As gas prices continue to rise to unprecedented levels people are scratching their heads looking for an alternative to traditional fossil fuels to power their vehicles. Indeed, highly funded organizations like the energy commission are looking into possibilities, as are the average person in the street that look at hydrogen gas conversion kits to install in their cars.
Hydrogen fuel cells look certain to provide a credible alternative to gasoline as a vehicle's fuel source in the near future. Hydrogen for cars presents the prospect of developing new energy resource for vehicles and much more, but it will also improve how we travel overall.
Some of the advantages of using hydrogen gas to power a vehicle are as follows. Hydrogen is found in great abundance. You will find in in many common elements, not least water but also things like the compost heap at the bottom of your garden. Thus hydrogen gas as a fuel source has great upward potential and will attract many ideas and developments in the future.
Another advantage is that hydrogen fuel for cars is far more efficient and cleaner to produce than fossil fuel. For example, refining and final production of gasoline could require the refinery to use around 300 billion gallons of water, which is a fairly inefficient method and a cause fro some concern given that water is not a limitless resource. The identical quantity of hydrogen would need only 1 million gallons of water, which is a considerable saving that is hard to ignore.
The gallon of gasoline compared to hydrogen would cost twice as much but would offer less car efficiency than hydrogen. Hydrogen fuel also decreases engine operating temperatures, all but eliminating emissions as well as the unwanted carbon footprint.
Car manufacturers have the technology to produce hydrogen cars but have not gone into mass production because of the lack of hydrogen fuel to the average consumer. Or to be more accurate, the infrastructure to supply hydrogen fuel to the general public. The near future might see people using a home hydrogen refueling sation to replenish their car but as of this moment this scenario is out of reach of most people.
If cars ran only on electricity that was generated on board via hydrogen fuel, we would see a new horizon in vehicle design. Car design would be freed up to some extent as the need to control a large combustion engine and the problems that go with it would be reduced.
For instance, the equipment needed for moving a car would much smaller. Some such limitations involve having to account for a heat-producing engine, as well as bulky floorboard configurations which are required for drive line equipment currently.
As governments, petroleum companies and car manufacturers start to take hydrogen production more seriously, the vehicle landscape will change. Certainly, hydrogen will become more accessible in the near future, as will the fueling station that will refuel a hydrogen gas powered car.
Environmentally friendlier and more cost effective fuel for our cars benefits both for the individual and the wider population. With gas prices continuing to rise and not seeming to return to lower level ever again, the need to develop hydrogen for cars will continue to gain more support until you see a hydrogen filling station on every corner of the street as you see a gas station today.
Learn more about the leading hydrogen conversion kits for your car, including simple water fuel
1 comment:
TH,
I wanted to let you know about the idea of hydrogen fueling station cooperatives which are a way to build the hydrogen fueling infrastructure without the oil companies or the federal government.
This solves the “chicken and egg” hydrogen infrastructure problem, because the cars and fueling stations would come at the same time.
Here is a link to a short article that I recently wrote about this:
http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/hydrogen-fueling-station-cooperatives-how-to-build-the-hydrogen-fueling-infrastructure-without-the-oil-companies-or-the-federal-government/
Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.
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