is most likely basing its projections on current technology as well as a presumptions of breakthrough future technology in the hydrogen fuel cell research and development space. If this prediction comes to fruition this will put both Japan and Germany in the lead over the U. S. and other countries in regard to hydrogen cars and the building of a hydrogen-based economy.

Some of these methods involve using either an aluminum alloy or aluminum, water and some other chemical or element to do the splitting. But according to physicist Priya Vashishta from USC plus researchers at Kumamato University in Japan, have come up with a computer model of how this works.

A clump of aluminum atoms, they are calling “superatoms” take on special properties to split water into hydrogen and oxygen on the fly easily and efficiently.

According to Science News, “Some regions of the superatom were hungry for electrons, while other regions wanted to give electrons away, the researchers found. As these sites began interacting with the surrounding water molecules, hydrogen atoms swiftly jumped from one oxygen partner to another, ultimately ending up on the aluminum superatom. After another series of complicated hydrogen bond switching events, a hydrogen atom then left the aluminum to join another hydrogen atom. The two hydrogen singletons were produced strategically close to one another, easing their ability to find each other and form a stable two-hydrogen molecule.”

The idea of using aluminum to split water has merit. Like I had stated before, this can be done either inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle, such as at the refueling pump or a local hydrogen production facility. The aluminum is also easily recyclable and since this is a chemical reaction, it is more efficient that using brute force electrolysis to pry apart the hydrogen and oxygen bonds in water.

But the computer modeling program that Priya Vashishta has developed still needs to be tested in the research lab to verify results. The outlook is promising so let’s stay tuned for this one.

Sure, there are many ways to store hydrogen including metal hydride containers which can be quite heavy, compressed hydrogen tanks which are extremely insulated and built to withstand leakage and impact. Some of these tanks are built out of metal alloys and others out of more expensive carbon fiber.

But, Plasma Kinetics has come up with a novel way to store hydrogen for cars that can reduce the weight of the storage tanks by as much as 400 lbs as compared to a conventional automobile and 500 lbs as compared to a Tesla Roadster.

The novel approach is to use Laser hydride CD storage. What this means is that a hydrogen car owner will refuel their vehicle at a regular hydrogen fueling station. The compressed hydrogen fuel will flow into the car and microwaves will ionize the H2 onto CD, similar to what we would put into a CD player in which to listen to music.

And much like the process of listening to music, the device would use a laser to release the hydrogen on demand from the magnesium CD as the car needs it for fuel. The CD’s would be stacked in a series and could provide a range of over 300 miles for the average hydrogen fuel cell car.

Plasma Kinetics is currently displaying their laser hydride H2 storage device at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Arpa-e Summit, which was developed to showcase leading edge and breakthrough clean energy technology. Plasma Kinetics is currently looking for investors to bring their product to the next level of development.

The Hyundai Tucson FCEV was first introduced in 2004. The vehicle had a top speed of 93 mph and a driving range of 186 miles. The Hyundai Tucson ix35 FCEV however has a top speed of around 99 mph and a driving range of over 400 miles.

The electric motor of the Hyundai Tucson ix35 is rated at 134 hp and the Korean automaker is introducing various ways to reduce production costs in anticipation of the rollout in just 2 years.

For instance, inside the fuel cell, graphite is being switched to a less costly metal, induction motors are being used rather than permanent-magnet and lithium batteries are replacing ultracapacitors.

It’s most likely that the first Hyundai Tucson ix35 hydrogen FCVs will rollout out on the South Korean Hydrogen Highway. Hyundai has stated that it expects a few thousand models of the Tucson ix35 to rollout at first.

Right now, consumers can convert their own cars, trucks and other vehicles to run on hydrogen. Or they can become a part of Project Driveway and test drive a vehicle for free for several months or they can become part of the Honda FCX Clarity program and lease a hydrogen fuel cell car for around $600 per month.

If you’re lucky enough to find yourself driving a hydrogen car, the first question you may ask is about where you would go to find a hydrogen fueling station. This hydrogen fuel locator page lists several resources that will aid in this endeavor.

Another question frequently asked is how much does a person pay at the pump for compressed hydrogen fuel? Now, this has nothing to do with the costs to produce hydrogen as this is a whole different discussion, too lengthy to take on here.

But, since I was curious about the price at the pump charged for compressed hydrogen gas I made a few phone calls, sent a few emails and even Tweeted in order to take a survey.

According to the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) listed in Twitter, “In CA, you can’t sell hydrogen as a retail fuel. The regulations 2 allow retail sales are expected to be complete within the next 18 months.”

So I asked about the hydrogen fueling station in Irvine, California (which at least a couple of years ago when I was there) had a posted price of $4.99 per kilogram (equivalent to a gallon), and CaFCP replied, “The price is there as an educational tool to show what the cost of h2 can be and to give the station a realistic feel.”

So, I decided to call the West Los Angeles Shell Station, which is a regular gas station in Santa Monica, California that also has a hydrogen pump. I asked Nely Lopez, who works at the station what the price is at the pump and he told me that for now hydrogen is free, but he doesn’t know how long it will stay this way.

Since Shell has U. S. hydrogen fueling stations in California, New York and Washington, DC I decided to call their national headquarters in Houston, Texas to see if hydrogen fuel was free at all Shell stations nationwide.

I talked to Jerry Wilt who said he was in charge of the Shell Hydrogen program. He told me that hydrogen fuel was indeed free right now at all of the Shell hydrogen fueling stations and pumps while they were in the demo phase. He didn’t know how long this phase would last, however.

But, though I did find out that hydrogen fuel was free at these stations, I also found out that free hydrogen was not true for all stations in the U. S. When I contacted Tony Lindsay, R&D Manager, Hydrogen and Advanced Technology, he told me a different story for his hydrogen pump.

Mr. Lindsay told me about his hydrogen station in Des Plaines, Illinois just outside of Chicago, “We have set the price at $3.49 per kg because this was our calculated goal of production from our on-site small scale steam methane reformer (based on $0.60 per therm natural gas).”

Because hydrogen fuel cell cars and refueling stations are considered emerging technologies right now, there is no across the board standardization in the U. S. marketplace. Whereas hydrogen fuel prices at the pump in one location may be free, another one may charge. This will work itself in the months and years to come as hydrogen used as fuel becomes more standardized and more of a norm and less of a demonstration as it is right now.

Some of the companies that I’ve talked about in the past that specialize in converting ICE vehicles into H2ICE vehicles include Quantum Technologies and Intergalactic Hydrogen, both in the U. S.

I’ve also talked about a British company, Revolve (formerly Roush Industries) that have converted a couple of Ford Transit-based vehicles to run on compressed hydrogen gas. And now, they are looking for more business.

Revolve says they can handle about 20 hydrogen conversions of transit vans per month. Fleet vehicles will be the most likely candidates since the UK hydrogen highway is in the beginning stages of development.

The estimated prices for hydrogen conversions of ICE vehicles is $30,000 and up for Intergalactic Hydrogen, $60,000 and up for Quantum Technologies and around $69,000 for Revolve to convert a transit van.