Hydrogen: The Perfect Fuel

Hydrogen: The Perfect Fuel
The Pollution Problem

According to reports from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Spokane's carbon monoxide levels are among the poorest in the nation, and it will only get worse if we keep contributing to it with our polluting cars. Our precious cars that we use so often give off "carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide," and contribute to "urban smog, rural air pollution, acid rain, and the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere" (Nadis and MacKenzie 14). We need our cars, but we also need to reduce the pollution.

Carbon-based Fuel Alternatives

The best way to reduce the pollution while keeping our cars is to start buying emission-free vehicles. Some people will argue that we should just run our current cars on alternative carbon-based fuels, such as propane or natural gas. These fuels are cleaner than gasoline or diesel (Nadis and MacKenzie 69) and would help clean the air of some pollutants, but the inescapable facts are that they are fossil fuels, their supplies are limited, and the greenhouse gas contributions are expected to be about the same as those of oil-based fuels (151). In other words, they still pollute. In fact, combustion of any fuel produces some emissions. Combusted fuel and burning crank case oil produce hydrocarbons while heat from the engine produces nitrogen oxides (Cannon 107). The only way to completely escape this pollution is by using electric motors (Begley and Hager 108). Vehicles using electric motors are completely emission-free and generally get their electricity from batteries, the sun, or hydrogen fuel cells.

Pollution-free Vehicles: Battery-powered Cars

Battery-powered electric cars have many advantages over internal combustion engines, such as being emission free, being more efficient, and having fewer moving parts (Gary 12) that inevitably wear out and break. The problems with batteries, however, are their range, recharge times, size, and weight. The short driving range, typically about 100 miles, makes it impractical for driving long distances because it takes so long to recharge: about 8 hours (Nadis and MacKenzie 73). Furthermore, current lead-acid batteries consume over 17 times as much space and 45 times as much weight as gasoline tanks (45 cubic feet of space and 6,750 pounds for a driving range equivalent to 15 gallons of gasoline) (Cannon 138-9). Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are jointly working on "better batteries than those currently available" (Sawyers S34) in order to solve these problems.

Solar-powered Cars

"Solar cars, simply put, are electric cars that derive some fraction of their energy from the sun" (Nadis and MacKenzie 81). Since the sun is not out at night or when it is very cloudy, solar cars are equipped with batteries. When the sun is out, the car can move, charge its batteries, or both. They have the advantage of not needing as much city power to charge them as battery-powered cars, and some solar cars have ranges of about 135 miles (81). The range is higher than that of battery-powered cars because they can charge themselves and run longer using the sun, but since they are dependent on batteries when the sun is not out, they have the drawbacks of their counterparts: namely, the size, weight, and range restrictions associated with batteries.

The Ultimate Alternative

The best pollution-free alternative to batteries while still using clean electric motors is the hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen-powered "fuel cells hold enormous promise as a power source for a future generation of cars" (Zygmont 20). They do not have the restraints that batteries do, either.

Hydrogen is consumed by a pollution-free chemical reaction--not combustion--in a fuel cell. The fuel cell simply combines hydrogen and oxygen chemically to produce electricity, water, and waste heat (MacKenzie 62-3). Nothing else. And hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, constituting about 93% of all atoms. "It is found in water (H20), fossil fuels (basically, compounds of hydrogen and carbon), and all plants and animals" (61). "What better replacement for finite, nonrenewable gasoline?" (Zygmont 20). "Hydrogen has often been called the perfect fuel. Its major reserve on earth (water) is inexhaustible. The use of hydrogen is compatible with nature, rather than intrusive. We will never run out of hydrogen" (NHA).

Hydrogen can be obtained from water by the process of electrolysis, or splitting water molecules using electricity. We cannot, however, forget the external effects of getting the electricity from power plants. Many power plants across the country, producing electricity to charge batteries or to produce hydrogen, run on carbon-based fuels, such as coal, and therefore produce emissions (MacKenzie 61-2). Here in Spokane, however, where our electricity comes from the water-powered generators at Washington Water Power, this is not a problem, and hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered vehicles can be truly emission free.

The fuel cells are compatible with the cold winters we have in Spokane. There are several types of fuel cells, but the one most suited for cars is called the proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Some of its main features are its ability to start quickly and to run at moderate temperatures (150° instead of 1,900°, like some other versions), which will help because it does not need to heat up very much in order to run. The PEM fuel cell is compact and lightweight: a big advantage for cars. Furthermore, its maximum efficiency of 60% (energy delivered from hydrogen to motor as electricity) is about 3 times greater than the efficiency of internal combustion engines (most of the energy from combustion is lost in heat and friction before it even pushes down on the pistons) (Cannon 119, 112).

The range of fuel-cell-powered vehicles is not limited by batteries, but by the amount of fuel in the storage tank. Recent developments in hydrogen storage technology have come up with "carbon-adsorption" systems. These are refrigerated and pressurized tanks that can store massive amounts of hydrogen. Calculations estimate that over 7 gallons of hydrogen could be stored in a single gram of this new material. This allows a range of nearly 5,000 miles from a single tank! (Hill 20). These tanks would weigh less than 200 pounds, occupy about half the amount of space used by current gasoline tanks (H&FCL), and could be refueled in 4-5 minutes (MacKenzie 75). The carbon-adsorption tanks would also work well in Spokane's cold winters, as the process improves greatly as the temperature decreases. This tank could easily become the storage method of choice if research, improvements, and advancements continue (75). Even if nothing came from these or future developments, the current "range for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is comparable to that for gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles" (Winkler).

Hydrogen Safety

Many people are concerned with hydrogen's safety. And with good reason. Hydrogen is a fuel and is therefore combustible. Its combustion properties deserve the same caution any fuel should be given (NHA Handling). Hydrogen has been suffering an image problem since the Hindenburg tragically caught fire and burned in New Jersey in 1937. (There were 62 survivors and 35 fatalities; 27 of the deaths resulted from jumping from the airship. Some died from burns and injuries caused by the diesel fuel fire, not from the burning hydrogen (Nadis and MacKenzie 86; MacKenzie 69).) "Fortunately, . . . 'hydrogen is not a particularly dangerous fuel.' If it leaks or spills, hydrogen disperses and evaporates much faster than gasoline, which minimizes the explosion hazard" (Nadis and MacKenzie 86). "The hazards of hydrogen are different from but not greater than those of conventional fuels" (Williams 23). Hydrogen can be and has been handled carefully and safely, just like any other inherently dangerous fuel such as gasoline (Zygmont 20). Hydrogen tanks have been put through series of demanding safety tests. They have been completely engulfed in flames at over 1,650°F for up to 70 minutes, perforated by solid objects (such as armor-piercing bullets), and squeezed until they break with safety valves completely blocked. Sometimes the gas leaked out, sometimes it burnt, but it never exploded (Edwards 42).

On the Road

Many large and well-known corporations trust and realize the potential of hydrogen. Some companies that already have hydrogen fueled vehicles on the road are: (1) Mercedes-Benz, with about 20 cars and vans, (2) BMW, which is testing liquid hydrogen in two sedans and plans to have a fleet of 100 hydrogen vehicles on the road in the 1990s, (3) Mazda, which had 3 vehicles as of 1993, and (4) Ballard Power Systems, which is developing and selling fuel cells and hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered buses (to the city of Chicago, for example) (Nadis and MacKenzie 84-5; Cannon 297-304). Various individuals and universities are also researching and developing hydrogen vehicles.

Conclusion

Hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered cars are the best alternatives to polluting, gasoline-powered cars for several reasons: (1) the cars are completely emission-free, (2) the fuel cells have no moving parts, (3) hydrogen is renewable and abundant, (4) the cars are compatible with cold weather, (5) the fuel cells are compact and lightweight--not overly bulky or heavy, (6) the cars are about 3 times as efficient as gasoline-powered cars, (7) the cars will have incredible mile ranges, (8) the tanks will be refueled quickly, and (9) hydrogen is safe, has been tested rigorously for use in vehicles, and is being used in many vehicles already.

Now we need to show car manufacturers that we want hydrogen fuel cells in our cars. We can do this effectively by communicating with the manufacturers. At a car dealer of your preference, inquire about cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Ask if the car company makes them, and if so, learn about the car and find out if it can be ordered. If the dealer does not know about the cars, ask for an address of the car manufacturer and write them asking for literature regarding cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Buying these emission-free vehicles is the best way to reduce the pollution in the Spokane area without giving up our cars.