The Hydrogen Secret

The world is developing at a faster rate than ever before. As a result natural resources continue to be exhausted worldwide. Oil, once an abundant resource in the earth, is depleting at an ever growing rate. Oil costs continue to rise as the world depends on it more and more. Governments are investing billions of dollars every year into alternate energy research with hydrogen as the front runner. This is free money companies are receiving to research and develop hydrogen-powered vehicles. It's no wonder why people are lured into the hydrogen revolution. Each type of alternate energy comes with its own pros and cons. Like any product, the marketers will only mention the pros of the product they are selling and the cons of their competitors. In the end whoever has the most money, wins. Hydrogen powered vehicles have received the most attention in the last year. Unfortunately the hydrogen revolution isn't the savior that it's hyped up to be. The world cannot continue to rely on oil for its source of energy; an alternate form is needed but any more time or money invested into hydrogen as that alternate source may prove to be a big waste.

In nature hydrogen is always found combined with other elements, which means it has to be manually made by passing an electric current through water to form hydrogen and oxygen. There is a tremendous amount of energy involved in splitting the molecules to free the hydrogen from its captor. The current method of producing hydrogen from water is through the use of oil and coal. Oil and coal are the two main resources the world is trying to cut back on. The main purpose of using hydrogen is lost when considering the actual manufacturing process of hydrogen contributes a significant amount of carbon dioxide. When the big coal and oil companies start investing their profits in hydrogen, something has gone awry. Each company sees its future limited and wants to ensure their survival. Since they have the most money they will be the main producer of hydrogen. The hydrogen economy will benefit the mining and oil industry at the cost of the clean-energy dream.

Hydrogen will prove to be a difficult energy to sell in the short term. Even though vehicles are still in the development stages, the current hydrogen prototype costs are in the million dollar range. Hydrogen is the smallest element in the universe; to get enough useful energy to power the vehicle, hydrogen has to be compressed to an extremely high-pressure. Storing a gas at pressure this high requires additional safety measures. The tank has to be strong enough to store high pressure in the first place; in addition, it has to be able to survive in the event of a vehicle accident. The Hindenburg disaster is a great example of what can happen when hydrogen ignites. Vehicles are not the only major cost associated with developing a new fuel. New hydrogen fueling stations will need to be built or retrofitted into existing gas stations. The cost of building these new stations will be at the expense of the consumer.

While it's good to see many different types of energies being researched, each alternate energy source has its pros and cons. Hydrogen requires energy input just to produce free molecules of hydrogen; once the free hydrogen is produced, distributed, and stored the conversion process is still not over. Hydrogen fuel cells are designed that when hydrogen is combined with oxygen the result is electricity and water. The electricity is used to power the vehicle and water is the harmless by-product. There is a great loss in efficiency when hydrogen is undergoing all these conversion processes. The battery driven electric vehicle is one alternative that has a minimal conversion process. Batteries can be recharged anywhere and vehicles are often build with electrical regeneration technology. Electric vehicles can also minimize efficiency loss and save distribution since electricity is already a pre-existing infrastructure.

There are a many reasons why hydrogen vehicles look so appealing. The appeal is hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and it's a clean burning form of energy since the vehicles produces only water as its emission. However, to achieve a true clean vehicle the hydrogen must also be created