We are on the verge of a hydrogen revolution, a new and possibly final energy regime for humankind. Producing hydrogen with renewable energy and using it in fuel cell vehicles holds the promise of virtually pollution-free transportation and independence from imported petroleum and fossil fuels.
Even if the microbial electrolysis cell process is set up to bleed off some of the hydrogen to produce the added energy boost needed to sustain hydrogen production, the process still creates 144 percent more available energy than the electrical energy used to produce it.
Everyone has had big problems dealing with the high energy prices over the past 18 months or so. Many believe that the out of sight energy prices have been a major contributing factor to our present global economic problems.
Along with the US housing crisis, record fuel prices, and several other contributing factors something had to give. Now where are headed? No one really knows, just depends on what happens with the auto industry. Predicted oil prices of $30 per barrel will probably slow the development of the hydrogen fuels a considerable amount just as slightly lower prices brought back the gas guzzlers 5 or so years ago.
In the future, however, hydrogen will join electricity as an important energy carrier, since it can be made safely from renewable energy sources and is virtually non-polluting. A few hydrogen-powered vehicles are on the road today, but it will probably be 10-20 years before you can walk into your local car dealer and drive away in one.
However one car maker has promised to have a hydrogen fuel powered car in its showrooms before the rnd of 2008. It remains to be seen whether or not the present financial crunch will move this date back? It is estimated that transmitting electricity long distances is four times more expensive than shipping hydrogen fuel by pipeline.
Hydrogen may reduce our dependence on foreign oil and provide clean, renewable energy for the future. The purpose of a hydrogen fuel car is to convert the chemical energy of hydrogen into mechanical energy that can power a car.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars are the answer to decreased nitrogen oxide emissions, and the best thing about them is that they use a renewable energy source that will always be readily available. There are still several things to consider before the public accepts hydrogen powered vehicles. You see, the internal combustion engines are still the most popular and hydrogen fuel is just new in the market.
The cost of the fuel is still quite prohibitive up until now. At a time in the near future as technological advances are made the prices will begin to come down. When the prices are lowered enough to be equal or close to the fossil fuels we are now using, we should see large increases in the use of the hydrogen fuels.
General Motors said several years ago that they were going to produce hydrogen powered auto. Most people believed it would be 20 years or more before this happened. Another huge consideration is the huge costs of producing the hydrogen Fuels in the beginning. The cost is said to be very near a trillion dollars. Also a huge amount of fossil fuels that will be required in order to get the Hydrogen fuels system up and running.
Another big cost, the new fuels cannot be stored in steel or metal storage tanks nor moved in these lines. Again a huge expense the government will have invest in is all the new storge facalities. So yes, the hydrogen fuels will come into use but will take a while until they are in full operation.
Jim Woodall, is involved in Internet and Niche mktg . Visit his Hydrogen Fuel website also videos and news feeds at: http://jwoodl.com/hydrogen-fuel. Go to the http://freegiveaways.jwoodl.com/index.html site and get your 3 free mktg eBooks, No Obligation
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