Greatdrive

r,rr99r. BRrrAtN's uosr northerlv

I
island.Unst.wasjust a few minutes
I
I awayfrom gettinginto the Guinness
Book of Recordsas the windiest place
in the country.Unfortunately the wind
was so strong that it blew away the
meteorological equipment before a
qualifying 10-minute-longreading of
170mphcould be completed.In the same
storm, the RAF radar dome on Unst's
SaxaVord headlandwas also blown away.
No surprise,then, that on the day
I am due to visit the Shetland island -
after a I 2-hourferry crossingin a
force-10gale from Aberdeen to Lerwick,
the largesttown in the Shetlands- most
inter-island ferries have been confined
to port. Instead of crossingto Unst
I unexpectedly find myself spending
the night in Lerwick.
What a difference a day makes.The
following morning the wind has dropped
from 89mph to nothing on [Jnst, a
treelessisland said to be the inspiration
for Robert Louis Stevenson'smap of
TieasureIsland. On the samelatitude
as southern Greenland,the 12-mile
by six-mile island is home to some 650
people.One of them is Ross Gazey,a
dynamic 2S-year-oldwho is one of the
brains behind Britain's first road-licensed,
hydrogen-fuel-cellcar.
Five years ago,with f350,000of
European and Scottishfunding, he and @Thehydrogen_fue|-ce||carisn'tSUChafar-outidea,
his colleagueSandyMacaulay started a PaulMileshadtoaotoa remote
corner totest-drive
ofScotland one
project called PURE (Promoting Unst
RenewableEnergy). The power from a few gurglesand a little fart, it makes a as we drive past a local bus shelter
two 15-kilowatt wind turbines provides noise like a big, overworked fridge. complete with an armchair and a
electricityand'direct heat' for several Hydrogen-fuel-cell technology is pot-plant.'Combustionengineshad
offices and generatesthe hydrogen that not new.The principle was discoveredby taken off first and,well, "if it ain't broke,
drives PURE's car. Major car companies William Grove in 1,839,40years before why flx it?". But now, as hydrocarbons
have prototype hydrogen-fuel-cellcars, the petrol engine becamea reality. It get more expensiveto extract,we
but only PURE has one that can legally wasn't until NASA scientistsfollowed need to find somethingelse.'And then
be used on British roads. up Grove's experimentsin the 1950s there's the cost to our environment of
'Part of what we have to do is raise energy.'Once
that hydrogen fuel-cellsbecamea viable the use of carbon-based
awarenessabout the technology,'says power source,ideal for manned space we reach the tipping point and all the
Gazey as we squeezeinto the vehicle, flights becauseits by-productsare pure methane is releasedfrom under the
a version of the electric commuters' car drinking water and heat. sea and the permafrost,that's it. We're
that is exempt from London's congestion 'Becauseof their cost and the lack done for,' Gazey says.
charge.He pressesa button on the of massproduction, hydrogen fuel- A basic rule of physicsis that
dashboardto turn on the fuel cell.After cells didn't becomepopular,' saysGazey energycan't be created;it is merely

June 2Oa7 Cond6 Nast Traveller97

 Greatdrive
carandits fueF
Fromfar feft:the eco-friendly
cell-powered engine;the comfy busstopon Unst

densethan air, so should anY of the

sas leak out it will rush uP into
ihe sty, not Puddle under the car
as petrol would.
We stoP to look out towards the
northernmost lighthouse in Britain,
the gloriously named Muckle Flugga:
Gazey's grandfather was one oI
the lighthouse men' in the daYs
when it wasmanned.lt is a sPeck

ona tankof hydrogen

Thecarcanreachspeedsof 45mphandrunfor G0milesor more
which has been speciallyfltted (at a in the distance,on rocks jutting out
> harnessed,and its form changed'
cost of some f50,000) with the fuel cell' of a stormYsea.
Most cars run on Petrol, using solar Driving back to Lerwick we conslder
Made in India, it is a two-seater with
energy trapped millions of years ago the prospectsfor fuel-cell cars'PURE's
by plants.The by-products. aswe know additional spacefor luggageor small
children and a 20hPmotor. PURE's G-Wiz is constrained by the size of its
all too well, are noise,heat, carbon engine,but there is nothing to stop
emissionsand other chemicals.An G-Wiz can reach sPeedsof 45mPh
60 miles or more on a tank thJproduction of fuel cells capable of
increasingnumber of cars run on electric and run for Indeed, Ford'
(actually three small cylinders) of 'tvt".."a"s family saloons'
powering
power, with little in the waY of bY- and Toyota have all'built
products; but the waY in which the hydrogen.Although tiny, the car is heavy,
prototypes.But without hYdrogen
electricity they use is generated and at three-quartersof a tonne.
at fuel stations,the cars won't
stored has a dramatic imPact on the GazeYtakesme lor a sPinuP towards avallaUility
the disusedRAF base at SaxaVord' become mainstream; and without fuel-
overallecologicalperlormanceof cell cars,the investment in hydrogen
the car. If it is generated in a traditional (There are Plans to turn Part of the
I - base,which closed in March last year, oroduction, storage and distribution
i
oower station and stored in batteries 'If the won't make sense.A sPokesman from
which introduce nasty heavy metals into tourist accommodation') Hygenius
Mercedes-Benz, for whose F600
such as lithium, cadmium and lead car were lighter, we could go a lot
- faster,' Gazey says on the climb' It is fuel-cellconceptcar no produclion
into the environment then the electric date has been set' said wistfully that
car is little better than one with a heavy becausein PURE's PrototYPe 'In an ideal world, in the future, we'll
petrol engine (except in so far as the the G-Wiz's weightY batterY had to
be retained,and the fuel cell's output have hydrogen at fuel stations''
pollution it causestakes Place at
PerhaPsMercedes'srival BMW
the power station rather than in a chargesit; in a fuel-cell car built from
scratch,the Power generated goes can bring the future a bit closer:this year
population centre). it plansto haveon the road 100examples
The power that PURE generatesis directly to the car's electric motor'
Remembering from mY school of its prototype 7 Seriessaloon,which
very clean.Its wind-powered turbines .un .rr., on hydrogen or petrol' That will
produce electricity,which is passed d a y st h a t e v e ns m a l la m o u n t so [
hydrogen exPlode sPectacularlY,I make it viable in Parts of the world
throughwaterto crealehydrogenand where hydrogen is not so readily available
enquire about safety.But Gazey pornts
oxygen.The oxygen is currently released as on Unst. O
into the air (although it could potentially out that hYdrogenis 10 times less
be used for aeratingfish farms,of which
thereare manyin the Shetlandlslands)'
in large
DRIVER'S
eco
MANUAL
friendly fliesto Lerwickfrom
u".G
and the hydrogen is stored The most
Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
cylinders.PURE's
from these cYlinders.
car fills its fuel tank way to get
Shetlands
to tne
is to takea
trainto Aberdeen,
Glasgow, lnverness
and Kirkwall (S,60-t132
-E.'eEi
A fuel cell is an electrochemical then sailto the islands return). In summer'
device that consumeshYdrogenand with NorthLinkFerries AtlanticAirwaYs(020
oxygen and givesyou electricity,'says (0845600 0449;www 78234242,www.
f liesf rom
Gazey;it other words it reversesthe northlinkferries.co.uK);atlantic.fo)
ihe terminal is 10 Stansted from f,176
processby which PURE Produced
- minutes' walk from tne return.Thebus and
the hydrogen.In the car's fuel cell ferryiourneyto Unst
railwaystation.There
which is about the sizeand shaPeo[ to LerwlcK fromLerwicktakes
aresailtngs
abreeze block and consistsof small, everyevening, with two-and-a halfhours.
neat aluminium squares,looking like faresfrom S20.BO one
a hi-tech honeYcomb- the two gases way(cabinsareextra) Forfurtherinformatlon
produce electricitYas required. AlternativelY, British on PUREcall01595
(0870 850 692871or visitwww.
The car itself is a G-Wiz, a commercially Airways uk
9B5O; www.ba.com) pure.shetland.co
available,battery-poweredvehicle

98 Cond6 Nast Traveller.June2407