DOE wants hydrogen from coal and will pay to get it

摘要

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected six research and development projects that will promote the production of hydrogen from coal at large-scale facilities. The selections support President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, which provides funding for research and technology development to realize a future hydrogen economy that minimizes America's dependence on foreign oil. The large-scale production of hydrogen from coal faces several technological challenges that must be overcome before its widespread use becomes a reality. To address these challenges, the new cost-shared projects will focus on two areas of interest: Ultra-Pure Hydrogen - Hydrogen has the potential to be used in a number of end-use applications, each having its own purity standard. Some of these end uses include hydrogen turbines, fuel cells and modified internal combustion engines. These projects will focus on the development and scale-up of advanced materials and devices for producing ultra-pure hydrogen from coal-derived synthesis gas.