For more than a century, we relied on oil to fuel our cars. But did you know that because oil is a nonrenewable resource the world's oil is close to drying up? Well, that is not going to happen tomorrow or next year but we are getting really close because of the high demand that exist in the world market. So, why wait for that day? When we can rely on a green energy source like water to power our cars, today?
Can water power a car? You may think that it is impossible, but, well, it is already here the only problem it is not yet being made on a commercial scale.
The German automobile manufacturer BMW produced the world's first hydrogen powered car. While only 100 of these cars were produced, can you already imagine if more of these vehicles were on the road?
Hydrogen fuel cell cars are electric cars but, instead of storing electricity in batteries they generate it on board in fuel cells. The fuel cells combine hydrogen gas with oxygen in a process that creates water and a stream of electricity. That electricity powers the car – but without the long charging times.
This is not a fantasy. In fact, that pretty much describes the hydrogen fuel cell cars several major auto manufacturers, including Toyota and Hyundai, plan to have for sale.
in limited markets, by 2015 or so.
And while Toyota and Hyundai are planning to sell those vehicles, other manufacturers like Honda and Mercedes-Benz are already leasing hydrogen fuel-cell powered cars to customers in Southern California.
California's zero-emission vehicle sales requirement is the main reason why automakers are trying so hard to provide hydrogen vehicles. Meanwhile, initiatives in Washington to make more readily available financial support for alternative fuel vehicles could help off-set some of the additional costs.
But there are still many challenges that obstruct the availability of these types of cars. Number one is hydrogen fuel cell cars are expensive. These cars cost more than many of the other cars that are out there today because these are first generation cars, just like when the first computers hit the market, they were very expensive; look at the prices now.
The other big problem for hydrogen cars is we don't have hydrogen filling stations. Which means if you don't live near Los Angeles, California, you will have a tough time filling up. The earliest that the infrastructure to have hydrogen filling stations could become viable is 2015 or 2016, and that is just an educated guess. At least the fuel itself isn't hard to locate. It is, literally, everywhere. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. But, ordinarily, it doesn't just float around by itself. It has to pried out of molecules like those of water or natural gas. One way to do that is with electricity, but that's not how the vast majority hydrogen is produced, almost all the hydrogen gas is produced by burning natural gas to heat up a mixture of natural gas and water.
Now, the answer to our question, can we use water to power a car? Well, yes we can, just not in a massive scale, at least not yet.