If a gasoline-free, zero-emission, ozone-friendly car will exist in the future, researchers say it will be powered by the most copious element on the planet: hydrogen.
According to the Associated Press, researchers are seeking to replace standard internal combustion engines with the new fuel cells to stall further depletion of crude oil reserves and to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses, which are emitted from gasoline-using engines.
President Bush proposed spending $720 million on research and development of hydrogen fuel-cell engines during his State of the Union address.
The funding could not come at a better time because, according the NewsRx.com Science Letter, researchers estimate the world’s oil reserves will be depleted by 2038.
According to University Wire reports, Brigham Young University School of Technology director, Thomas Erekson, said a fuel-cell engine passes hydrogen through a membrane to pull off electrons, which are used for making energy.
While hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world, it can not be found alone. Researchers are searching for ways to pull hydrogen from existing molecules, such as from hydrocarbons or water, according University Wire reports.
A study by MIT researchers said that while hydrogen fuel-cell cars are clean running on the road, the process of making the hydrogen takes energy derived from fossil fuels.
According to Fuel Cell Technology News, researchers are implementing techniques to use electricity to sever water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen. Fuel-cell engines that use this method will emit only water or water vapors. The fuel cells split the elements of hydrogen into electrons and protons and then send the electrons through an electric drive motor. Then the particles combine with oxygen to make water.
According to the National Hydrogen Association, the membrane, or Proton Exchange Membrane, uses platinum as the electrocatalyst, which allows chemical reactions to happen faster.
According to a study by Texas A&M electrical engineering students, while hydrogen fuel-cell engines are much more energy efficient than standard internal combustion engines, hydrogen fuel cells cost 50 times as much per kilowatt.
According to wire reports the Texas A&M study said the “most optimistic estimates show that fuel cells won’t be economically feasible until 2020 and not widely available until 2053.”
Marketing manager for Ford Motor Company’s fuel-cell vehicle program, Philip Chizek, said it will be another 10 years until the new engines will be mass produced at the same rate as standard internal combustion engines.
Researchers say the biggest problem with introducing cars with hydrogen fuel-cell engines is the “chicken-and-egg” problem. Oil companies would have to figure out how to produce enough hydrogen and make it available at filling stations across the country. Of course, companies are not willing to implement such an expensive system if people are not widely using the fuel-cell vehicles.