Powering Future Cars
The effect of bio-fuels on the planet and the inability of manufacturers to produce electric cars in large scale has ushered in a race for a more efficient and effective fuel for future cars. Hydrogen is one such fuel that fits the bill. The automobile powered by hydrogen fuel cells are the cars of the future.
There are many advantages associated with the use of hydrogen to power automobiles. With the perfect technological breakthrough that will enable man to store large amounts of hydrogen, hydrogen would be the cheapest source of energy they world is yet to exploit. More than 75 percent of the world is covered with water and water is the main source of hydrogen (Sapkal et al. 1556). The fuels cells in the hydrogen …show more content…
If the hydrogen is produced using renewable sources such as solar energy it would be the most efficient fuel for the future. This would ensure that the fuel cell vehicles do not emit any pollutant to the environment ((Sapkal et al. 1560). The key disadvantage is that due to the fact that the cost of producing hydrogen using renewable energy is high, methane would be the most apt candidate to generate hydrogen. In this case, the process would still rely of biofuel. The extraction of hydrogen from water also requires immense amounts of energy , energy (Electricity) has to be run through it to separate the atoms, and this raises the issue to sustainability and environmental impact of how this initial power is generated. Another key disadvantage of using hydrogen is the fact that hydrogen is not a an energy source but an energy carrier (Sapkal et al. 1560). In this light, using hydrogen as a fuel means combining it with oxygen, and the energy that fuels an engine emanates from the radiant heat generated by the newly generated water molecules. This means that for hydrogen to be viable on a large scale, the process requires to be able to work forwards and backwards with a sustainable energy
The effect of bio-fuels on the planet and the inability of manufacturers to produce electric cars in large scale has ushered in a race for a more efficient and effective fuel for future cars. Hydrogen is one such fuel that fits the bill. The automobile powered by hydrogen fuel cells are the cars of the future.
There are many advantages associated with the use of hydrogen to power automobiles. With the perfect technological breakthrough that will enable man to store large amounts of hydrogen, hydrogen would be the cheapest source of energy they world is yet to exploit. More than 75 percent of the world is covered with water and water is the main source of hydrogen (Sapkal et al. 1556). The fuels cells in the hydrogen …show more content…
If the hydrogen is produced using renewable sources such as solar energy it would be the most efficient fuel for the future. This would ensure that the fuel cell vehicles do not emit any pollutant to the environment ((Sapkal et al. 1560). The key disadvantage is that due to the fact that the cost of producing hydrogen using renewable energy is high, methane would be the most apt candidate to generate hydrogen. In this case, the process would still rely of biofuel. The extraction of hydrogen from water also requires immense amounts of energy , energy (Electricity) has to be run through it to separate the atoms, and this raises the issue to sustainability and environmental impact of how this initial power is generated. Another key disadvantage of using hydrogen is the fact that hydrogen is not a an energy source but an energy carrier (Sapkal et al. 1560). In this light, using hydrogen as a fuel means combining it with oxygen, and the energy that fuels an engine emanates from the radiant heat generated by the newly generated water molecules. This means that for hydrogen to be viable on a large scale, the process requires to be able to work forwards and backwards with a sustainable energy