THE FUEL-CELL VEHICLE ANALYSIS OF ENERGY USE, EMISSIONS AND COST

The energy consumption and emissions of fuel cell vehicles running on different primary fuels have been analysed. A dynamic fuel cell vehicl e model was used to compare the fuel consumption of vehicles with a fu el cell with that of an internal combustion engine (ICE). The fuel con sumption of the fuel cell vehicle is lower than that of the ICE, but i n global terms the ICE consumes less energy whereas the fuel cell vehi cle has a lower emission level. The fuel cell can play an important ro le in reducing emissions from the transportation sector. Prerequisites are, however a dramatic reduction in cost for the fuel cell system an d the development of an infrastructure for the fuel. (C) 1998 Internat ional Association for Hydrogen Energy.