Perhaps the most essential difference between hydrogen-powered cars and fossil fuel-powered cars is the type of emissions they release from their consumption. Fossil fuels, in the form of gasoline, release the gaseous form of carbon monoxide as cars consume them. Carbon monoxide can be harmful to people and animals since it causes lowered blood circulation in the body. The other harmful substances released by gasoline gradually reduce the protective cover of the ozone layer and contribute to global warming. Hydrogen, on the other hand, does not turn into any particularly harmful substance as it is burned, making it environmentally friendly. In fact it only turns into water. The products of a hydrogen fuel cell are electricity, heat, and water, from which electricity is used to power the vehicle containing the fuel cell. Hydrogen-powered cars, however, are not widely mass-produced like gasoline-powered cars. There are still some obstacles to be overcome to make economically viable hydrogen-powered cars become a reality. The current circumstances, however, seem to indicate that one ought to be optimistic about the future of hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The problem with hydrogen is that it is difficult and costly to condense, and thus this costly problem lowers the practicality in using a hydrogen-powered car. Although a car that runs on hydrogen would require a lesser amount of hydrogen than gasoline in a gas-powered vehicle, hydrogen is the lightest substance on earth, so storage is a problem. A hydrogen fuel cell, which supplies the power for hydrogen-powered cars, given the current technological capabilities of automobile makers today, is a lot more expensive than the standard gasoline engine. Manually trying to produce or direct hydrogen toward one’s automobile needs can be deadly, because hydrogen is highly flammable. Some automobile makers like BMW and Toyota, are experimenting with hydrogen fuel cells so that it is very possible that the cost of producing fuel cells will drop greatly in the future. The automobile industry will also have to contend with the difficulty of creating a massive distribution system for hydrogen that is equal to that of oil. Additionally, the oil market may subtly oppose the production of hydrogen-powered cars, slowing down research and development for hydrogen power.
There are many car companies, which have already unveiled specialty cars that run on hydrogen. General Motors unveiled its hydrogen car named ‘Sequel’ last 2005. General Motors has also announced that it will produce economically viable hydrogen-powered cars by 2010. BMW premiered one model of a hydrogen-powered car in the year 2000, and released another one called that MINI in 2001. Other companies are also aggressively following the hydrogen-powered path.
Around the world, there are already hydrogen-powered vehicles on the roads, demonstrating the clean and efficient power of hydrogen. Honda has 14 fuel-cell vehicles (known as FCX) in America. Toyota has run live tests of its fuel cell-powered vehicles in 2005, eight units of its FCHV-BUS toured during the year 2005 in the World Exposition in Japan. There are several government and commercial trucks, especially mail delivery trucks, that run on hydrogen power and are used on a daily basis in many developed countries.
