Hydrogen For Cars Represents Way The Ahead
As gas prices continue to rise with seemingly no end in sight, energy experts, energy commissions and the people on the street are all looking at every potential alternatives to reliance on gas. One particularly promising option is hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen car fuel is not just a subject for exploring new energy horizons it opens up new possibilities in our mode of travel.
Hydrogen gas is an important contender to replace fossil fuels as an energy source for combustion engines. It can be found in most things including water to the compost heap in your backyard. The high degree of availability makes hydrogen gas a valuable and attractive resource to consider.
Methods for producing hydrogen fuel for cars can vary, but they are all quite efficient and much cleaner than is fossil fuel production. For instance, a gasoline production refinery requires 300 billion gallons of water to produce that fuel, but if it produced the same amount of hydrogen, it would only need one million gallons of water.
The gallon of gasoline equivalent to hydrogen costs about half as much as gasoline but improves fuel economy by over two-thirds more. Hydrogen fuel also decreases engine operating temperatures, all but eliminating emissions as well as the unwanted carbon footprint.
Availability of hydrogen for cars is currently a big drawback for production of hydrogen- fueled vehicles. The possibilities of home hydrogen fueling stations is a reality but at the time of the writing of this article, not an affordable one for every home.
If cars were to run exclusively on electricity generated on board from hydrogen fuel a new paradigm in vehicle design would emerge. The equipment needed to propel a car would be much more basic, and smaller doing away with many design limitations. Some of these limitations include having to design around a heat-producing engine, and bulky floorboard configurations that currently are required for driveline equipment.
Hydrogen for cars will become more cost effective as hydrogen production increases, creating a new era of energy consumption. Using hydrogen will decrease society’s dependence on fossil fuels, an added benefit for the environment. The reality is that gas prices will not retreat much from this current high mark, which will only increase the pace at which hydrogen fueled cars and the equipment needed to make them a reality develops.
Posted on Sunday, October 19th, 2008
Under: Cars and Trucks | No Comments »
