Hydrogen As A Fuel Source

Author: Levi Quinn

With the introduction of such things as the air car or biodiesel, it should not be all that surprising that hydrogen is also something that many believe to be a viable fuel source. Hydrogen is familiar to many people as one of the periodic table elements. It is also a natural resource that is a positive alternative to fossil fuel combustion for energy production. Though hydrogen is still not a main source of fuel currently, there is promising study and results proving its efficiency. With further investigation, perhaps hydrogen will be a means of living greener in the future.

There are actually two different ways that hydrogen can be used as fuel. One of these methods involves combining the hydrogen with oxygen in order to create water. Water cars are a whole field of promising study all on their own. Water cars are emission free and fully functional, though not without their drawbacks. The other method of using hydrogen is by combustion. This means that it is combusted within the engine much the same as the combustion that currently takes place with fossil fuels inside an engine. Of course because hydrogen is not a toxic fossil fuel, the emissions are not at all the same.

For awhile the Ford Motor Company had been debating on whether or not to launch a car that ran on hydrogen. They had planned to do so but that plan was later dropped. They decided that it wasn't a risk worth taking at this time. Hydrogen may not be quite ready for the mass market. However, Ford did go on to develop their own hybrid and flex fuel vehicles which have been rather successful. Like many other auto makers, those currently remain the two leading fossil fuel alternatives when it comes to green cars.

At this time it would cost too much to mass produce hydrogen fueled cars. It is unlikely that it would be a worthy investment for either manufacturers or consumers, especially when other options are available at a lower cost. Perhaps some of the problem is that there are so many fuel alternatives being tossed around that it can be difficult to isolate which is truly the best. The fact that hydrogen has to be made also makes it more difficult to obtain. Fossil fuels come straight out of the earth. There is also plenty more research that still needs to be done on hydrogen before we can take full advantage of it globally.

Some experts believe that it will take up to 40 years before hydrogen is ready for the public. Hydrogen is very hard to store in its natural form and instead has to be converted to a liquid form which requires a lot of energy. Also, making it accessible to the public everywhere is a real challenge that will not be overcome in the near future. Hydrogen certainly has its advantages which should be explored further. However, for now it seems that hybrids and flex fuel are the best earth friendly options that are readily available.

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