[THE INVESTOR] The government and a group of automobile and energy companies have teamed up to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles.

They launched the Hydrogen Fusion Alliance last week to make more effort in putting more hydrogen vehicles on the road and building the infrastructure needed.

Leading the alliance is the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which seeks to foster the budding hydrogen auto industry into a future growth engine. The ministries of energy and transport are also participating in the venture.

Participants from the private sector include Hyundai Motor, which said it developed the world’s first hydrogen car for mass production in 2013, and energy companies such as Korea Gas Corp., SK Gas and Samchully.

Local governments, including South Chungcheong Province and Ulsan Metropolitan City, are also taking part in the project with the aim of building hydrogen car-related industrial complexes.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are one alternative to fossil fuel-powered ones. One of their benefits is that they can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

According to Hyundai Motor, a diesel-powered sedan emits 10 milligrams of fine dust for each kilometer it runs, but its Tucson hydrogen model in contrast reduces up to 20 milligrams of fine dust per kilometer.

This is because a hydrogen vehicle purifies the air through a filter when it supplies oxygen to its hydrogen fuel cell for electricity generation. The only exhaust product of hydrogen combustion is water vapor.

Yet hydrogen vehicles are not without their drawbacks. Their commercialization faces formidable challenges as building the infrastructure required for its widespread use calls for huge investment.

Hydrogen cars are still very expensive compared to other environment friendly vehicles. For these and other reasons, hydrogen vehicles have not been considered a viable alternative to those running on fossil fuels.

Yet things have begun to change in recent years. While Hyundai Motor has failed to launch a major push for hydrogen vehicles due to lack of government support, Japan’s Toyota boldly began to sell its hydrogen cars in 2014.

Toyota introduced its hydrogen model, the Mirai, to Europe and the United States last year. It plans to increase its production volume to 3,000 units next year and aims to sell 30,000 units a year by 2020.

Other Japanese car manufacturers, such as Honda and Nissan, and their global rivals, including General Motors and Daimler AG, are also set to jump into the new segment.

The Korean government’s hydrogen alliance was inspired by these moves. By 2020, the alliance plans to put 10,000 hydrogen vehicles on the road, increase the number of charging stations to 100, and sell 14,000 units to foreign consumers.

The goals are ambitious, given that Hyundai has thus far sold just 78 hydrogen cars and that there are only 10 research-purpose charging stations across the country.

Korea has some advantages in hydrogen vehicles. It can rely on its large number of petrochemical plants for a stable supply of hydrogen.

As its population is concentrated in urban areas, a smaller number of charging stations would be needed to popularize hydrogen cars.

Yet the alliance will still face daunting challenges in building a wholly new industry. More than anything else, Hyundai Motor will have to hone its technology to improve the performance of its hydrogen cars and lower their prices.


(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)