There are many gases in our atmosphere, but of all the options, hydrogen has the highest energy content by weight and is the most plentiful gas around. It is also the simplest element in our planet since it has only one proton. Also note that it has the lowest energy content by volume and is the lightest element.
In the United States, there are about 9 million metric tons of hydrogen fuel produced every year, which is enough to power 20-30 million vehicles or about 5-8 million homes. That’s a lot of power! The bulk of this fuel is used to power space shuttles used by the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). It is used as liquid hydrogen (though hydrogen is a gas at normal temperatures and pressures) for lifting the shuttles out of orbit and as batteries or fuel cells for powering electrical systems.
Many people are putting all of their hopes in hydrogen as a fuel. It has many environmental benefits:
- It burns cleanly, producing no pollution at all, only NOx and water.
- It can be produced domestically, so there’s less of a chance of oil spills overseas or on the high seas.
Hydrogen Fuel for Consumer Vehicles—A Potential Reality?
By making hydrogen fuel cell batteries is a very costly process. Sure, NASA can afford such luxuries, but it seems that perhaps this is technology that is a long way off from being available to the average consumer. The other major issue is infrastructure. At this point, there isn’t a cohesive network of fuelling stations that could allow an average driver to get from point A to point B. There are currently not even 75 fuelling stations throughout the country (half are in California).
That said, there are currently between 400 and 500 hydrogen-powered vehicles running in the US. They run by burning liquid or gas hydrogen rather than through a hydrogen battery. As a result, most of these automobiles are in California where there are a few hydrogen fuelling stations.
If scientists can find a way to get past the biggest challenges: fuel cost and availability, vehicle cost and availability, and/or on-board fuel storage (it is difficult to store enough of it on board), then this could be a very promising technology. But it’s many decades off, and in the meantime, other vehicle efficiencies like electric cars will likely take over the market.