PR 80 05
BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TUESDAY, Oct. 11, 2005
Contact:
Ed Mosey |
, BPA (503)-230-5131
Students experiment with scale model fuel cell cars
BPA program aims to educate students in the technology
PORTLAND, Ore. -
Students not old enough to have a driver's license will have no problem driving what could become the automobile of the future. The miniature fuel-cell cars they'll be driving zip along at high speed, produce no pollution and teach lessons on environmentally clean energy to biology and chemistry high school students.
"The teachers have fun with these cars too," said Mira Vowles, BPA Fuel Cell Program manager. "It's a very effective way to teach young people about a new way to generate electricity. Fuel cells produce electricity from an electrochemical reaction involving hydrogen and oxygen. And they're clean - water is the only byproduct."
The Bonneville Power Administration is administering a Fuel Cell teacher workshop at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on October 14, 2005. At the workshop teachers will be given fuel cell car and curriculum kits and shown how to use them in exchange for teaching the eight-day module to 100 students. Space is limited, and teachers can register by contacting Amanda Thomas, OMSI, at (503) 797-4517, or teachers@omsi.edu
In 2003, a Department of Energy grant allowed BPA to administer the Washington State Fuel Cell Education Program. The fuel cell car and curriculum kit was developed under this grant. This kit was given to 200 teachers in exchange for their teaching the module to over 18,000 students. In 2005 a Department of Defense grant is funding three teacher workshops in Oregon. Two teacher workshops were held at Pacific University in February, and the final workshop will be at OMSI on October 14, 2005.
Here's how the fuel cell demonstrations work:
The teachers pour water into small fuel cells, using solar energy to break the water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. When the water is gone, the fuel cell is reversed, using the hydrogen and oxygen to produce an electrical current to run the car. When the hydrogen is used up, the remaining water is broken back into hydrogen and oxygen to run the car again.
Some of the students commented on using the cars. Hilary Benz, 15, had two words to describe the process: "It's complicated."
"It's pretty interesting, though, that we can make electricity out of water," chimed her lab partner, Caitlin Bilodeau, 15.
The 10th-grade biology students are excited about the future of fuel cells as an energy source. Michelle Boucher and Nicole Remington, both 15, said they were optimistic about the future of fuel cells as an energy source.
"I think the world would last longer," said Nicole Remington. "It'd be a lot cleaner and a lot healthier for everybody."
Vowles said fuel cells are already powering cars and buses in California. Fuel-cell cars could become widespread in this country in 10 to 20 years, she said.
"The fuel-cell industry is growing, and these car kits are a good introduction for students who may decide they want to work as engineers or technicians in the future," added Vowles.
The largest commercial fuel-cell system in the country is the U.S. Postal Service's mail-processing facility in Anchorage, Alaska, which has five 200-kilowatt fuel cells about the size of half a train car. The City of Portland has a similar system at its Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Contact Mira Vowles, BPA Fuel Cell Program manager, at (503) 230-4796, or via e-mail at mkvowles@bpa.gov for more information.
Submitted for distribution on 10-11-2005 at 12:48 PM
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