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Source
from: Shanghai Daily
Reported by Elena Xiao
The
global fuel crisis, spurred on by rising tension between the
United States and Iraq, has automobile researchers looking
for alternatives to the combustion engine.The U.S.-China
Energy and Environment Technology Center announced yesterday
the opening of its Shanghai office, in a bid to propel work
on electric automobiles in one of China's largest car
markets.Founded in 1997, the non-profit institute is funded
by the U.S. and Chinese governments to promote the
development of new clean energy.
"The development of alternative-fuel automobiles is a
significant part of the energy strategy," said Robert
Kripowicz, a former senior official in the U.S. Department
of Energy and co-founder of the center.
Both China and the United States depend heavily on imported
gasoline, and the situation in China will become more
serious in the coming years due to the growing number of
people buying their own car. China has experienced the
world's fastest growth in car demand since last year, and
analysts expect the demand to maintain an annual growth rate
of more than 20 percent for the coming decade. By making it
possible to shift from petroleum to other primary energy
sources, electric automobiles could ease the increasingly
short supply of petroleum and the threat of global warming,
Kripowicz said. Gas-powered vehicles are the largest
source of air pollution today, accounting for 22 percent of
the world's carbon dioxide emissions.
The center has chosen California-based Powerzinc Electric
Inc., which makes zinc-air fuel cells to power cars in
Shanghai, as a model to propel the commercial use of
electric cars.The company has built a demo car that runs on
a zinc-air fuel cells along with its partner Zhejiang
University Electric Vehicle Research Center. Electric motors
with the cell have been sold on the local market since late
last year, but electric cars for commercial use are still in
the research phase.
"The most likely application for zinc-air fuel cells in
China is electric buses, which require stability more than
speed," said Richard Yang, chairman of the company.
Powerzinc and the Zhejiang University lab are in talks with
the bus-making arm of China First Auto-mobile Works - based
in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province - to build up to 400 electric
buses to run in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.
Even with these new, clean cars on the market, the next
challenge is to make them attractive and affordable for the
average consumer, as well as to ensure there are refueling
stations around to serve them, said He Zuoxiu, a scientist
at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Chinese government has pumped one billion yuan (US$121.5
million) into research on electric cars in hopes of
developing a commercial fuel-cell driven car within five
years.
About
Powerzinc
Powerzinc
Electric, Inc. is a California-based Hi-Tech company. It
is dedicated to the research, development, manufacturing
and commercialization of advanced zinc-air fuel cells and
entire manufacture facilities, along with fuel cells
refuel service platform. Through years of R&D, Powerzinc
has achieved significant breakthroughs in zinc-air fuel
cell technology and developed the high power, large
energy, long-lasting, low cost and environment-friendly
power and energy source. Its innovative products - DQFC
series of zinc-air fuel cells with creative design and
process technology is a totally renewable energy for
electric vehicles and various other applications today.
About
Powerzinc Electric (Shanghai), Inc
In Shanghai, China,
Powerzinc has established a zinc-air fuel cell
manufacturing and service model plant to commercialize the
technology and its products. The plant is ready for
commercial-scale production. The Company has started
supplying DQFC series zinc-air fuel cells to manufacturers
of Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters. In the near
future, the new series of DQFC zinc-air fuel cells for
Electric Buses, Defense and Security, Communication and
other applications will be available to the commercial
market soon to satisfy
the
real highly growing demand anywhere in the world.
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Powerzinc Electric, Inc.