So why are combustion engines that rely on fossil fuel still getting us from point A to point B? Hydrogen and electric vehicle technology have been in the public eye for some time now. What is hindering these alternative technologies? Why are we still reliant on fossil fuel? When, if ever, can we expect to move on from this archaic source of power? This article will delve in to this issue and provide answers to these questions.
According to Popular Mechanics, President George W. Bush backed hydrogen fuel cell technology during his State of the Union speech in 2003 with a 1.2 billion dollar initiative to improve this technology and bring hydrogen powered cars to show rooms. Seven years later, hydrogen fuel cell technology seems to be far from being ready for mass consumption. So what happened? Ultimately, four major hurdles have kept hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from taking off.
The first of those hurdles is the way that it is produced. Ironically, 95 percent of hydrogen in the United States is made using natural gas which is a fossil fuel. While hydrogen can also be produced using a method called electrolysis where by electricity is used to split water, the electricity that is used during this process comes from plants that also pump out green house gasses. Our electrical infrastructure would drastically have to change in order for this process to truly be green. Nuclear power could also produce hydrogen but any such production can only be proved once plants that support this process are built. Even then, nuclear power plants are a source of controversy due to public safety concerns.
The second major hurdle keeping hydrogen fuel cell technology back is storage issues. Even with methods to squeeze hydrogen in to a smaller form, a much bigger tank needs to be used in order to hold the equivalent power of a gasoline tank.
The third major hurdle is transportation of hydrogen. Distributing hydrogen through the rail and highway systems would be extremely inefficient. A vehicle that can carry enough fossil fuel to run 800 cars can only carry enough hydrogen to run 80 cars. Also, hydrogen pipelines that could transport the hydrogen without the need for vehicles are too expensive to make. The only viable solution would be to make the hydrogen on site. Who wants a hydrogen plant in their back yard? The answer is no one.
The fourth major drawback of hydrogen fuel cell technology is the way that it would be used. The fuel cells themselves are expensive and not many companies believe that it is worth investing in the technology because the drawbacks limit the technology to only being useful in applications that involve company use rather than residential use. It is a significantly smaller market than gasoline sales.
So what about electric vehicle technology? Is it any more economically feasible than hydrogen fuel cell technology? Electric vehicle technology is rather simple. There are batteries in the car. When one plugs the car in to an electrical source, the batteries charge and provide energy that powers the car. Unlike combustion engine vehicles, there are very little moving parts which means that there is less of a chance of something breaking down which could save electric vehicle owners money in the long run. There is also no exhaust which means that there are no emissions. However, as was mentioned earlier in this paper, the majority of this nation’s electricity is produced by plants that pump out green house gasses. There may be less green house gasses produced by electricity plants than all the gas guzzling cars on the road today, but it still would not be a truly green technology unless the electricity that powers electric vehicles was obtained through renewable resources. Most opposition towards electric vehicles is based on this fact. However, this may soon be the only drawback as the future for electric vehicle technology looks very promising.
Some of the current drawbacks to most electric cars are their speed, their range, the infrastructure, and how long it takes to charge them. However, one of these problems may have already been solved. According to The Truth About Cars, a new lithium battery technology would allow electric vehicles to charge in five minutes. While this is slightly more time than it takes to fill a tank with gasoline, it shouldn’t be too much trouble for most people to grab a cup of coffee while their car charges. According to Business Insider, a McDonald’s in North Carolina will be adding an electric car charging station to their property. Fast food is very popular in the United States. If more fast food restaurants were to follow the example of this McDonald’s, electric car charging would become a lot more convenient. Many grocery stores offer gas stations just outside their stores. Why not offer electric car charging stations as well? Some people, such as those who live in apartment complexes, have no convenient way of charging their vehicles at home. This would make electric vehicles a viable option to most everyone.
Yet what about the charge stations themselves? Are they economically feasible? The answer is yes. Aside from the initial cost, the only other cost would be the electric bill. Companies could make this money back by charging a relatively modest fee for every vehicle charged or through other methods. There is no need to resupply them using transportation. The power grid provides the electricity needed for these stations to operate.
So what about where the electricity comes from in the first place? Most electricity in the United States today comes from burning coal which is another fossil fuel that pollutes the air. Are there alternatives to this? Yes. The Electricity Forum lists nine planet friendly ways in which the United States could produce electricity. These include using wind turbines, solar technology, water turbines, machines that capture the energy produced by waves in the ocean as well as the ocean tide and the geothermal production inside the earth, or methods of harnessing landfill gasses. Most of these methods of producing electricity are already being used around the world today, so why is the United States still reliant on coal for producing it’s electricity needs? According to Seeking Alpha, only seven percent of the world’s energy comes from environment friendly sources. By 2030, those environment friendly sources are projected to grow by only three percent. Why is this? According to guardian.co.uk, it’s because renewable energy sources are not reliable enough to meet societies massive energy needs. For instance, wind turbines can only produce energy when there is wind. Storing energy from renewable energy sources is another problem that needs to be solved before it can become economically feasible. However, a new battery technology which uses gravel inside a large battery could solve both of these problems. It would allow for more reliable and controlled energy production from renewable energy sources.
Also, Tesla Motors currently makes sport class electric vehicles. These vehicles are fast. Tesla Motors’ mission is to eradicate the notion that electric cars have to be slow and compact.
Seeing as how the United States as well as the world is likely going to continue to be dependent on fossil fuel for some time to come before new technologies make their way on to the market and in to production plants, the focus these days has been mainly towards using less fossil fuel than in the past. This focus can be seen in the popularity of hybrid cars, particularly in the popularity of the Toyota Prius. According to hybridcenter.org, hybrid electric vehicle technology works by combining both a fossil fuel combustion engine with electric vehicle battery technology. The result of this technology is that these vehicles run on less fossil fuels than a purely gasoline powered economy class vehicle. Most of these hybrid electric vehicles achieve this with a technology called regenerative breaking which harnesses the kinetic energy of the car’s wheels as the car is drifting to a stop. These hybrid electric vehicles not only cut down on carbon emission and help to conserve the world’s oil supplies; they also save the owner money at the gas station since they do not need to be refueled as often as purely combustion engine vehicles do. There are also hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. However, these vehicles suffer from the same crippling drawbacks that purely hydrogen fuel cell vehicles suffer from. Thus, these vehicles have not become as popular as hybrid electric vehicles have become. Hybrid electric vehicles hold more promise for the near future.
The United States as well as the world’s dependence on fossil fuel has become a huge problem. Despite advancement in technology, advancement in ways to curb our dependence on fossil fuel has been slow out of the gate. However, current and conceived technologies are on the rise. Americans are becoming more and more aware of the global problem of pollution. Despite pre-conceived notions of the limitations of environmentally friendly car technology, we could be on the verge of a boon in environmentally friendly energy production and consumption thanks to new breakthroughs from radical thinkers. The adoption of these breakthroughs won’t come easy. Many are still vexed by the limits of the environmentally friendly modes of transportation from the past and present. Compared to gasoline powered vehicle technology, electric vehicle technology has been slow to develop. When gasoline vehicles first hit the market, there was nothing to compare them to. Much will need to be done to eliminate people’s fears of new sources of power and to send us in to the future.
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