Will ever cars run on hydrogen? why?

Answer 1

ye s - i dont know why.

Answer 2

The kicker is that storing H2 has a very low volumetric energy efficiency unless you use a lot of pressure or a cryostat...

In other words, you need BIG tanks!

Now the fuel cell vehicle programs (which I did some work on), all suffer from a few common problems:

1: The cell stack is EXPENSIVE! Think 100,000 dollars+)!
2: Operating conditions are critical, it does not produce usable power below 80 degrees C or so so you have a time delay between turning the key and the cell stack being up to operating temperature, even with BIG heaters and a short coolant loop this takes several minutes.
3: Changing the cell pressures to change operating point takes time (you are pumping gasses around).
4: For short trips, the battery power required to get the stack to operating temperature can dominate the total energy demand.

Now some of these can be overcome by building a hybrid, which lets you use the battery to overcome pressurisation delays and to provide the power to heat the stack on switch on, but you still need a hell of a lot of hydrogen.

If you go for storing H2 on the vehicle, then there are only really three approaches:
1: High pressure gas, requires crash survivable tankage and filling can be 'interesting'.
2: Cryogenic liquid, apart from the insulation and venting, the problem here is that the energy required to liquefy the H2 is a substantial part of the energy that is available by burning the stuff... this limits overall thermal efficiency and raises the cost per MJ of the fuel.
3: Metal hydride's - bulky and heavy.

Now there is another approach, use methanol either in a direct methanol cell - even less mature tech then the H2 cells, or by running the methanol thru a 'reformer' to make H2, CO2 and steam, this begs the question, why bother, just burn the methanol in some kind of conventional engine.

Now, where is all that H2 going to come from?
Assuming California has another fit of political insanity and mandates H2 filling points, the lowest cost option for providing them is to install a reformer at the point of delivery and make the stuff on site from..... OIL!

The alternatives are basically some variation on electrolysis or some kind of water gas reaction, but both of these require massive energy input (which should be no surprise - it is conserved after all).

So, people what will it be?
More coal power plants with the associated CO2 NOx and the like?
More nuclear plants (which would be my option once the oil shale runs out), but is a little politically tricky?
More natural gas plants?

It is worth noting that for the non nuclear options you may as well just reform the fuel directly then separate the H2 from the CO2 and water vapour.

Even then, we have hydrogen miles from its point of use, so you need either a pipeline system or to tanker the stuff to where it is going to be distributed. Now no one wants to be transporting bulk H2 at either 5000psi or cryogenic temperatures, so you still need energy hungry plant at the filling station to either boost the gas pressure or produce the cryo fluid.

IMHO hybrid card using heat engines are the way to go for the foreseeable future as they have pretty good fuel efficiency (after 100 years of development), and with the hybrid drive chain can give exceptional performance. We could even run these on hydrogen if the infrastructure was there, but I would prefer propane or similar as the energy density is higher and it is much easier to handle.

No one ever seems to discuss where the H2 comes from in these discussions!

Regards, Dan.

Answer 3

It is NOT LIKELY for the moment.

There are prototypes that can run on hydrogen,
but the HUGE PROBLEM is that hydrogen cannot
be efficiently extracted from the evironment. As of
now it is VERY COSTLY and USES a lot of FOSSIL
FUELS to get the hydrogen to use in the cars!

Most scientists don't see an acceptable method of
cheaply getting hydrogen anywhere in the near future.
The hype over hydrogen cars is created by people who
don't understand the process especially that it takes A LOT
of burning OIL to extract the needed amount of hydrogen!

EDIT:
Actually, Dan below has the best answer.

Answer 4

Not if Big Oil has any say in it!
GM has already developed a car that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell, it is called the Sequel. You should check it out on-line. The only thing that comes out of the tailpipe is water vapor!
Hydrogen as a fuel source is no more combustible than gasoline.

Answer 5

With researchers spending hundreds of dollars out of their pockets to research it, and Petrochemical companies spending millions to NOT discover it, which is the most likely outcome?

In the short run, the oil companies sell oil. In the long run when we run out of oil then the oil companies get on board or they have nothing to sell. Even in the short run they could be the sellers of hydrogen. The hydrogen can be made by electrolysis using a nuke plant for power, thus no fossil fuel.

Hydrogen cars already exist, just not in volume.

Answer 6

They have cars that run on hydrogen right now. Will hydrogen cars ever become as popular as gas powered vehicles is the real question.

Answer 7

Cars May Get Their Hydrogen From Wastewater Plants ... http://unisci.com/stories/20022/0604025.htm

From Wastewater to Hydrogen: a New Market For Treatment Plants? ... http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/IndustryInformation/IndustryInformationExternal/NewsDisplayArticle/0,1602,6346,00.html

Answer 8

They already do ..... but, are severely restricted as there has been a lot of fearful myths generated about the dangerous explosiveness of utilizing this fuel ...

The paid talking heads like to cite the Hindenburg disaster as reason to slander it as an unsafe agent for energy. But, that is merely propaganda the oil corporations put out to manufacture consent in the public to ensure higher prices for their gas.

Years ago NASA scientists found proof that it was not the hydrogen in the hull that was to blame, but the fabric of the outer skin and a new protective coating the germans used. A single spark of static electricity was enough to make it burn like dry leaves.

Answer 9

yes gm(general motors) has already made a fllet of cars that run on hydrogen. these cars are real costly but they are only for reaserch in the dependance of the cars. there are also going to be hydrogen stations in places like washington and california in the next couple of years hopefully if this plan is succesful.

Answer 10

There are already cars that run on hydrogen. It will probably be a long time until it becomes popular, because oil companies will protest, vehicle manufacturers will need to upgrade their factories to produce the new engines, and hydrogen refineries will need to be built.

Answer 11

EIther hydrogen fuel cells or hydrogen combustion. It is almost inevitable as the world's supply of oil dwindles and the demand for it from developing nations grows.

And yes, hydrogen IS a combustible gas, but then again, that is also true of ethanol and gasoline...that's why it's called an internal COMBUSTION engine.