A number of issues related more particularly to green gases emissions and fuel availability
has resulted worldwide from the transport sector expansion. Stringent regulation laws,
improvement in engine efficiency and alternative fuel options have been proposed to
address these issues. However, the suitability of an alternative fuel depends on its performance, cost and availability. By its versatility in use and its renewability, hydrogen, as
an alternative fuel, offers the best potential for reducing greenhouse gases emission,
improving engine efficiency and ensuring fuel security.
The aim of the present work is the study of hydrogen as an alternative fuel in the
transport sector in Algeria.
First, a review of the Algerian transport sector is presented. Hydrogen as a fuel in vehicles is then analyzed. The needs for hydrogen to power vehicle hydrogen vehicle are
estimated. Based on the techno-economic factors, a comparative of the economic viability
of a hydrogen powered vehicles with a gasoline powered vehicle is carried out. The PVelectrolysis technique for hydrogen production is considered. Results show that,
advancement in technology and improvement in manufacturing are going to lead to the
development of a hydrogen fuel based transport sector.
Concerns about conventional fuel source depletion and environment pollution have lead to the search for an alternative
fuel. Hydrogen is considered as a serious candidate. However,
to insure hydrogen penetration as a fuel in the transport
sector, specific hydrogen infrastructure should be built and
hydrogen based fuel vehicle technologies fully developed.
Moreover, hydrogen as a fuel should be economically more
competitive than the conventional hydrocarbon based fuel. In
the present study, the last point has been dealt with.
In the present work, the last point, i.e., the competitiveness
of the hydrogen based fuel with gasoline fuel has been
addressed. The case of hydrogen produced by water electrolysis using a PV system to generate the electricity needed for
the electrolysis. Three types of hydrogen powered vehicle
technologies have been considered, namely the HICV, the
HFCV and the HGICV. For the HGICV, the fuel is considered as
mixture of45% hydrogen and 55% gasoline. The comparison
has been made with gasoline used to fuel a GICV.
But before that the Algerian vehicle park has been
analyzed. Over the last decade, there has been a growth of 47%
in the numbers of vehicles and an increase of 82% in the
consumption of fuel. These are very important increases that
are putting stresses on the resources.
An evaluation of the amount of hydrogen to replace the
conventional hydrocarbon based fuel needs in Algeria has
been carried out. However, Knowledge of the used technology
and the type of distribution are necessary. Knowledge of the
technology indicates the efficiency the vehicle and knowledge
of the distribution permits the determination of hydrogen
losses during transport and dispensing.
The cost of hydrogen production using a PV-electrolysis
system has been carried out. It has been found that a large
fraction of this cost is due to the cost of the PV electricity
generation unit. However, the results indicate that this cost
comes under the double effect of technology improvement,
i.e., improvement in PV efficiency and of the learning curve,
i.e., drop in the PV capital cost.
Concerning the hydrogen based fuel competitiveness; it
has been found that hydrogen fuel for the three technologies
considered is not competitive with gasoline used in an GICV.
Hydrogen used in an HFCV shows the highest competitiveness. The results suggest also that with an improvement in PV
efficiency and a decrease in PV capital cost, hydrogen will be
fully competitive. However, an analysis of the hydrogen based
fuel vehicle technologies is necessary.