Topic: Environment
by Suzann Kale
Can you imagine a car that uses no gas, has water as its only waste product, and runs on the most abundant element in the universe?
The hydrogen car is almost within our grasp. With a little more research and a lot more public interest, you could soon ditch your hybrid and drive your hydrogen right off the lot.
Ditch your hybrid? Hey, hybrids, are great. Leonardo DiCaprio bought one. So did Cameron Diaz. With an electric motor, hybrids are a perfect start.
The good news: Hybrids, like the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, have computers that switch the fuel use from gas to electricity depending on which is more efficient at the moment. The bad news: Hybrids still need some gas, which keeps us dependent on oil.
But hybrids do help our environment, and they also serve as a "bridge" between gas cars and hydrogen cars. They wean us off our mind-set of what a car should be. Besides, the media has dubbed them "sexy."
The sexiest car of all, though, is the hydrogen. Under the hood, you will find a hydrogen fuel cell. Unlike a battery, which eventually dies, the fuel cell creates an efficient, continual flow of electricity by converting hydrogen and oxygen into water, producing electricity in the process. It is this electricity that will run your car.
What is hydrogen? It's a colorless, odorless element. It's lightweight, and -- what makes it a good fuel -- highly flammable. We know hydrogen very well - combined with oxygen (H20), it makes water.
Where does the external power come from? Canadian SHEC Labs (Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation) is working on using solar energy to create hydrogen from methane - which is easily available from landfills.
A bonus here is that the methane not only helps create fuel, but using it in this way, according to SHEC, also helps lessen greenhouse gas emissions from these landfill sites. Greenhouse gas is a leading cause of global warming.
BMW, Honda, Suzuki, GM, and other big companies are also on the H-Car cutting edge. Hydrogen will be dispensed to consumers from automated filling stations. Converters will be made available for existing cars.
So why is your H-car not on the showroom floor right now? First, those filling stations aren't there yet - and neither are the other infrastructures, such as storage and transfer facilities.
And although gas is combustible, hydrogen is even more so, meaning that safeguards must be put in place so we can transport and pump in relative safety.
Experts are saying our H-cars won't be available for another ten years. That's an awfully long time to wait for such a critical source of fuel.
Our current habits are ravaging the earth, causing wars, and accelerating global warming. People, we have no place else to live. Pillaging the planet and making it uninhabitable is not an option. If we don't care for ourselves, we must care for our children and grandchildren.
The truth is, there's simply no alternative to the hydrogen car.
What can each of us do, to get these cars into our driveways before the planet is raked and devastated?
Get the T-shirt! Get the word out. Educate your congress people. Talk about it at dinner. Bring it up at town council meetings. Write letters to editors. Get the bumper sticker. Start a blog. Call your car dealerships, so they can get the word back to the manufacturers.
It isn't true that we are powerless. But it will take more than just a few people to get anything moving. We all have to care about the earth and the legacy we will leave for our children.
(c)2006
About the Author
Suzann Kale is a freelance author and technical writer specializing in science, lifestyles, and the arts.
