Originally published February 14 2005
Hydrogen power is gaining currency, but several problems need to be overcome first
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Most automotive industry experts are anticipating that hydrogen, in one form or another, is the fuel of the future. With fuel cells or internal combustion engines running on hydrogen fuel, the gas is much cleaner than regular gasoline. However, the technology is still very expensive and scientists have yet to solve the problem of how to extract the hydrogen.
The hulking Hummer -- a symbol of gas-guzzling excess and the bane of environmentalists -- seems an unlikely avatar of the pollution-free vehicle.
Yet California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promotes clean energy behind the wheel of a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered H2, and the Bush administration has pledged more than $1 billion for fuel-cell research.
Besides offering an alternative to the dwindling supply and soaring price of oil, hydrogen to power cars is attractive because, in essence, all that comes out of the tailpipe is hot water.
Momentum toward affordable hydrogen vehicles is slowly building.
Last November, a Shell station in Washington, D.C., became the first in the nation to provide a hydrogen-fuel dispenser alongside its gasoline pumps.
Shell Hydrogen CEO Jeremy Bentham demonstrated how to fill 'er up by punching a PIN into the pump's keypad and inserting a cylindrical nozzle into the van's tank with a connector that prevents the gas from escaping into the air.
The cost: $1.99 a kilogram, which produces about the same amount of energy as a gallon of regular gasoline.
Once the tank was filled, a GM engineer invited me to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin around the neighborhood.
The van, a fuel-cell version of the five-seat European Opel Zafira, has a range of fewer than 200 miles on a full tank of the compressed hydrogen (a Honda Civic has a range of about 450 miles).
BMW chairman Helmut Panke figures his customers aren't going to enjoy the golf-cart-like drive of the typical fuel-cell vehicle.
Top speed is 133 mph, and the cruising range is 125 miles on hydrogen -- BMW prefers the liquid kind -- and more than 300 miles on gasoline.
Among the most daunting, says Peter Hoffmann, editor of the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter, is building the distribution and storage infrastructure.
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