Refrigerated trucks are a crucial part of our food delivery system. Approximately 300,000 of them are on the road in the United States. Most of them use an auxiliary power unit, which is a small diesel engine that burns about 10 gallons of fuel a day keeping food cold.
The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is overseeing a new project that will test the use of fuel cells to replace these diesel engines. A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity from the chemical reaction that combines hydrogen and oxygen. The only byproducts of the reaction are water and heat. For the refrigerated trucks, the electricity will power compressors that cool the cargo.
Two fuel-cell manufacturers are participating in the project: Massachusetts-based Nuvera and Albany-based Plug Power. Nuvera will work with Thermo King to equip two trucks in California and Texas. Plug Power will work with Carrier Transcold and Air Products to equip trucks on Long Island.
Fuel cells are finding increasing use in industry as sources of clean energy. They are being used to power material handling equipment such as forklifts, as backup power at cellular base stations, and in hydrogen-powered cars and buses.
Projects such as the refrigerated truck project are intended to create jobs in the energy sector, increase the volume of fuel cell manufacturing and lower costs. Fuel cell technology is still relatively expensive, but the expectation is that costs will come down just as they have in the expansion of other high-tech industries.
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Web Links
Refrigerated trucks to keep their cool thanks to fuel cell technology
http://www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=1005
Photo courtesy of David Guo via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.