Hydrogen Fuelled Cars
THE FUTURE OF THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Our world is ever growing. Our increasing need for energy, especially fuels, is rapidly accelerating to the point where we may run out of the resource that gives us 80% of our fuels, Fossil Fuels. 99% of today’s cars run using either diesel or petrol, (both are fossil fuels). At the rate these fuels are getting used, by 2020 the international oil suppliers will not be able to keep up with this high demand. There have been many different fuel alternatives to replace diesel and petrol, but none more seem more suitable than hydrogen. The possibility of hydrogen as a fuel is ever increasing, with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages more every year. Car manufactures are already making cars that are hydrogen powered, although they are either prototypes or extremely limited production runs, but cars such as the Honda Clarity prove that hydrogen powered cars really are not a thing of the future, but a thing of the present.
ABOVE: The Honda Clarity, the first hydrogen powered car to have a limited production run.
Hydrogen as a substitute for petrol or diesel has many benefits, not only the abundance of the fuel, but the impact on the environment. Hydrogen is the most abundant element, making up about three quarters of matter in the universe. This high abundance makes it a perfect substitute for petrol and diesel as there is enough of this element to keep up with the high demand for fuels. Hydrogen is also a very clean fuel when burned. Petrol and diesel both emit toxic fumes which pollute our atmosphere. Hydrogen powered cars are much cleaner and friendlier on the environment; the only byproducts of hydrogen powered engines is H2O (water) and heat. These hydrogen-powered cars are only made possible by a fuel cell which converts the hydrogen into electricity. The biggest advantage of using hydrogen to power cars over normal electricity, is that electric cars take hours to charge and then run out of power within a short
Our world is ever growing. Our increasing need for energy, especially fuels, is rapidly accelerating to the point where we may run out of the resource that gives us 80% of our fuels, Fossil Fuels. 99% of today’s cars run using either diesel or petrol, (both are fossil fuels). At the rate these fuels are getting used, by 2020 the international oil suppliers will not be able to keep up with this high demand. There have been many different fuel alternatives to replace diesel and petrol, but none more seem more suitable than hydrogen. The possibility of hydrogen as a fuel is ever increasing, with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages more every year. Car manufactures are already making cars that are hydrogen powered, although they are either prototypes or extremely limited production runs, but cars such as the Honda Clarity prove that hydrogen powered cars really are not a thing of the future, but a thing of the present.
ABOVE: The Honda Clarity, the first hydrogen powered car to have a limited production run.
Hydrogen as a substitute for petrol or diesel has many benefits, not only the abundance of the fuel, but the impact on the environment. Hydrogen is the most abundant element, making up about three quarters of matter in the universe. This high abundance makes it a perfect substitute for petrol and diesel as there is enough of this element to keep up with the high demand for fuels. Hydrogen is also a very clean fuel when burned. Petrol and diesel both emit toxic fumes which pollute our atmosphere. Hydrogen powered cars are much cleaner and friendlier on the environment; the only byproducts of hydrogen powered engines is H2O (water) and heat. These hydrogen-powered cars are only made possible by a fuel cell which converts the hydrogen into electricity. The biggest advantage of using hydrogen to power cars over normal electricity, is that electric cars take hours to charge and then run out of power within a short
Bibliography: http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=0423 http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/f/blabundant.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/hydrogen-cars.htm http://sustainability.yale.edu/hydrogen2