Hydrogen as a Fuel

The best pollution-free alternative to batteries while still using clean electric motors is the hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen-powered "fuel cells hold enormous promise as a power source for a future generation of cars" (Zygmont 20). They do not have the restraints that batteries do, either.

Hydrogen is consumed by a pollution-free chemical reaction--not combustion--in a fuel cell. The fuel cell simply combines hydrogen and oxygen chemically to produce electricity, water, and waste heat (MacKenzie 62-3). Nothing else. And hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, constituting about 93% of all atoms. "It is found in water (H20), fossil fuels (basically, compounds of hydrogen and carbon), and all plants and animals" (61). "What better replacement for finite, nonrenewable gasoline?" (Zygmont 20). "Hydrogen has often been called the perfect fuel. Its major reserve on earth (water) is inexhaustible. The use of hydrogen is compatible with nature, rather than intrusive. We will never run out of hydrogen" (NHA).

Ford to attempt land speed record for production-based fuel cell powered vehicle at Bonneville with the Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999.

Like electricity, hydrogen is an energy carrier and must be produced from another substance. Hydrogen is not widely used today but it has great potential as an energy carrier in the future. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources (water, fossil fuels, biomass) and is a byproduct of other chemical processes. Unlike electricity, large quantities of hydrogen can be easily stored to be used in the future. Hydrogen can also be used in places where it’s hard to use electricity. Hydrogen can store the energy until it’s needed and can be moved to where it’s needed.