With gas prices soaring to outrageous levels every possible replacement or alternative to our dependence on fossil fuels is being closely evaluated. and this extend to the highly financed energy commissions through to the everyday consumer looking to get more mileage from their gas tank. Hydrogen for cars not only offers us the opportunity to explore new energy horizons, it also opens up tremendous possibilities for us to improve the way we travel altogether.
Among the many candidates to replace fossil fuels, hydrogen is showing great promise. It ocurs naturally in many everyday items, including water, coal and the compost heap in the back garden. Its natural abundance makes it all the more attractive in terms of developing this resource for widespread consumption.
Hydrogen fuel for cars is far more efficient and cleaner to produce than fossil fuel. To give you an example: for gasoline production a refinery would process three hundred billion gallons of water, which is itself becoming a more and more valuable and depleted resource; the same amount of hydrogen would require only one million gallons of water, a savings too large to ignore.
A gallon of hydrogen for cars costs half the price of a gallon of gasoline and improves fuel economy by more than two thirds. Hydrogen fuel generates lower engine operating temperature and there is no emission of hazardous fumes by its use.
Due to the limited availability of hydrogen fuel to power our cars, it is not practical to increase production of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. And, while some fueling stations are a possibility, the reality of the situation is that the limited availability of hydrogen fuel does not make it a viable, affordable alternative at this time.
If cars ran only on electricity that was generated on board via hydrogen fuel, we would see a new horizon in vehicle design. The equipment needed for propelling a car would be far more basic, and much smaller–thereby eliminating the problem of design limitations. Some such limitations involve having to account for a heat-producing engine, as well as bulky floorboard configurations which are required for driveline equipment currently.
As hydrogen production increases and hydrogen becomes more readily available and hydrogen-fueling stations begin to open, new horizons will begin to open. Clean, cost effective fuel for our cars that is not only great for the environment but great for our wallets too. As the increase in gas prices sees no end in sight, the advancement in developing hydrogen fueling cars and the infrastructure to support them will continue at an increasingly faster pace.