8 firms eye fuel-cell car energy supply network
Eight companies have agreed to launch a joint effort to develop equipment and facilities to supply hydrogen to fuel-cell vehicles, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are regarded as highly eco-friendly because they emit no carbon dioxide.
The group comprises Nippon Oil Corp., Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Cosmo Oil Co., Japan Energy Corp., Tokyo Gas Co., Osaka Gas Co. and Toho Gas Co., according to sources. They plan to invite auto manufacturers involved in the development of fuel-cell vehicles to take part in the energy-supply project.
The group aims to commercialize the supply of hydrogen to fuel battery-powered vehicles before 2015. The eight companies have been working on developing technologies to extract, transport and fill hydrogen in fuel-cell vehicles.
However, they have decided to jointly start a research association, which is eligible for preferential tax treatment, in the near future.
A fuel-cell vehicle is powered by electricity obtained through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen.
It is regarded as a future green car, following the development of a gas-and-electric-powered hybrid vehicle and an electric car with a chargeable battery.
Honda Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and other auto manufacturers have been working on the development of fuel-cell vehicles. However, fuel-cell vehicles remain very expensive, as are the costs automakers would incur to independently construct networks of hydrogen-supply facilities.
As a result, the number of fuel-cell vehicles in use in the country had not reached 50 as of the end of 2007.
The eight companies are looking to reduce costs of constructing a network of hydrogen supply facilities by unifying standards and systems.
When the group launches its joint venture to operate a network of hydrogen supply stations, it may seek investment from the Industry Innovation Organization, a semipublic investment fund. The start-up costs of the group’s joint business may be as much as several tens of billions of yen, the sources said.
