ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on methanol and hydrogen as alternative fuels and documented that hydrogen was on the verge of gaining new significance as a future alternative and sustainable fuel. The history of the development of hydrogen energy technology in the Federal Republic of Germany began in the mid-seventies of the past century. In order to coordinate existing fundamental research activities in alternative fuels and to transfer it to practical testing programs, alcohol-, electric- and hydrogen-drives were investigated in the priority project “Alternative Energy Sources for Road Transport” from 1979. Parallel to this development project, in 1978 the German government decided to support a vehicle-testing and demonstration project “Alternative Energy Sources for Road Transport” to be carried out in West Berlin. Besides the thermodynamic properties, additionally investigated parameters included mainly the stability with respect to extended cycling, the sensitivity to gaseous impurities, and the kinetics of hydrogen exchange.
