[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76307-76308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21724]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Hydrolysis of Sodium Borohydride for On-Board Hydrogen Storage 
Go/No-Go Decision

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of request for technical input to go/no-go decision.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (the Department or DOE) Hydrogen, 
Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program, is requesting 
position papers or other technical documentation regarding hydrolysis 
of sodium borohydride for on-board vehicular hydrogen storage 
applications by April 30, 2007. Information regarding regeneration of 
the spent fuel resulting from hydrolysis of sodium borohydride may also 
be submitted. This information will be used as part of DOE's go/no-go 
process in determining the future of DOE's program for applied research 
and development of hydrolysis of sodium borohydride for on-board 
hydrogen storage, including regeneration of the spent fuel.

DATES: Written position papers, articles or other technical 
documentation for consideration by the Department regarding this 
decision are welcome. Documents may be submitted via e-mail and must be 
received by April 30, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Please submit all documents to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Grace Ordaz, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail Station 
EE-2H, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, Phone: 
(202) 586-8350, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of the DOE's Hydrogen Program is 
to research, develop and validate fuel cell and hydrogen production, 
delivery, and storage technologies so that hydrogen from diverse 
domestic resources can be used in a clean, safe, reliable and 
affordable manner in fuel cell vehicles, electric power generation and 
combined heat and power applications. A critical requirement for 
enabling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to achieve mass market penetration 
is the development of on-board hydrogen storage systems with enough 
capacity to meet driving range expectations (more than 300 miles in the 
United States), while meeting a number of requirements such as weight, 
volume and cost. Detailed technical targets developed by DOE, with 
input through the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, are available at: 
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/mypp/pdfs/storage.pdf.
    To address the critical requirement of on-board hydrogen storage, 
the Program has established a ``National Hydrogen Storage Project'' 
including three Centers of Excellence and independent projects covering 
a diverse portfolio of hydrogen storage R&D. Each Center of Excellence 
is focusing on a class of storage materials--metal (reversible) 
hydrides, chemical hydrides (non-reversible), and carbon (and other 
hydrogen adsorbent) materials. Each center has university, industry and 
national lab partners pursuing and leveraging their specific expertise 
in different areas. The Program has also expanded basic science efforts 
and coordination between DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy and Office of Science (see http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov).
    On-board hydrogen storage systems must be developed that are safe, 
low cost and have high volumetric and gravimetric energy capacities in 
addition to meeting durability and operability requirements such as 
hydrogen charging and discharging rates. Periodic assessments and 
decision points on specific material technologies are included within 
the Hydrogen Storage sub-Program to meet the required targets within 
the Program timeframe.
    Within the current storage portfolio, a number of promising storage 
materials are being studied which have the potential for hydrogen 
storage capacities comparable to or greater than initially envisioned. 
In the material class of chemical hydrides, sodium borohydride has been 
shown to provide an adequate source of hydrogen upon hydrolysis of the 
material. However, since the hydrolysis reaction is not reversible on 
board the vehicle, processes for efficient off-board regeneration of 
the spent fuel, sodium borate, must be developed for the hydrolysis of 
sodium borohydride to be a viable on-board storage option. The DOE 
Hydrogen Program initiated research to develop efficient regeneration 
processes for sodium borohydride in 2003. Researchers supported by the 
DOE Program and other entities have made progress in improving the 
efficiency of the regeneration process over that of the current 
industrial process through which sodium borohydride is produced. 
However, the overall efficiency of the regeneration process remains low 
when compared to the DOE goal of 60%. In 2005, DOE increased the level 
of effort for the efficient regeneration of spent fuel from hydrolysis 
of sodium borohydride by including this activity within the scope of 
DOE's Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence. Results from 
these DOE R&D activities will also be used in DOE's go/no-go process in 
determining the future of applied research and development of 
hydrolysis of sodium borohydride for on-board vehicular hydrogen 
storage and of regeneration processes for the spent fuel.
    Scope Of Decision Process: The DOE will make a decision regarding 
the future of its program for applied research and development of 
hydrolysis of sodium borohydride for on-board hydrogen storage by the 
end of September 2007. DOE will review the current state of activities 
related to hydrolysis of sodium borohydride, including the regeneration 
of spent fuel, and base its go/no-go decision on whether the following 
2007 technical targets have been met:

[[Page 76308]]

    (1) System Gravimetric Capacity: Usable, specific-energy from 
H2 (net useful energy/max system mass) = 1.5 kWh/kg
    (2) System Volumetric Capacity: Usable energy density from 
H2 (net useful energy/max system volume) = 1.2 kWh/L
    (3) Storage system cost = $6/kWh net
    DOE will also consider the likelihood that sodium borohydride will 
meet the following 2010 technical targets:
    (4) System Gravimetric Capacity: Usable, specific-energy from 
H2 (net useful energy/max system mass) = 2.0 kWh/kg
    (5) System Volumetric Capacity: Usable energy density from 
H2 (net useful energy/max system volume) = 1.5 kWh/L
    (6) Storage system cost = $4/kWh net
    (7) Fuel cost (regeneration) = $2-3 per gallon of gasoline 
equivalent at the pump.
    Position papers or other technical documents relevant to the go/no-
go decision will be accepted by DOE for consideration in this decision. 
Position papers are limited to 10 pages maximum, and should contain a 
cover page with a point of contact, company name, address and email 
address. The cover page will not be counted in the 10 page limitation. 
Technical documents, such as published journal articles or preprints, 
are not restricted to the page limit. Position papers and other 
technical documents will be made available to the public and should not 
contain any proprietary information.
    For more information about the DOE Hydrogen Program and related on-
board hydrogen storage activities visit the Program's Web site at 
http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov and http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells.

    Issued in Golden, CO on December 12, 2006.
Jerry L. Zimmer,
Procurement Director, Golden Field Office.
[FR Doc. E6-21724 Filed 12-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P