The Exciting Possibilities of Using Hydrogen as an Alternative Fuel

President George W. Bush annouced a $1.2 million hydrogen fuel iniative in his State of the Union address in 2003. This iniative was designed to reduce the dependence America has on foreign oil that provides the petroleum we desire to produce gasoline to power our vehicles. This iniative was critical in allowing scientists to develop the technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power automobiles, trucks, buses, homes, and
businesses with no greenhouse gases and pollution.

There has been much new funding, since President Bush annouced his initative in 2003, in the development of hydrogen fuel as an alternative to gasoline. As a result, many new vehicles have been constructed using hydrogen as a fuel source than ever before. Hydrogen fuel relies on fuel cells to store and process the gas used to power the vehicle. Fuel cell vehicles turn hydrogen fuel and oxygen into electricity. The electricity then powers an electric motor, just like electricity from batteries powers the motor of an electric vehicle. Fuel cells combine oxygen from the air with hydrogen from the vehicle's fuel tank to produce electricity. When oxygen and hydrogen are combined they give off energy and water. In fuel
cells this is done without any burning (combustion). Fuel cell technology has developed so much that
General Motors now boasts a one hundred percent hydrogen fuel powered vehicle.

Using hydrogen fuel does have its downfalls. Hydrogen is four times as expensive to produce as gasoline when produced from natural gas, its most affordable source. The hydrogen fuel iniative hopes to decrease the cost enough to make fuel cell cars as cheap to run as conventional gasoline-powered vehicles by 2010. The iniative also seeks to advance the methods of producing hydrogen from renewable resources, nuclear energy, and even coal.

Our nation can become energy independent by using hydrogen fuel instead of gasoline. We will not have to rely on other countries for our energy resources. Hydrogen is available in large quantities as a component of natural gas, coal, biomass, and even water. The Department of Energy estimates that the hydrogen fuel iniative may decrease our demand for petroluem by over 11 million barrels per day by the year 2040. This amount is approximately the amount of oil America imports from foreign countries today.

Cars, trucks, and buses are significant source of air pollution in cities and urban areas. Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity to power vehicles without any pollution. The hydrogen fuel initative may decrease the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation itself by over 500 million metric tons of carbon each year by 2040. Using fuel cells to generate electricity for residential and commercial uses will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by even more. Clearly, hydrogen fuel is the key to a clean energy future. Hydrogen fuel contains the highest energy content per unit weight of any known fuel. When it is burned in an engine, it produces zero emissons and only water vapor as a byproduct.

Hydrogen's clean burning characteristics may, one day, make it a popular transportation fuel. For now, the problem of how to store enough hydrogen on a vehicle for a reasonable range, and its high cost, compared to gasoline, are critical barriers to widespread commercial use. Nearly all hydrogen currently is made from natural gas. For that reason, hydrogen usually costs more than natural gas.

Hydrogen fuel is the newest and biggest alternative fuel in the industry. President Bush was aware of this and now the people of America knows that too. Soon owning a vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel will become a reality as fuel cell technologies advance. This is only the beginning in the journey toward a hydrogen powered society.

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