Hydrogen-powered cars and vehicles

One of the most promising fuel "future" is hydrogen. Although hydrogen is already used as fuel in vehicles such as automobiles, buses, and rockets, yet it can not be propagated to the masses. Cars powered by hydrogen are now available, but only for the rental fleet and commercial vehicles.

Hydrogen shares the same principle of fossil fuels in terms of being used as fuel. The hydrogen is still burned in the combustion chamber that eventually converted into mechanical energy. In fuel cells, hydrogen is reacted with oxygen to produce electricity (with a by-product of water) that the strength of an electric motor. Also, be considered as zero-emission vehicles.

Hydrogen cars are slowly gaining popularity in the industrialized countries. With heavy government subsidies, people are slowly filling up the hydrogen car fuel cell. Many automakers have hydrogen cars in their model line-up. But they are mostly prototypes or leased to private companies. But in June of 2008, Honda introduced the first commercial fuel cell hydrogen car, the FCX Clarity. It is expected to produce 200 cars in the next three years. This is initially available in California because of the hydrogen infrastructure existing there.

The integral part of the Clarity FCX is the fuel cell. Simply a fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy. An output fuel cells is continuous voltage which will turn on an electric motor. The type of fuel cell depends on the electrolytes that are used. In addition there are types for fixed or mobile-mobile. A fuel cell which convert the energy more efficient gasoline engine. According to some calculations, if the hydrogen is used as the primary chemical in fuel cell, it can convert 80% of hydrogen into electrical energy. The conversion of this electrical energy into mechanical energy using an inverter and a reasonable efficiency ratio for this is about 80%. Obtaining the overall efficiency will have approximately 64% compared to a petrol engine and performance index of about 20%

So why are not hydrogen power coming online as fast as expected? First is the problem of producing hydrogen itself. The economy of production is not yet feasible for mass production. In fact, the production of hydrogen could contribute to the emissions of greenhouse gases more because of the fossil fuel used in his process. It will be wiser if you could make hydrogen using alternative fuels such as solar, wind or nuclear energy. Hydrogen infrastructure to support a large mass base is still not yet been developed. Or do you have more hydrogen filling station or take a tank of hydrogen insanely great every time you travel. Another problem is the problem storage of hydrogen. Since this is a very volatile gases more attention should be practiced when handling it.

Cell cost of fuel is also a big problem at this time. The components that make up this fuel cell are very expensive especially the rare metals that are used in it. Currently a PEMFC (a common type of fuel cell membrane) production cost is $ 110 per kilowatt, compared to $ 35 per kilowatt for gas-powered cars.

But hydrogen is still a great fuel and promising alternative. If developments continue to move along we could expect a hydrogen car-filled future....