Harnessing Hydrogen
Southwest Research Institute
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Combatting a Warming Climate with ICE
In 2024, extreme weather including deadly heat, flooding, and hurricanes continues to raise alarms about the broader implications associated with rising global temperatures. With 196 nations now party to the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees, the resolve to combat climate change has never been stronger. Although the exact pathway to accomplishing this objective is far from clear, the commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 remains the centerpiece of the agreement. This daunting goal means finding carbon-free alternatives for the more than 37 gigatons of CO2 emitted across the globe annually.
The Challenge of Decarbonizing Transportation
The transportation sector remains one of the largest contributors to global CO2 emissions, accounting for nearly a quarter of total emissions, or 8 gigatons. Within the transportation sector, road sources contribute about 75% of these emissions. These include everything from the cars, SUVs, motorcycles and buses that move us around to the pickups, vans and medium- and heavy-duty trucks that transport the goods that we use every day. While we could undoubtedly reduce carbon emissions by doing some of this moving around more efficiently, we will never fully eliminate carbon emissions through efficiency improvements alone. Because it is hard to imagine a world without the ease, convenience and freedom of movement that we enjoy today, the only real solution is to replace all carbon-emitting modes of transportation with zero-CO2 options.
The real challenge here is that pound-for-pound and gallon-for-gallon, it is difficult to match the energy density of hydrocarbon fuels and modern internal combustion engines (ICEs). For transportation to be effective, each vehicle must be able to carry enough energy on-board without the need for constant refueling. To be a viable replacement, any new carbon-free energy source must be as energy-dense, in terms of both weight and volume, as the status quo. For smaller vehicles, the trade-off is less significant, though range anxiety is still a legitimate concern for battery electric vehicles. As vehicle power and distance requirements increase, energy density becomes critical to maintaining vehicle range and cargo capacity. This is especially true in the heavy-duty trucking industry where profit margins are extremely narrow.
Southwest Research Institute has been at the forefront of combustion research and engine development for decades. Over the years, the Powertrain Engineering Division has led consortia, government and commercial projects investigating conventional and unconventional ways of lowering all emissions. The most recent efforts have targeted carbon emissions. While Institute engineers support a range of decarbonization solutions using battery electric, hybrid electric and fuel cell powertrains, recent experience has highlighted the need for a more suitable option to decarbonize heavy-duty vehicles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ryan Williams, a specialist in advanced diesel and spark-ignited engines, manages SwRI’s Engine Systems Research & Innovation Section. As the program manager of the H2-ICE consortium, he led the joint SwRI-industry team that developed the Class 8 heavy duty H2-ICE demonstration vehicle now touring the U.S.