Electric vehicles are booming around the world, but here in Australia, the uptake hasn’t been as rapid; with long drives an unavoidable necessity for many living in rural and regional areas, battery powered cars are often not viable.
However, fuel cell electric vehicles, which are powered by hydrogen rather than batteries, could be the clean solution for long distance driving, and a molecular scientist at the University of New England (UNE) is playing an important role in making them the new norm.
“I’m exploring ways to store hydrogen, which could be used as a more efficient energy carrier for fuel cell electric vehicles,” says Dr Tanveer Hussain, the latest addition to the discipline of Physics and Electronics at UNE.
“If stored efficiently, we could use hydrogen in the same way that we currently use petrol or gasoline. There would be hydrogen stations where you’d be able to plug a pump into your car which would fill a fuel cell with hydrogen gas. This would be converted into electricity and would last far longer than gasoline or petrol.”
Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe and can be derived from water, which means when used as fuel, the by-product is also water, leaving no impact on the environment.
“You start with water, you end up with water, and you get three times more energy than any other source that we currently have."
While hydrogen cars might seem too good to be true, Dr Hussain believes the common use of fuel cell electric vehicles is not a matter of if, but when. However, there are a few hurdles to overcome first.
“While we know how to produce hydrogen, doing so cleanly on a large scale is something that we need to figure out how best to do," he says.
“The other issue we need to solve is how to store it, because hydrogen is a gas which needs to be stored at a temperature of minus 250 degrees celsius or compressed using extremely high pressure, which is unsafe.”
Luckily, Dr Hussain specialises in hydrogen storage, and he and a team of global researchers recently designed the technology that could be the answer we’ve been looking for.
The nanomaterials that we’ve designed are just a billionth of a metre, and can hold large quantities of hydrogen without extremely low temperatures or high pressure.
“We have designed several nanomaterials, which are tiny materials made up of metals that have a very large surface area and have the capacity to store large amounts of substances,” he says.
“The nanomaterials that we’ve designed are just a billionth of a metre, and can hold large quantities of hydrogen without extremely low temperatures or high pressure.”
While the effects of climate change are largely driving Dr Hussain's dedication to finding clean solutions, his experience growing up in Pakistan helped him realise the importance of efficient and reliable energy sources.
I always wondered why we were so far behind – electricity is a basic need. We had all the resources, a lot of sunlight and a lot of wind, but we weren’t using them. I wanted to fix this.
“The region that I grew up in was always energy deficient, which meant we would often have power cuts,” he says.
“I always wondered why we were so far behind – electricity is a basic need. We had all the resources, a lot of sunlight and a lot of wind, but we weren’t using them. I wanted to fix this, so I sought out an opportunity to work on hydrogen and complete my PhD at Sweden’s Uppsala University with a research group that is world renowned for clean energy storage applications.”
From there, he's worked at the University of Queensland in Brisbane and The University of Western Australia Perth, specialising in hydrogen storage, rechargeable batteries, and nano-sensors that can detect things such as toxic pollutants.
Now settled into his new role, he hopes to help build on UNE’s existing work in minimising our impact on the planet.
“We’re known for all of the innovative work we do in the agricultural space, and now I want to help us become known for our work in clean energy,” he says.
“I’m very excited to be here at UNE, and I strongly believe that I can help make a difference.”
