### **New York State Hydrogen Production to Support Fuel Cell Vehicles**

Prepared by James E. Mason, Ph.D.

Solar Energy Campaign

Direct Correspondence to:

James Mason, Director, Solar Energy Campaign, 52 Columbia Street,
Farmingdale, NY 11735 Phone: (516) 694-0759, E-mail:
<cjjmason5@earthlink.net.>

A hydrogen gas (H2) production and distribution system is needed in New
York State to support the mass marketing of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs)
post-2010. The imperative for a H2 system is embedded in three energy
problems: 1) an emerging global oil supply/demand imbalance; 2) harmful
health effects vehicle tailpipe air pollution emissions; and 3)
greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming. The goal is for a
New York H2 system with a gasoline equivalent H2 pump price of less than
\$2.00 per gallon gasoline, which includes fuel use taxes. Another goal
is to insure that all H2 production plants include pollution capture and
storage systems to insure a minimum of air pollution emissions.

A supply of H2 to power over 10 million FCVs is needed for New York. The
best sources of H2 are water, coal, natural gas, and biomass. The Solar
Energy Campaign supports the production of H2 from water by electrolysis
solar and wind electricity. However, New York does not have the solar or
wind resources necessary to produce H2 by electrolysis at a low cost.
For New York and the Northeast U.S. to have access to low cost H2
produced by solar electrolysis plants in the Southwest U.S. and wind
electrolysis plants in the upper Midwest U.S. will require the
construction of a national H2 pipeline system. It will take twenty to
thirty years to build the national H2 pipeline system. Therefore, the
Solar Energy Campaign is proposing that New York and the Northeast U.S.
produce H2 from coal by coal gasification plants with pollution capture
and storage systems. While natural gas is an excellent source of low
cost H2, North American natural gas supplies are not abundant enough to
support the large-scale production of H2 to meet transportation needs.
Therefore, the ability to use natural gas for H2 production is very
limited and should be avoided if at all possible.

Another low cost source of H2 for New York is biomass (see Table 1). H2
from biomass has the potential to supply approximately 10% of New Yorks
H2 requirements. One source of H2 from biomass is the manure of dairy
cows. New York is the third largest milk producer in the United States
with 680,000 dairy cows. Prior research indicates that the cost of H2
produced from the manure of dairy cows is one the lowest cost sources of
H2 (see Table 1). The potential H2 supply from New York dairy cow manure
is sufficient to power 150,000 fuel cell cars and light trucks or 10,000
metro-buses (see Table 2). While the number of cars and light trucks is
a very small percentage of the total number of cars and light trucks in
New York, the number of metro-buses that could be fueled with the H2
from manure biogas is greater than the number of buses currently in
service throughout the state.

If the H2 produced from manure biogas is dedicated for use by
metro-buses, public transportation can be insulated from rising fuel
prices in coming years. This would provide a benefit to public
transportation users, which is justified since mass transit users
contribute the least to our air emissions problems. Dairy farmers can
benefit by having their manure removed at no cost. The New York Power
Authority can create a statewide dairy farm cooperative for manure
collection as a feedstock for H2 production plants (anaerobic
digestor/steam reformation H2 production plants) and then distribute the
fertilizer residues left over from the H2 production process back to
farmers at a low cost.

At present, the small amount of biogas produced from animal manure is
used to generate electricity. However, in terms of greenhouse gas
emissions reduction it is better to use the H2 produced from biogas to
power FCVs rather than using it for electricity generation (see Table
3). In addition, organic waste itself is the source of significant
pollution through atmospheric methane, polluted groundwater and the
spread of disease. Other benefits from using cattle manure for hydrogen
production are the recycling of nutrients back to the soil from the
organic residues, which reduces the requirements for artificial
fertilizers; improved soil quality by recycling the organic matter as
humus, which preserves fragile top soils; and sanitization of the
compost, which reduces the spread of soil-borne pathogens and weeds.
Another benefit is job creation, which is much needed in central New
York. To fully utilize the hydrogen potential of dairy cow manure will
require fifteen large anaerobic digestor/steam reformation plants.
Photographs of European anaerobic digestor plants are presented in
Figure 1. In addition, H2 can be produced from other biomass feedstocks
such as agricultural residues, energy crops, and wood wastes at
gasification plants, which are similar to coal gasification plants.

Jobs will be created with the development of a H2 system in New York.
Jobs will be created by companies operating biomass H2 production plants
and by the companies formed to collect and distribute the biomass
feedstocks to the gasification plants. Jobs will be created throughout
the state, particularly in the economically depressed central, southern
tier, and western regions of New York, which are the agricultural and
dairy farming regions.

The replacement of gasoline with H2 will benefit New Yorkers in many
ways: 1) will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide from vehicle tailpipes,
which is one of the primary causes for the high ozone, bad air days in
the hot summer months and is believed to be one of the primary causes
for the increasing rates of asthma and chronic lung disease; 2) will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate global warming and the
rise in ocean levels threatening New York coastal communities; and 3)
will reduce transportation fuel costs; 4) will reduce demand for
petroleum, which will stabilize heating oil prices. The American Lung
Association estimates that New York has one of the nation's highest
asthma and chronic lung disease rates. A reduction in smog created from
nitrogen oxide emissions, particularly in the hot summer months, is
critical to mitigate New York's high asthma and chronic lung disease
rates.

**The Development of a Hydrogen Economy in New York:**

1\. The Governor needs to create a State Energy Commission to bring
together automobile manufacturers and coal gasification plant companies
to develop a timeline for the construction of coal gasification plants
in New York designed to sustain annual increases in H2 supply to support
the addition of a million or more new FCVs annually between 2011--2020.

2\. The development of a State agency affiliated with the Metro Transit
Authority and the State Agricultural Extension Service to support the
construction of an anaerobic digestor/steam reformation plant in Central
New York to produce H2 from the manure of 5,000 dairy cows. This H2
production plant will produce 500,000 pounds of H2 per year, which will
power over 1,000 fuel cell cars and light trucks or 100 metro-buses. The
capital cost of the plant is estimated at \$15,000,000. Revenues will be
generated from the sale of the H2, fertilizer, gate fees for processing
agricultural residues, and eventually the sale of CO2 emissions credits.
This project is proposed as the beginning of the comprehensive
collection system for dairy cow manure, agricultural residues, and wood
chips to produce H2 and provide a long-term, low-cost supply of H2 for
the State's Metro-bus systems.

Table 1. New York Sources of Hydrogen

  ---------------- -------------- ----------- ----------- --------- ------------- -------------
  Potential NY H2                                                                 
  Demand for                                                                      
  Transportation =                                                                
  0.2444                                                                          
  Q-Btu/year for                                                                  
  10,000,000 fuel                                                                 
  cell vehicles.                                                                  

  Energy Source    H2 Production  H2          Number of   H2 Cost   H2 Cost       H2 Cost
                   Technology     Potential   FCVs        (\$/lb)   wo/Taxes      w/Taxes
                                  (Q-Btu)     Supported             (\$/gal gas   (\$/gal gas
                                                                    equivalent)   equivalent)

  ** **                                                                            

  **Fossil Fuels**                                                                 

  Coal             Gasification   Large       All         1.43      1.46          1.96

  Natural Gas      SMR            Limited     Limited                              

  ** **                                                                            

  **NY Biomass**                                                                   

  Dairy Manure     Anaerobic      0.0068      278,208     1.04      1.06          1.56
                   Digestion                                                      

  Ag Residues      Gasification   0.0007      28,639      1.20      1.22          1.72

  Wood Waste       Gasification   0.0164      670,971     1.20      1.22          1.72

  Energy Crops     Gasification   0.0040      163,651     1.23      1.26          1.76

  MSW              SMR            0.0100      409,129     1.10      1.12          1.62

  Landfill Gas     SMR            0.0071      290,481     1.17      1.20          1.70

                                                                                   

  **NY H2 by Wind                                                                  
  Electrolysis**                                                                  

  Wind Class 4     Electrolysis   0.0362      1,481,046   2.79      2.84          3.34

  Wind Class 5     Electrolysis   0.0054      220,930     2.21      2.25          2.75

  Wind Class 6     Electrolysis   0.0000      0           1.94      1.98          2.48

                                                                                   

  **Totals for                    0.0866      3,543,055                            
  Biomass and                                                                     
  Wind**                                                                          

  ** **                                                                            

  **Future: H2 by                                                                  
  SW Solar and MW                                                                 
  Wind                                                                            
  Electrolysis                                                                    
  with National                                                                   
  Pipeline**                                                                      

  SW Solar         Electrolysis   Large       All         2.12      2.16          2.66

  Midwest Wind     Electrolysis   Large       All         2.21      2.25          2.75
  ---------------- -------------- ----------- ----------- --------- ------------- -------------

Notes:

\* Biomass data from Directed Technologies, 2003, DOE Grant No.
DE-FG01-99EE35099.

\* SMR = Steam Reformation; Ag = Agriculture; MSW = Municipal Solid
Wastes.

\* The average fuel economy of FCVs is assumed to be 25 mi/lb H2.

\* A pound of H2 = 51,500 Btu; a gallon of gasoline = 115,500 Btu; (both
at net heating value).

\* New York transportation H2 fuel demand for 10,000,000 fuel cell
vehicles = 0.2444 Q-Btu H2.

Table 2. Evaluation of Dairy Cow Biogas Production, Use and Carbon
Dioxide Emissions

  -------------------------- --- ------------ --- ------------ --- ------------ --- ------------- ---
  Studies of Biogas              Number Dairy     Biogas           Biogas           Hydrogen Gas   
  Production                     Cows             Production       Production       Production    
                                                  (MW/yr)          per Cow          per Cow       
                                                                   (W/yr)           (m^3^/yr)\*   

  Isle of Wight Study            5,500            1.4              255              594            

  California Energy              1,420,000        322.5            227              530            
  Commission Study                                                                                

  Directed Technologies          27,000,000       4 683.8          174              405            
  Study (USA)                                                                                     

  Average                                                          218              510            

                                                                                                   

  New York Potential             680,000          148.5            218              510            

  ** **                                                                                            

  \* Assumes an 80%                                                                                
  efficiency in reforming                                                                         
  biogas to pure hydrogen                                                                         
  gas and a m^3^ = 10,244                                                                         
  Btu.                                                                                            

  \* New York cow manure H2                                                                        
  production can support                                                                          
  141,840 fuel cell cars and                                                                      
  light trucks.                                                                                   

  \* A fuel cell car/light                                                                        
  truck uses 2,445 m^3^/yr                                                                        
  at an average annual                                                                            
  travel distance of 11,000                                                                       
  miles.                                                                                          

  \* It takes the manure                                                                           
  from five cows to power a                                                                       
  fuel cell car/light truck                                                                       
  for a year.                                                                                     
  -------------------------- --- ------------ --- ------------ --- ------------ --- ------------- ---

Table 3. Comparison of Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Electricity Generation
and Transportation

  ------------------------ ------- ------------- ------- -------------- ------- --------------- ------- ----------- -------
  Summary of Results:      ** **   ** **         ** **   ** **          ** **   ** **           ** **   ** **       ** **

  1\. Biogas for H2 FCVs                                                                                            
  Cuts CO2 Emissions 2.9                                                                                            
  Times More Than If Used                                                                                           
  for Electricity.                                                                                                  

  2\. H2 FCVs Cut Tailpipe                                                                                           
  Emissions of NO~x~,                                                                                               
  Which Is a Major Source                                                                                           
  of Ozone Pollution                                                                                                

  on Long Island. Ozone Is                                                                                           
  Believed to Be One the                                                                                            
  Primary Causes for                                                                                                
  Asthma.                                                                                                           

                           ** **   ** **         ** **   ** **          ** **   ** **           ** **   ** **       ** **

  Electricity Generation           Energy to             Electricity            CO2 Emissions           CO2          
                                   Generate              Generation             (gCO2/Btu)^b^           Emissions   
                                   Electricity           (GWh/yr)^a^                                    (mt C       
                                   (G-Btu/yr)                                                           Eq)^c^      

  Biogas Power Plant               325.8                 38.2                   0                       0            

  Natural Gas Power Plant          325.8                 47.7                   0.0528                  3,754        

  Coal Power Plant                 325.8                 38.2                   0.0939                  8,343        

                                                                                                                     

  Transportation                   Number of             Motor Gasoline         CO2 Emissions           CO2          
                                   Cars                  (gal/yr/car)           (gCO2/Btu)              Emissions   
                                                                                                        (mt C Eq)   

  Hydrogen Fuel Cell               13,000                0                      0                       0            
  Cars/Light Trucks^d^                                                                                              

  Motor Gasoline                   13,000                479                    0.0703                  13,730       
  Cars/Light Trucks^e^                                                                                              

  Notes:                                                                                                             

  a\. Coal-fired and                                                                                                 
  biogas power plants are                                                                                           
  40% efficient and                                                                                                 
  natural gas power plant                                                                                           
  is 50%                                                                                                            

  efficient in terms of                                                                                              
  converting fuel energy                                                                                            
  into electricity. 325.8                                                                                           
  G-Btu/year is the amount                                                                                          

  of biogas that can be                                                                                              
  produced from the manure                                                                                          
  of 50,000 cows. There                                                                                             
  are 680,000                                                                                                       

  dairy cows in New York,                                                                                            
  which is the third                                                                                                
  largest dairy state in                                                                                            
  the US.                                                                                                           

  b\. CO2 emissions                                                                                                  
  estimated with EPA, US                                                                                            
  DOE formulas.                                                                                                     

  c\. To convert from CO2                                                                                            
  emissions to carbon                                                                                               
  equivalent emissions                                                                                              
  divide by 44/12.                                                                                                  

  d\. The fuel economy of                                                                                            
  fuel cell cars/light                                                                                              
  trucks is 4.5 miles/m^3^                                                                                          
  of H2, and the annual                                                                                             

  travel distance is                                                                                                 
  11,000 miles, which                                                                                               
  translates into 2,445                                                                                             
  m^3^ of H2 per year. The                                                                                          

  annual energy                                                                                                      
  consumption is                                                                                                    
  25,040,000 since a m^3^                                                                                           
  of H2 contains 10,244                                                                                             
  Btu of energy.                                                                                                    

  d\. The average fuel                                                                                               
  economy of regular                                                                                                
  cars/light trucks in the                                                                                          
  US is 23 miles/gallon of                                                                                          
  gas,                                                                                                              

  and the average annual                                                                                             
  travel distance is                                                                                                
  11,000 miles, which                                                                                               
  translates into 479                                                                                               
  gallons                                                                                                           

  of gas per year. The                                                                                               
  annual energy                                                                                                     
  consumption of regular                                                                                            
  cars/light trucks in the                                                                                          
  US is                                                                                                             

  55,085,000 Btu since a                                                                                             
  gallon of gasoline                                                                                                
  contains 115,000 Btu of                                                                                           
  energy. A fuel cell                                                                                               

  car/light truck is 2.2                                                                                             
  times more efficient                                                                                              
  than a gasoline                                                                                                   
  car/light truck.                                                                                                  
  ------------------------ ------- ------------- ------- -------------- ------- --------------- ------- ----------- -------

**Figure 1.** **European Anaerobic Digestor Plants**

![](media/image1.jpeg){width="4.0in" height="2.1243055555555554in"}

The Vagron plant in Groningen, The Netherlands is one of the largest MSW
digestion plants in the world, with an annual capacity of 85,000 tonnes.
Designed by Citec, built by Holland Construction. Photo: Citec

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="4.0in" height="2.1659722222222224in"}

Anaerobic digestion plant in Freiburg, Germany, processes 36,000 tonnes
waste per year, producing 3 million m3 gas and 15,000 tonnes compost.
Photo: Steinmuller Valorga

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="4.0in" height="2.2284722222222224in"}

The Mons anaerobic digestion plant, Belgium, has two 3800 m3 digesters
and can process 58,000 tonnes of waste per year. Photo: Steinmuller

Appendix

**A-1. What Is Anaerobic Disgestion?**

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process in which biodegradable
organic matters are broken-down by bacteria into biogas, which consists
of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and other trace amount of gases.
The biogas can be used to generate heat and electricity. Oxygen-free is
the primary requirement of AD to occur. Other important factors, such as
temperature, moisture and nutrient contents, and pH are also critical
for the success of AD. AD can be best occurred at two range of
temperatures, mesophilic (30-40°C) and thermophilic (50-60°C). In
general, AD at mesophilic temperature is more common even though
digestion at thermophilic temperature has the advantages of reducing
reaction time, which corresponding to the reduction of digester volume.
Moisture contents in greater than 85% or higher are suitable for AD.

**A-2. The Role of Anaerobic Digestion**

When the use of anaerobic digestion is considered, it can play three
main roles, all of which generate bio-energy. First, it is a technology
for converting energy crops into a useful fuel that can be transported
and stored. Second, it is technology for recycling organic wastes. Under
this option, anaerobic digestion is used to convert \'clean\' organic
wastes into a stable organic soil improver, liquid fertilizers and an
energy product. It is performing the same role as composting in waste
management. Finally, anaerobic digestion is a waste treatment, where the
purpose of the treatment is to reduce the environmental impact of
organic wastes prior to their disposal. This option is commonly referred
to as mechanical biological treatment, and it can be employed both on
untreated municipal wastes and on grey (residual) waste fractions.
Obviously, the use of landfill gas is the most notable demonstration of
grey waste digestion.

**A-3. Feedstocks**

As was noted above, the process can degrade only organic materials, and
thus the feedstocks to

anaerobic digestion can be grouped as the following subsections:

**A-4. Manure and Agricultural Wastes**

The largest sources of wastes are the manures and crop residues that are
derived from food production. Currently these wastes are either disposed
of or applied to the land with further treatment. Anaerobic digestion
can prove to be beneficial in the management of these wastes by reducing
the environmental impact and the pathogen levels and by improving the
utilization of the nutrients and the humus-forming organics fraction.

**A-5. Energy crops**

The potential for energy crop digestion is similar to that of bioethanol
and biodiesel. Selecting crops over wastes will increase the biogas
production, as crops generally have lower lignin levels than the
residues that have traditionally been treated using anaerobic digestion.
Studies have been carried out on a wide range of substrates including
oats, maize, grasses and hay - with much better gas production rates
than have been achieved with wastes.

**A-6. Industrial Wastes**

Industrial wastes are a major source of environmental damage, and
potentially significant improvement in their disposal can be achieved.
The main sources of organic wastes will be the food and drink industrial
wastewaters, and anaerobic digestion is currently used extensively for
treating these wastes. However, there are many more food and drink
residues, in particular the solid residues such as vegetable packing,
abattoir waste and oilseed wastes that could also be treated. Other
industries will have lower overall quantities of suitable feedstocks,
but there are opportunities for residues from the pharmaceutical, paper
and rubber production industries, for example.

**A-7. Municipal wastes**

Municipal waste covers both sewage and rubbish. Sewage treatment using
anaerobic digestion is

widespread. Solid domestic waste can be treated either as a
source-separated feedstock or as a mixed waste, and these options are
discussed above.

**A-8. Centralized Plants**

Centralized anaerobic digestion (CAD) plants are becoming a popular
option for waste management where wastes from several sources are
combined in a single digestion plant. This offers benefits of increased
scale, which not only improves the cost effectiveness but also allows
revenues from gate fees to fund the digestion of certain types of waste,
such as agricultural waste. This concept has been shown to be very
successful in Denmark where there are 18 CAD plants treating animal
manure, crop residues, abattoir wastes, industrial wastes, sewage sludge
and source-separated household organic waste. The use of multiple
substrates increases the specific gas production rate and tends to
improve the balance of nutrients in the digestate.

**A-9. Benefits and Products**

There are four main \'products\' and the success of the process is
dependant on marketing all of these. The benefits, in addition to biogas
(hydrogen production), are environmental protection, fertilizer and a
soil improver.

**A-10. Biogas**

Biogas is a mixture of CH4 and CO2 with other trace gases such as H2S,
N2, NH4 etc., depending on the feedstock. This gas can be used directly
as fuel with minimal treatment for removal of moisture and H2S for
firing in boilers or engines for the production of steam or electricity.
A more efficient option is to use the gas in a combined heat and power
(CHP) role, in which both heat and electricity are generated, achieving
the higher value of the electricity whilst maintaining the benefit of
high-energy efficiency. The development of fuel cell vehicles have made
attractive the upgrading of the biogas to pipeline- or vehicle-fuel
quality hydrogen gas. The upgrading process involves the removal of the
CO2 and other contaminants through steam reformation processes. There
are now options to recover the CO2 in addition to the methane.

The process of converting organic materials such as cow manure into
biogas follows basically the following steps. Organic material is
introduced to the digestor where anaerobic digestion or fermentation
(that is in the absence of oxygen) occurs. This produces a \"biogas\"
which consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide, but which also
contains quantities of hydrogen sulphide and water. In addition to
cleaning increasing the concentration of methane in the biogas mixture
it is also necessary to remove the hydrogen sulphide which is a highly
corrosive compound. In the first of the purification methods, hydrogen
sulphide is removed from the biogas by a process known as chemisorption
usualy using iron oxide or zinc oxide. The resultant product is sulphur,
relatively harmless. The use of the carbon dioxide scrubbing column
increases the yield of methane in the resultant biogas. In the second
method, water absorption removes the impurities. In the third process,
membrane separation in the membrane element follows removal of excess
water in the dehydrator. On one side methane gas is yielded, on the
other, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. The clean biogas is then
stored at pressure for use in the fuel cell.

**A-11. Environmental Protection**

Anaerobic digestion reduces the potential for pollution from organic
wastes. Anaerobic digestion degrades organic matter and makes the
resultant residue more stable; this protects the environment from the
uncontrolled degradation of the waste. Thus, it reduces the potential
for the production of atmospheric methane and leachate. Organic wastes
pose the threat of: uncontrolled emission of methane to the atmosphere
adding to global warming; leachate production, which can seriously
affect water courses through reducing oxygen levels and promoting algal
growth through the supply of nutrients; transmission of pathogens to
animals and soil; production of odors and flies. Anaerobic digestion
provides confidence in the reduction of pathogens, thus helping to break
the cycle of infection and re-infection. Due to the temperature and
chemical environment of the digestion process, most pathogens are
killed. There is confidence due to the enclosed nature of the systems,
and because all of the waste is treated.

**A-12. Fertilizer**

The nutrients in the wastes or energy crops are concentrated into the
liquid fraction of the digestate wastes and converted into more
available forms. This allows the digestate to be more useful in
offsetting chemical fertilizer use. This will have large benefits, as
there are significant impacts from the production of chemical
fertilizers. Also, the beneficial use of the nutrients in waste will
mean that those nutrients will not be lost to water courses and cause
problems through eutrophication.

**A-13. Soil Improver/Compost**

The compost produced helps to improve soil organic matter in depleted
soils. Soil organic matter has been falling steadily since the
introduction of chemical fertilizers in intensive farming. This
reduction is most pronounced in arable farming areas, and soil erosion
is becoming a more

significant problem. Organic matter also assists in retaining moisture
and improving soil porosity, thereby encouraging air into the soil. All
this helps to improve the fertility of soils. However, it has proved
difficult to demonstrate a cost benefit on short trials where the
chemical benefits of nutrients are the overriding factor.