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| Report-Honda,
others to use hydroelectricity to make hydrogen for fuel cells
Publication date: 04-April-2004
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| An industrial-academic
alliance will begin an experiment this month in which hydrogen used to
power fuel-cell vehicles will be produced through hydroelectricity, offering
the world's first fuel-cell energy system that is completely independent
of global-warming fossil fuels, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without
citing sources.
Honda Motor Co Ltd, Taiheiyo Cement Corp, Showa Denko KK, Kagoshima University and the United Nations University are participating in the project, the newspaper said. The participants will use hydroelectric facilities that Taiheiyo Cement affiliate Yakushima Denko Co is operating on Yakushima, a southern Japanese island where there is an enormous amount of rainfall, which can be used to generate electricity, it said, adding the alliance is also building a hydrogen fueling station. Power produced by the facilities will be used to manufacture hydrogen through water electrolysis, the report said. The hydrogen will then be stored and used to power fuel-cell automobiles. Because fuel cells emit primarily water, automakers around the world are competing to incorporate the technology in automobiles in an effort to develop non-polluting vehicles. But when fossil fuels like petroleum or natural gas are used to produce hydrogen for fuel cells, global-warming carbon dioxide is generated, making the technology less attractive environmentally. Hydroelectricity, on the other hand, produces hydrogen without yielding any global-warming gases. kyoko.hasegawa@afxasia.com
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