The economic and environmental viability of hydrogen fuel cells is dependant on the ability to produce hydrogen in a clean and cheap method. The cells themselves are already there. There are fleets of fuel cell powered busses in Europe, automakers are experimenting with new designs, and the cells keep getting more efficient. In fact, as of now, fuel cells rival and surpass the efficiency of standard combustion engines. Without heat recapture, an average of 50 to 60 percent efficiency can be achieved in a fuel cell versus an average of around 25 percent efficiency in a combustion engine. The stuff works. A fuel cell powered tractor was being demonstrated at fairs in 1959. So what’s the hold up? Why don’t we see more of these cars?
The issue has to do a lot with efficient and clean production of hydrogen itself. It currently can either be expensive or is a byproduct of a dirty process. Either way, it is either environmentally unsound or just plain not financially worth it. However, scientists at Cambridge have devised a way to effectively create a catalytic reaction that produces hydrogen. Typically, expensive metals are required for the reaction to take place. Cheaper metals are significantly less effective, but the Cambridge scientists have demonstrated that cobalt (a cheap and prevalent material) can do the job quite well, and in an industrially viable setting. This opens the door to broad implementation of hydrogen fuel cell technology.
It may not make a difference, however, for the same reason electric cars are not as environmentally sound as they could be; infrastructure. Existing infrastructures do not support these alternative forms of fuel. Electric cars suffer from being provided power by dirty power grids, and hydrogen fuel cells have to overcome the complete lack of a system for dispersal. The estimates for creating such of fuel cell infrastructure varies wildly in cost (20 to 500 billion), and would require parting from the current status quo.
If a sizable investment is made to further develop hydrogen fuel cells and their effectiveness, they could be viable. However, only time will tell.
–MP
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