Hydrogen Gas In Cars - Something For the Future ?
It is most likely that your car is using an ethanol-gasoline fuel blend. Ethanol, produced from corn as fuel, has been hailed as a breakthrough to reducing both American’s reliance on foreign oil and dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. This is a moot point as many people claim that growing tonnes of crops to produce a fuel that is no better than gasoline is a cul-de-sac solution. For instance, Ethanol has been used by cars to run without optimization for quite a while without significant changes in fuel prices or greenhouse emissions. A newer contender is hydrogen gas in cars for improved fuel economy.
The use of hydrogen gas in cars however has seemingly countless benefits over both ethanol and gasoline fuels. It is a much cleaner burning fuel that leave no carbon footprint as its only emission is water vapor which is comprised of mostly nitrogen which make up over seventy five percent of the air we breathe. It also offers roughly two-thirds better fuel economy at about half the price.
The two major setbacks of changing over to hydrogen gas in cars are the system within the car and fuel availability. If you do not live within close proximity to a hydrogen generation plant (and who does ?), chances are there are probably no stations where you can purchase commercially produced hydrogen to fuel your car with.
The process of producing great quantities of hydrogen fuel on board a vehicle to burn instead of gasoline still faces technological limitations, compromising widespread use of this technology on the road. A few automobile manufacturers planning to manufacture fully hydrogen-powered vehicles are also planning to produce home hydrogen gas fueling stations. This will not only allow you to fuel your car but also generate power for your dwelling, giving you a big cost reduction in energy expenditure and help in environmental protection.
Converting your gasoline-powered vehicle to a hydrogen fuel hybrid will not only reduce your vehicle’s emission but will also greatly increase your fuel economy, and there are various methods available which you can use to accomplish this conversion. One such kit helps with gas savings by taking the electricity that is produced by your vehicle and adding small amounts of hydrogen fuel. These kits can only produce small amounts. The prices for these items can cost roughly a couple hundred dollars for easy to find parts you put together yourself to full scale equipment that cost several thousands of dollars and require professional installation.
When hydrogen fuel production begins on mega scale and will be easily available in big volume, we will definitely begin to see new inventions when we start using hydrogen gas in cars. Indeed, BMW are publicizing their work on a hydrogen fuel car but it is only a one off prototype without any commercial potential to date. Before that date when this becomes commercially viable arrives, home-made kits that use readily available parts and plain water can help the mechanically-inclined to get a long up on the technology. Instructions for creating your own water to gas kits are found on the internet through sites such as Water4gas.
It’s not only do-it-yourselfers and automobile manufacturers paying attention to hydrogen gas in cars, energy companies and even governments are now exploring hydrogen fuel technology. With more interest along with financial resources to back up continuing research, the day may soon come that hydrogen gas will be the fuel of choice powering your car.
