The Ford Taurus |
Take a Ford Taurus and an Apollo mooncraft and smash them together and just maybe you end up with the automotive holy grail--a car that zips along without polluting. How clean is a hydrogen car? Clean enough that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley actually drank the exhaust. |
The Apollo Insignia |
And unlike an electric car with its cumbersome batteries and
limited juice, hydrogen is a very good energy carrier," according to
Brad Bates, manager of the alternative fuels program at the Ford Motor Co.
Utilizing space technology, the hydrogen car doesn't rely on combustion. And it has hardly any moving parts.
Most commercial hydrogen is made as part of the processing of natural gas. As a fuel it
is about 20 percent more expensive than a comparable amount of gasoline.
"You need about 15 pounds of hydrogen to go 300 miles," said Bates. "That doesn't
sound like much but hydrogen is very light and takes a very big tank," Bates said.
Gaseous hydrogen could be pumped into a vehicle's tank in five minutes
using compressors, according to studies. Another problem with hydrogen is
that since it is such a simple molecule it can easily leak through cracks and seals.
Hydrogen can also come in liquid and solid forms that require less space
and do not leak as readily, but each has drawbacks in the ease of handling and cost of refueling.
"The bottom line is you don't go to your friendly local gas station to fill up with hydrogen," Bates said.
Next summer, Chicago will have at least three Ballard buses plying the
city streets as part of a three-year pilot project.
The 40-foot-long coaches look like your average bus, carry about
40 passengers and travel at average speeds.
There just won't be any of the soot, smell or noise of a diesel bus.
The Hydrogen Car
Here's how they work basically : Hydrogen fuel cells combine elemental H2 gas with oxygen from air to create an electric current
and pure H2O. As with the nitrogen, this is a very efficient reaction. The fuel cells, many
of which are put next to each other to make a 'stack', each have two semi-porous electrodes
separated by a liquid electrolyte. The interior side of the electrodes are coated in a platinum
catalyst. When the two elements come in contact with the catalyst and the electrolyte as the
seep through the semi-porous electrode, they each ionize. The H+ ion is is then attracted to
the 2-minus charged oxygen ion. They combine to form pure water and this is drained from the
fuel cell. The electricity created runs through the circuit connected to the electrodes.
Diagram of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell
