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The End of Petroleum=s Tyranny:

Welcome to the Fuel Cell

The years of the 21st century have brought about great changes and taught us many new things about our planet Earth and its residents. One of the most convincing is the realization that our world revolves around the detection and refining of petroleum. Many of the American population would argue that this is the very reason that our troops were sent into Iraq to conquer its leader and promise Ademocracy@ to its inhabitants. At no time in the past has oil flexed its amazing power and shown its awesome strength as it has recently through the two Gulf Wars. It is a proven fact that our world must have this precious commodity in order to sustain our present standards of living as well as provide transportation for nearly half of Earth=s populous.

According to New York Times writer Youssef Ibrahim, the world consumes nearly 81 million barrels of oil in a single day=s time. This consumption is up nearly 3% from just the previous year. At this rate of unholy exhaustion, according to some scholars, we will deplete our known oil reserves within 50 years. Oil has become a dictator in our new world and I believe it is time that she be dethroned. For decades now, researchers and scientists have been looking for viable alternatives to oil. Many such as hydrocarbons and solar technology have passed by, unable to produce the amount of astronomical energy that our world now needs to continue its daily rigors. One has stood out amongst researchers and car manufacturers, however, and that is the hydrogen fuel cell. As our fossil fuel reserves near depletion fuel cell technology, even with some hurdles and temporary problems to overcome, will become the Afuel@ of the future for all automobiles produced in the World.

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The fuel cell was discovered by Sir William Robert Grove in the middle of the 19th century (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2003, p. 254). Grove realized that if one could utilize electricity to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, then the reverse must also be true. It was this ideal that brought the fuel cell into our world (Fuel Cell Store, 2003, pg. 1). A fuel cell is defined as Aan electrochemical device that continuously converts chemical energy into electric energy (and some heat) for as long as fuel and oxidant are supplied (Hoogers, 2003, p. 1-1).@ A fuel cell is quite similar to a battery or engine, now commonly used in automobile manufacturing. However, a fuel cell does not need recharging, and when hydrogen is used as fuel it generates only power and drinking water, much different from the toxicity that now flows from the exhausts of gasoline powered autos (Hoogers, 2003, p. 1-1).

According to James Faber of the AConscious Choice@ publication, a fuel cell consists of Atwo electrodes between an electrolyte. When oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other, electricity, water, and heat are created (Faber, 1999, p.1).@ There are many different types of fuel cells available today, however, the hydrogen application seems to be the most promising. It is the hydrogen fuel cell that many automobile manufacturers have started to test on their prototypes.

Toyota, GM, Ford, as well as Daimler Chrysler have all decided to enter the fuel cell market to try and tap the great need that our world has created for alternative fuel sources (Hoogers, 2003, p.10-2). It is widely believed by most of the automobile world that something must be done to avert this great crisis that may loom closely in our future with the rapid depletion of fossil fuels. The hydrogen fuel cell seems to have the answer that they are looking

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for. This new technology is able to provide the power source needed to propel our great automobiles, while emitting merely water vapor as a byproduct.

There are clearly a vast number of great advantages that this fuel cell technology can provide our world over its internal combustion counterpart. The first and surely the greatest will be the end of Lady Oil=s stronghold on our world as the main source of energy for automobiles. With the invention and subsequent evolution of this hydrogen fuel cell, we will no longer need oil and its refined gasoline to power the millions of autos that roam the roadways of Mother Earth at this time.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if even ten percent of all autos in America were powered by this fuel cell technology, over 60 million tons of carbon dioxide would be eliminated and air pollution would be drastically reduced by nearly one million tons annually (Faber, 1999, p.2). It is this same carbon dioxide release that has created global warming with its many ill effects on our planet. Any reduction of the release of this pollutant would be a great attribute of fuel cell use and cause to further its implementation.

Furthermore, a great advantage of the use of fuel cells is found in their high efficiencies. According to Faber, AThese fuel cells generate electricity at more than 40 percent efficiency, compared to 30 percent for the most efficient internal combustion engines (Faber, 1999, p. 2).@ This indicates that far less energy will have to be consumed in a fuel cell engine than one powered by the antiquated use of gasoline. We all know that this world will appreciate as little waste as absolutely necessary as the population begins to grow astronomically and apply great pressures on the world=s limited resources. The fuel cell will certainly further our cause to cope

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with nearly 7 billion people now living on this planet, by decreasing the amount of energy each

automobile consumes by nearly 10 percent. This fact alone would provide great proof for the cause of the fuel cell to be utilized by everyone.

Another advantage supplied the fuel cell is the fact that there is virtually no noise emission from these types of vehicles (Parsons, 2003, p.3). This is rather superficial possibly for the rural inhabitant, however, noise pollution has become a great concern for the urban dwellers not only in our nation but those around the world. This concern has only increased in later years as more and more of our population now dwell in heavily populated urban areas. This benefit is sure to be heralded by those who find themselves in such living situations. To complement the elimination of noise emission, the common vibrations assimilated with internal combustion would also be remitted from fuel cell powered autos, says Parsons