| FuelCellStocks.Com Fuel Cell News August 24, 2005 Fort Collins to give new fuel a test drive Fort Collins is on track to experiment with a little-known fuel, hythane, as a first step toward reducing dependence on conventional fuel. Hythane is a controlled mixture of hydrogen and compressed natural gas invented by a Denver engineer, Frank Lynch, more than a decade ago. Fort Collins plans to convert its five or six 12-seater minibuses, which run on compressed natural gas, to hythane. The city is building a new fueling station that will mix hydrogen and CNG in the proper proportion. Once the station is completed later this year, it also will offer pure hydrogen to run some fuel-cell vehicles that Fort Collins plans to acquire for demonstration purposes. Detroit carmakers are developing hydrogen-run fuel-cell prototype cars, which are designed to not only emit zero pollutants but also to cut down fossil fuel consumption. Those engines are powered by electricity generated through the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, with water as the only by-product. "We will have the first fueling station in Colorado to dispense pure hydrogen," said Gary Schroeder, energy services engineer for Fort Collins Utilities, a division of the city that serves 60,000 customers. "If we start with a fueling station where fleets can come and fuel up, it will be the first step toward a pure hydrogen economy. If Denver and Colorado Springs also do it, then we can establish a regional corridor for hydrogen." Lynch, hythane's inventor, estimates that a gallon of the fuel could cost $2.10, assuming a gallon of hydrogen costs $5 and CNG costs $1.88. That compares with Thursday's average price of $2.62 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline in Colorado. Fort Collins officials have not estimated cost or energy savings, but if the experiment pays off, Schroeder plans to talk to officials in Denver and Colorado Springs about establishing a hydrogen corridor in the state. In April 2004, Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggar announced building the California Hydrogen Highway - the first state to do so. The Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Conservation and Management has given Fort Collins $210,000 in grants to acquire equipment for the station. Fort Collins is spending another $35,000. "We partnered with the city of Fort Collins to demonstrate the production and storage of hydrogen," said OEMC's Ed Lewis. "At this point, we don't know how expensive it will be to make hydrogen. We don't know the energy balance, or how much energy it will cost us to convert water into hydrogen and then use the hydrogen as a source of energy." chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2976
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