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The advantage of burning hydrogen over any other fuel is that when hydrogen burns it combines with oxygen and the only emission from this reaction is water. Fossil fuels like petrol (gasoline) in the United States alone emit more than 1 1/2 billion tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every year. Since the early 1980s, Los Alamos National Laboratories in the U.S. as well as laboratories in Germany, Norway and Japan have been aggressively developing fuel cells for the automotive industry. Hydrogen in commercial vehicles is a new technology. As with all new technologies there can be unforeseeable problems associated with it. In 2010, hydrogen-powered cars are also about double the price of a petrol (gasoline) powered car. Until an infrastructure of filling stations for hydrogen is implemented it will be difficult to fill up your hydrogen-powered car. Hydrogen is certainly a much better fuel as far as emissions are concerned for the environment. It will, however, be difficult in the foreseeable future to run a pure hydrogen automobile. The logistics of finding fuel and the original cost of the vehicle are still daunting problems. A hybrid car that will run on either petrol (gasoline) or hydrogen is being developed. But if you are truly a green person, a hydrogen fuel car or a gas-hydrogen hybrid is the vehicle for you. MSNBC: Hydrogen Cars Ready to Roll for a PriceOn One Hand: Hydrogen is the Cleanest Burning Fuel
On the Other: Hydrogen for Cars is a New Technology
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by Old School on September 10th, 2010
From the standpoint of urban air pollution, hydrogen is the cleanest fuel around, as the products of combustion (or running it through a fuel cell) are simply water and CO2.
However, free hydrogen doesn't exist on Earth in any significant quantity, so it has to be manufactured.
The two primary ways this is done is by stripping the carbon out of methane (CH4), which is the primary component of natural gas, or by splitting water molecules (H20) via electrolysis. Electrolysis requires electricity, which means an electrical power plant, which is most likely powered by fossil fuels (coal or natural gas).
My impression is that most of the total system energy analyses show that we'd be better off from an energy consumption standpoint by just burning the fossil fuels directly, rather than using them to manufacture hydrogen.
by JustImagine on September 10th, 2010
It is the greenest of any alternative fuel and provides the greatest mile per gallon.
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