Volpe Center Highlights - November/December 2003
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Director's Notes |
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Published and Presented
The safe and efficient transport and delivery of hydrogen will lay the foundation for advancing the President's Hydrogen Initiative. RSPA is bringing the DOT perspective to interagency and industry collaborations that support this initiative. |
Supporting the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative
The President's Hydrogen Initiative presents the challenge and the opportunity to develop technology for commercially viable hydrogen fuel cells to power vehicles, homes, and businesses. Hydrogen holds great promise as the United States seeks to reduce its dependence on oil and limit impacts to the environment. However, before hydrogen can be a significant energy resource for the nation, many technical, operational, and economic barriers must be overcome.
RSPA Helps Determine the DOT's Critical Role
Hydrogen, like other transportation fuels, is a hazardous material, so its safe, reliable, and efficient production, storage, transport, and delivery is critical. The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), the Volpe Center's parent agency, has been assigned to lead the coordination of the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) contribution to the President's Hydrogen Initiative. With its expertise in both hazardous materials delivery and transportation systems, RSPA is uniquely qualified for the job. RSPA's Deputy Administrator, Sam Bonasso, heads up the DOT's Hydrogen Working Group, which includes senior staff from the DOT modal administrations. The Volpe Center is engaged in interagency efforts and public-private partnerships that are determining how hydrogen could be integrated into energy and transportation delivery. Successful solutions will help build a foundation for the nation's potential conversion to a hydrogen economy.
| For several years, the Volpe Center has been active in research and technical exchange regarding hydrogen, fuel cell, alternative fuel, and advanced propulsion technologies. |
In support of the RSPA Administrator's office, Mr. William P. Chernicoff of the Service and Operations Assessment Division serves as a key DOT representative in several Hydrogen Fuel Initiative panels and working groups. He participates in the Office of Science and Technology Policy -- Executive Office of the President's interagency hydrogen working group. An interagency taxonomy is being developed, and Mr. Chernicoff is coordinating this effort within DOT. Mr. Chernicoff chairs the hydrogen safety codes and standards working team of the DOT's Hydrogen Working Group. This activity leverages several years of active involvement in numerous codes and standards consensus activities.
Deputy Administrator Bonasso is the DOT representative to the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP). CaFCP advances research on the nationwide implementation of fuel-cell powered vehicles through demonstrations of fuel cell electric buses and cars under real-world operating conditions. Its committees work to coordinate and ensure safe vehicle deployment and infrastructure, and to support standards-development bodies by providing operational data. Mr. Chernicoff is supporting the Administrator's office as the technical representative on the CaFCP safety and codes and standards working groups. Additionally, he served as a merit reviewer and a participant on the technical advisory team of the 2003 Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Review for the Department of Energy (DOE), and provides DOT perspectives and expertise to DOE's materials compatibility and hydrogen release modeling activities.
A U.S. Army surplus locomotive will be converted to the world's first fuel-cell powered, road-switcher locomotive. |
Volpe Supports DoD Demonstration Program
The National Automotive Center (NAC) is the U.S. DoD/Army focal point for collaborative dual-use ground vehicle research and development. It links industry, academia, and government agencies in the development and exchange of automotive technologies. An interdisciplinary Volpe team is working on a NAC-sponsored program, run by Vehicle Projects LLC, to develop the world's first fuel-cell powered, road-switcher locomotive. The full-size locomotive will be fabricated from a U.S Army surplus GP-10 locomotive chassis. The target date for the operational locomotive is 2005. The three-phase project will include 1) feasibility and design; 2) construction of the locomotive; and 3) operations and testing. Various options are being evaluated in Phase 1 for fuel selection and the actual fuel cell to be used, and Volpe is providing critical assessments of the economics, marketability, and safety issues. The Volpe team includes Mr. Chernicoff and Mr. Scott Lian of the Service and Operations Assessment Division; Dr. Alan Rao of the Railroad Systems Division and Mr. Ross Gill, Acting Chief of that division; and Dr. Don Pickrell of the Office of System and Economic Assessment.
Transit buses present a highly suitable arena to address the many challenges associated with a shift to a hydrogen economy. |
Volpe Supports Public Transit Applications
The use of alternative fuels to power transit buses is steadily increasing. Volpe has supported the Federal Transit Administration's Clean Air Program for several years, preparing a series of reports on the safe use of alternative fuels for bus operations. Individual reports focus on compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, methanol/ ethanol, electric power, and hybrid electric power, as well as hydrogen. The reports provide overviews of alternative-fuel bus technologies and recommended practices for safe, reliable vehicles and infrastructure. Training for operations, maintenance, and emergency response personnel is emphasized. Currently, Mr. Chernicoff is leading an effort to develop a fuel cell vehicle and infrastructure maintenance training manual and program.
The Fuel of the Future
Realizing the vision of a clean, sustainable transportation system will depend on the cooperation of many organizations. As RSPA takes the lead in defining DOT's critical role in this national effort, the Volpe Center will continue to support the development of safe, secure, hydrogen-powered technology.
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