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The
Future of Hydrogen Vehicles
by
Chuck Hall
 There seem to be a lot of
misconceptions about the idea of hydrogen power. I’ve heard from a
lot of people who think about hydrogen bombs and the Hindenburg when
they think about hydrogen fuels. They think that if we use hydrogen
as a power source we’re flirting with disaster. I’d like to
clear up a few of these misconceptions.
First off, hydrogen bombs and
hydrogen fuel are entirely different animals. A hydrogen bomb is a
fusion bomb. Hydrogen itself, however, is not radioactive. If it
were, drinking a glass of water would kill you. The hydrogen in an
atomic weapon has undergone a lot of transformation that just
wouldn’t happen in a hydrogen vehicle.
As for the Hindenburg, recent
studies have shown that the explosion of that airship had more to do
with the ‘dope’ used to paint the outer skin than with the
hydrogen within. This doping compound used to paint the Hindenburg
actually contained many of the components found in rocket fuel, and
was the source of the original fire that subsequently ignited the
hydrogen. This is not to say that hydrogen isn’t combustible. Any
fuel that can be used to produce energy is combustible, or it
wouldn’t produce energy in the first place. The gasoline and the
diesel fuel most vehicles burn today are combustible as well. The
difference is that we are familiar with the hazards associated with
gasoline and diesel engines, so they don’t seem quite so scary.
While there are inherent risks in handling any combustible material,
I believe that hydrogen is far safer overall than the fuels we use
today.
 To start with, hydrogen is a much
cleaner fuel than petroleum-based fossil fuels. When hydrogen burns,
the by-product is water. That’s all. No greenhouse gases, no heavy
metals, no pollutants. In addition, hydrogen is lighter than air. In
any accident in which a hydrogen fuel tank is pierced, the
combustible hydrogen floats up into the atmosphere and away from the
vehicle. With petroleum fuels, in case of a leak the fuel falls to
the pavement below the vehicle where it can be easily ignited.
Finally, hydrogen is the most
abundant element in the Universe. There is not likely to ever be a
shortage of hydrogen, as when it burns it creates water as a
by-product, and this water can be used to obtain more hydrogen. Our
planet is two-thirds water, and hydrogen is one of the components of
water. At the present time splitting hydrogen from water isn’t the
most efficient method of obtaining it, but as technology progresses
that could change.
Hydrogen is a clean, abundant
source of fuel, but there are drawbacks to a hydrogen economy as
well. One drawback is the storage medium. Hydrogen is a gas, not a
liquid like gasoline. In order to store enough hydrogen to give a
car a 300-mile range, it would have to be stored in a tank at about
1500 psi of pressure. Another drawback is that the cheapest way to
extract hydrogen at the present time is to get it from natural gas.
Natural gas is not a renewable resource, so in that instance we’re
just trading one problem for another. There are promising solutions
on the horizon, however. One method that has potential is to use
bacteria to extract hydrogen from methane. Another is to store
hydrogen in a chemical compound so that it is a solid rather than a
gas.
Any old farmer could tell you that
you should never put all your eggs in one basket. That’s where we
are right now in our dependence on fossil fuels. Hydrogen probably
won’t be the only ‘egg’ in our future basket of fuels, but it
could be one of many if we can work out a few of the technical
challenges. Time will tell.
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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