4G光元：20多年来，我们一直在倡导使用燃料电池驱动的汽车，试图把美国的天然气分销网络与配电网络连接在一起，使他们成为提供清洁、安全的好伙伴，在使用点馈电电能，并出口到国家电网。一些早期的专利被授予，但大部分可能早已过期了。
这一概念的技术基础仍然是强大的和至关重要的，代表着一种创造力，旨在传统实用系统操作的核心。然而，汽车制造商、电力公司和天然气公用事业公司之间似乎有可能建立起一种潜在的伙伴关系，使这一切得以实现。
停电风险＝机会
在美国，有两个集中的能源系统：电力网和天然气网络。这两种系统共同作用于每一个家庭。令人惊讶的是，大多数人从未考虑将这两个系统结合起来，建立一个有弹性的混合系统，免受重大风暴破坏和恐怖袭击的影响。我们今天听到很多关于智能电网的消息。这样的混合系统可以像它一样聪明，也非常灵活和复杂。
当一场大的天气事件来袭时，地面上的电力系统就会遭受可怕的打击。不要指望这种现象会很快改变，因为把这些线路改造成地下掩埋是太贵了（有些估计至少是架空建筑的20倍）。另一方面，你的天然气服务最后一次是在任何一个暴风雪的冬天或夏天被淘汰的呢？
那么，下一个问题是否有办法把你家可靠的天然气转换成电能 ？最好的办法，在我看来，燃料电池是一个有效装置，是使用一种能够电化学将天然气转化为可用的氢燃料（通过甲烷分子脱碳），氢和氧结合产生清洁电力和余热。
燃料电池技术是非常有吸引力的。它具有较高的转换效率（32%–42%）；产生很小的废物副产品和一些低品位余热；是在一个高度模块化的设计，使体积膨胀；是成熟的技术；利用本地资源丰富的甲烷可从自然和人为来源。
燃料电池汽车动力发电厂？
如果我们用燃料电池驱动的汽车的方式和传统运输方式完全不同，一个典型的汽车燃料电池大约是45千瓦到50千瓦大小。这种能力远远超过普通家庭的需要。所以我要问一个简单的问题：为什么你的车不能在正常情况下使用，而在公用事业系统由于大面积停电而无法使用？
再进一步。为什么不让所有的汽车在停车的地方产生动力呢？大多数人只开一天时间的4%到6%辆的车，主要是为了通勤。剩下的时间就是停放在那里。它可以在停工期间投入使用。
你看，无论你走到哪里，你的车都跟着你，无论你在哪里，你都需要能量。如果停车场是适当设计的天然气和电气连接，每当你停车的时候，你的汽车可以变成一个便携式发电厂。它可以为你提供你需要的能量，多余的可以出售给市场。
真正令人高兴的是燃料电池驱动的汽车可以做到一年365天，每天24小时，全天候（24/7/365）服务。不管变幻莫测的风，也不受乌云阻挡阳光的影响，有大量的清洁能源一直在产生。它是天然气管网和电网共同作用的结果。
看数字
在美国有超过2亿5000万辆注册车辆，如果其中10%辆是45千瓦的燃料电池汽车连接到电网，就相当于增加了1125千瓦的电力系统容量。这比目前在美国安装的总发电量还要多。
其含义是惊人的。这种创造力将如何影响电力和天然气公用事业，汽车制造商，石油工业，公司经营车队的车辆，和其他？
由于电力行业将总是容易受到大停电，这种天然气电力的概念可能是重要的。燃料电池是两个系统之间的能量转换器。燃料电池驱动的汽车可以瞬间实现本地供电，构建微网格，就可以应对出现的大自然灾难或恐怖分子攻击了。对于那些致力于替代能源的人来说，如果你愿意的话，你仍然可以拥有它们，事实上，燃料电池驱动的汽车是理想的替代品。
这是一种开创性的技术吗？当然!可以吗？我认为是这样.■
- Harry T. Roman是一名退休工程师，研发项目经理，教师，发明家和作家。他拥有12项专利，并获得新泽西发明家名人堂颁发的“年度新泽西发明家奖”。
Fuel Cells: Key to Our Electric Energy Future
09/01/2017 | Harry T. Roman
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For more than 20 years, I have been championing the use of fuel cell powered cars to connect the natural gas distribution network of this country with the electric distribution network, making them partners in providing clean, safe, electrical energy at the point of use, and for export back into the national grid. Some early patents were awarded, but they were way ahead of their time.
The technological foundation for this concept remains strong and vital—representing a disruptive force aimed at the heart of traditional utility system operations. However, there seems to be a potential partnership that can be forged between auto manufacturers, electric utilities, and natural gas utilities to make this all happen.
Outage Risk = Opportunity
In the U.S. there are two centralized energy systems: the electric utility grid and the natural gas network. Both systems together touch just about every home. Surprisingly, most people never think about combining the two systems to create a resilient hybrid system, immune from major storm disruptions and terrorist attacks. We hear a great deal today about the smart grid. Such a hybrid system can be about as smart as it gets, and quite flexible and sophisticated too.
When a big weather event strikes, the above-ground electric utility system can take an awful beating. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon, because it is simply too expensive to retrofit all those lines underground (some estimates suggest at least 20 times as expensive as overhead construction). On the other hand, when was the last time your natural gas service was taken out during any kind of storm—winter or summer?
Wouldn’t it be reasonable to ask if there was a way to convert your home’s reliable natural gas service into electricity for your household? The best way to do this, in my opinion, is using a fuel cell—a device that can electrochemically convert natural gas into a useable fuel by stripping off the hydrogen portion of the methane molecule and combining it with oxygen to generate clean electricity and some waste heat.
Fuel cell technology is very attractive. It has relatively high conversion efficiency (32%–42%); produces very small waste byproducts and some low-grade waste heat; comes in a highly modular design, allowing for size expansion; is proven technology; and uses a native and abundant resource—methane—available from natural and man-made sources.
Fuel Cell Car Power Plants
What if we used fuel cell powered cars in a very different way than for just transportation? A typical car fuel cell is about 45 kW to 50 kW in size. That capacity is much more than an average home needs. So I ask a simple question: Why can’t your car power your house both during normal conditions and when the utility system is unavailable due to widespread outages?
Go one step further. Why not have all cars generate power wherever they are parked? Most people only drive their car about 4% to 6% of the day—mostly for commuting. The rest of the time it just sits there. It could be put to work during that downtime.
You see, your car follows you everywhere, and everywhere you go you need energy. If parking lots were suitably designed with natural gas and electrical connections, your car could be turned into a portable power plant whenever you park it. It could provide you with the energy you need and the excess could be sold into the market.
The really nice part of this is that fuel cell powered cars can do it 24/7/365. No vagaries of the wind, no clouds to block sunshine, just lots of clean power generated all the time. It is the natural gas network and the electric grid working together.
By the Numbers
There are more than 250 million registered vehicles in the U.S. If even 10% of those were 45-kW fuel cell powered cars connected to the electric grid, it would be equivalent to adding 1,125 GW of power capacity to the system. That’s more than the total generating capacity currently installed in the U.S.
The implications of this are staggering. How would this disruption affect electric and natural gas utilities, automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, companies operating fleets of vehicles, and others?
Because the electric utility industry will always be vulnerable to large outages, this natural gas-electric concept could be significant. The fuel cell is the energy transformer between the two systems. Fuel cell powered cars make it possible to instantly decentralize the grid, if under attack by Mother Nature or terrorists. For those of you committed to alternative energy sources, you can still have them if you want—in fact, fuel cell powered cars are the ideal back up for them.
Is this a disruptive technology? You bet! Could it be done? I think so. ■
—Harry T. Roman is a retired engineer, research and development project manager, teacher, inventor, and author. He has 12 patents to his credit and is a past recipient of the New Jersey Inventor of the Year Award, given by the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.
