European researchers in partnership with US scientists have produced a new type of hydrogen technology that they claim will lead to more efficient hydrogen-fed engines for eco-friendly clean cars.
The EU-funded Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (HyICE) project tested ways to build hydrogen-fuelled engines that are as efficient as current diesel engines, without the same pollution, and with as little as possible trade-off in terms of engine size and power.
In taking the internal combustion engine as their starting point, the members of the three-year project led by the inventor of the automobile, BMW, focused on developing new components such as injectors and an ignition system. Raymond Freymann, Head of BMW Group Research and Technology believes hydrogen is $quot;already providing a well-developed technical solution for sustainable mobility$quot; and in the future, $quot;individual mobility using the hydrogen combustion engine will remain an attractive method of transportation.$quot;
The final result of this collaboration is an environmentally friendly engine with a distinct performance of 100 kW per litre cubic capacity (displacement), bringing the possibility of hydrogen-only cars a step closer. Only the infrastructure for hydrogen is missing but Daniel Kammerer, Head of Alternative Drive Trains, Technical Communications for BMW, believes that this will simply be a question of time saying, $quot;We believe this is the first step in a whole chain of events we hope will lead to environmentally friendly sustainable mobility. Now that the technology exists all that is needed is the infrastructure to provide hydrogen to consumers.$quot;
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