Hydrogen powered cars
What does a hydrogen fuel car need? Fuel!
Hydrogen gas can be produced using a wide variety of methods, several of which could include incineration of trash to produce the heat necessary to release hydrogen from both water and natural gas. While we may not be able to toss a banana peel into the gas tank and head off, that very same banana peel when used in a hydrogen production facility can ultimately be a key ingredient in the production of the fuel that will fill the tank of hydrogen powered cars.
Hydrogen powered cars can utilize hydrogen through several different methods. A hydrogen internal combustion engine powered vehicle utilizes the same engine used in the gasoline-powered production models with the exception of being modified to burn hydrogen fuel.
Existing cars can be retrofitted as hydrogen powered cars with specially designed installations to completely do away with gasoline as the fuel source. There are also kits available to modify gasoline engines so that hydrogen gas is added to the current air gasoline mixture. This modification not only results in dramatically improved emissions, but in strikingly higher gas mileage as well.
Powering cars through the use of hydrogen fuel can result in a vehicle that does not leave a carbon footprint since there are virtually no emissions. Hydrogen powered cars are also approximately three times more efficient than traditional gasoline fueled cars. Electric cars use hydrogen fuel to generate their own electricity. The hydrogen can be stored in a tank, fed into a fuel cell where it is converted into electrical power, and then used to supply the power that the vehicle requires.
Production of gasoline in the United States currently requires approximately three hundred billion gallons of water to produce the fuel. Producing the same amount of hydrogen gas would only require one hundred billion. The cost of hydrogen per gasoline gallon equivalent is roughly half the price of gasoline.
The number of hydrogen powered cars will increase steadily as hydrogen fueling stations become more available. Starting in 2008, several hydrogen powered vehicles will already be available in limited numbers. Even now, every major automobile company is working on designing and engineering its own model. Some car makers are also trying to develop in-home systems that produce hydrogen, meaning that we could conceivably not only have pumps in the driveway to fuel up hydrogen powered cars in the future, but we could also supply hydrogen fuel to supply electrical power to our homes.
While you might think that safety could be an issue, a hydrogen-powered car is at least as safe as a regular car. High-stress testing has been done to insure that the tanks used for storing the hydrogen fuel can survive even the most serious accidents.
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