PR: BMW showcases pollution-consuming engine

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 BMW showcases pollution-consuming internal combustion engine vehicle at 2008 SAE World Congress

14/04/2008

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - April 14, 2008... 

BMW announces its latest milestone in its pursuit of the hydrogen
future, the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel, featuring an internal combustion
engine in the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel that produces near zero
emissions while, at the same time, combusting ambient air pollutants.
Based on the BMW Hydrogen 7 bi-fuel version (gasoline and hydrogen),
the new mono-fuel vehicle's internal combustion engine is optimized to
run solely on hydrogen and shares the performance, comfort, and safety
qualities of every production BMW 7 Series. One of the BMW Hydrogen 7
mono-fuel vehicles is featured in the BMW Booth at the 2008 SAE World
Congress being held this week in Detroit.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel is equipped with a 6.0-liter internal
combustion engine (ICE) which has been engineered to run exclusively on
hydrogen. This vehicle achieves near zero emissions, excellent engine
performance, reduced fuel consumption and greater range compared to the
bi-fuel Hydrogen 7. Since the consumed hydrogen has no carbon, the
engine itself would produce no CO2, hydrocarbons, or other pollutants;
however, the existing pollutants in the surrounding air are consumed by
the engine, plus minute amounts of lubricating oil. The result is
virtually undetectable exhaust emissions. New procedures for exhaust
gas measurement and analysis, therefore, had to be developed together
with experts at the Argonne National Laboratory, the only test
laboratory in the USA capable of measuring such minute emissions.

"The mono-fuel Hydrogen 7 is the result of more than 25 years of
hydrogen development by BMW," noted Tom Baloga, Vice-President of
Engineering for BMW in the U.S. "It demonstrates BMW's support for a
hydrogen infrastructure by producing an internal combustion engine that
produces truly near-zero emissions while simultaneously cleaning the
air of certain pollutants."

In BMW's view, hydrogen is the most logical energy carrier of the
future for three reasons. First, it has no carbon and therefore
hydrogen combustion generates no CO2, HCs and other pollutants. Second,
it can be produced using renewable, clean technologies like solar,
wind, geothermal, and bio-processes. Lastly,it can be produced in
stable areas of the globe as necessary for energy security. Although
today's hydrogen is mainly derived from natural gas, hydrogen can and
will be "green" from renewable and clean sources in the future. Unlike
batteries, which will likely also play an important role in future
transportation, hydrogen vehicles can be refueled rather quickly for
long trips, don't require powerlines across the landscape, and hydrogen
can be generated and stored 24/7 when wind is greatest or demand for
electricity is low.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel is a demonstration production vehicle, not
a prototype. It was created to showcase the clean energy potential and
feasibility of a dedicated hydrogen ICE. In addition, the BMW Hydrogen
7 mono-fuel delivers additional experience in the everyday use of
hydrogen beyond what has already been learned with the nearly 100
bi-fuel Hydrogen 7 Sedans that have been used in a consumer test drive
program since November 2006.

The Hydrogen 7's mono-fuel ICE exemplifies BMW's commitment to clean
energy while maintaining the excellent performance BMW owners have come
to expect. In fact, the tailpipe emissions are so infinitesimal, they
pushed the limits of current emission testing technology.

Independent authorities, including Argonne, have confirmed the
excellent results. Argonne conducted emission tests on BMW Hydrogen 7
mono-fuel vehicles in early March 2008 and helped develop new
sophisticated procedures necessary to detect the almost undetectable.

"The BMW Hydrogen 7's emissions were only a fraction of SULEV level,
making it one of the lowest emitting combustion engine vehicles that
have been manufactured," said Dr. Thomas Wallner, lead engineer in
Argonne's hydrogen vehicle testing activities. "Moreover, the car's
engine actively cleans the air. Argonne's testing shows that the
Hydrogen 7's engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain
components, such as Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG's) and Carbon
Monoxides (CO's), are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the
car's engine." This means that a hydrogen-powered ICE is not only
incredibly clean by itself, but it actually removes certain air
polluting gases from natural and man-made sources.

BMW and Argonne will hold a joint press conference about the
ground-breaking results at the SAE Congress in Detroit at the BMW booth
beginning at 1:30 pm (EST) on Monday, April 14th. Christoph Huss,
Vice-President-Development Abroad, Type Approval and Traffic
Management; Tom Baloga, Vice-President - Engineering US; and Wolfgang
Thiel, Manager of Emissions Testing Equipment, will represent BMW at
the press conference. Wallner and Don Hillebrand, Director of the
Center for Transportation Research, will represent Argonne.

For technical details of the Argonne results please visit the following link: http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/HV/475.pdf