Save Money At The Pump With...Hydrogen?

Gas prices are going up, and this causing many people who bought giant SUVs to have an extreme case of buyer’s remorse. Even people who have smaller, somewhat less fuel guzzling vehicles are looking to their next vehicle, looking for something that won’t cause them to go bankrupt. There are a lot of fuel saving technologies working their way into production, but probably the most promising is fuel cell technology.

A fuel cell is essentially a giant battery that never runs out of power. Now don’t get too excited, that doesn’t mean we’ve found the recipe for infinite power. A fuel cell operates much like ordinary batteries, where two chemicals react and produce electricity from the reaction. In a fuel cell, one of the chemicals is constantly refreshed, so that the cell keeps producing electricity at a consistent rate.

Given that hydrogen is most plentiful element in the universe, comprising seventy five percent of, well, everything. This means that the problems that are inherent with using petroleum based fuels like gasoline and diesel, namely that there is a finite supply of petroleum to make them.

The downside is that most of the hydrogen we have access to is, inconveniently enough, already being used. As water. This means that we have to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in order to use it, which requires a power source of it’s own. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to produce the power necessary.

Another plus is that a properly designed fuel cell powered car would produce, as it’s only emission, simple water. This actually creates a minor problem in freezing conditions, where the water will need to be disposed of. But that seems like a small price to pay in return for extremely cheap fuel and no pollution to speak of.

One of the biggest practical problems for using fuel cell technologies is the infrastructure. The infrastructure is basically the stuff we need to support the fuel we use. Right now, that’s gas stations. You can’t, as yet, pull into your local filling station and get a tank of hydrogen. This is one of the reasons that electric cars haven’t become popular or practical, and it’s one of the reasons that hybrids have become the new hot thing.

Fortunately, there are both fuel cell cars getting ready to go on sale, and there are hydrogen stations being built all cross the nation, and most of the big cities already have several.

Speaking of fuel, you’re probably wondering how much you could save this a fuel cell engine. Right now, you’d be getting what’s equivalent to fifty miles a gallon with a fuel cell vehicle. While that’s pretty good in and of itself, remember that hydrogen is only available from a few locations. As the amount of hydrogen being produced increases, the price will actually drop even further.