Hydrogen
Cars
Hydrogen cars are not only the future, they are
here and now. Since 2000, over 50 hydrogen cars
have been rolled out for public viewing and yet
so few people know about them.
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Sandia National Laboratory Hydrogen Car Concept |
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The critics say that gasoline prices are high now
and hydrogen cars won't help ease the pain one bit.
This is entirely true, yet if one chooses to clutch
to this fast food, drive up window mentality, then
forward thinking and forward progress is lost.
Hydrogen cars are not all about high gasoline prices.
It is true that for hydrogen cars to replace gasoline-powered
automobiles, then the prices for fuel will have
to be competitive. People will naturally vote their
pocketbooks when it comes to this issue.
But hydrogen cars are also about lessening our
nation's dependency upon foreign oil and upon cleaning
up the environment. With so much unrest and conflict
in the major oil producing nations of the Middle
East and South America, its no wonder that many
people are looking to become independent of the
international politics of fossil fuels.
If we can generate our own fuels with clean coal,
hydro-electric, wind, tidal and solar power and
all other forms of renewable energy, then we won't
have to depend upon other nations when it comes
time to fuel our hydrogen cars.
And hydrogen energy is clean energy. The only emissions
from a hydrogen car is water vapor. The water vapor
that is emitted is in small quantities also. Manufacturers
may even use this water and recycle it in the hydrogen
cars by electrolyzing it, then running the hydrogen
portion back through the fuel cell to generate more
electricity.
Hydrogen cars are powered primarily by fuel cells,
though a few manufacturers have chosen to use internal
combustion engines (ICE) modified to run on hydrogen
gas. The cars with these modified ICE engines will
most likely be the first ones to hit the showrooms
as early as 2015. Right now there are limited hydrogen
cars for sale.
Expect Japan to see the first hydrogen cars in
their showrooms also as this country is hot on the
development trail and has much less land mass than
the U. S. for setting up the needed hydrogen infrastructure
to refuel the vehicles.
In the U. S., California is leading the way as
hydrogen fueling stations are popping up all over
the state. California also has the most hydrogen
cars being demonstrated around the state to date.
Chances are that if you live in California, there
is even a hydrogen fueling station near you of which
you are unaware. Germany has also stepped up to
bat saying they will have 1,000 hydrogen fueling
stations in their country by 2015.
It's an exciting time for hydrogen cars. Many people
yawn and assume the cars are still 15 years away.
This is simply not true. The industry is changing
very quickly and there is so much going on that
its hard to keep up with who is doing what. For
instance the Hyrban
hydrogen fuel cell open source car is being piloted
in 2012 in Leicester, England.
Through this website we will attempt to keep you
up-to-date with all the happenings within the industry
as the hydrogen car phenomena continues to unfold.
And, we'll work at it as long as it takes.
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