Did you know that 70% of the fossil fuels that we use every day are used for transportation purposes? If we could find alternative fuels that would power our vehicles and other forms of transportation, then we could take a lot of pollution out of the atmosphere and potentially save the planet. One of the most exciting alternative fuels that has been developed over the years for cars is hydrogen.
There are some pros and cons to the use of hydrogen powered cars, so let’s take a look at some of those today.
The Pros of Hydrogen Powered Cars
1. There are virtually no vehicle emissions.
Hydrogen powered cars create emissions that are water vapor as exhaust. This means that there would be no carbon dioxide pumped into our atmosphere whatsoever in order to get from Point A to Point B when these cars are being driven on the road.
2. Fuel economies would be much better.
Hydrogen powered cars would get about twice the amount of mileage on a tank of fuel then current gasoline powered vehicles do. Imagine being able to go the equivalent of a 100 miles per gallon in your vehicle? Under hydrogen power, that could become a reality.
3. Hydrogen is extremely abundant.
Hydrogen can be found virtually anywhere. It can also be created from renewable energy sources. This means that if technology is able to keep up with demand, there could be an unlimited resource of fuel available for our transportation needs. In practical terms, it would mean that the average household would spend a fraction of their current fueling costs for a hydrogen powered car when compared to a gasoline powered car.
The Cons of Hydrogen Powered Cars
1. We just can’t make hydrogen affordable yet.
Hydrogen powered cars are still considered a space-age technology. This means that we don’t exactly have the resources available right now in to create these vehicles beyond the novelty stage. One of the main problems that we face is the fact that an acceptable range of power for a vehicle requires extremely high pressures. It is unknown what would happen if an accident involving two hydrogen powered cars, both with high pressure tanks, would collide at high speeds.
2. It isn’t an environmentally friendly yet.
Although in the future, hydrogen would be potentially available from renewable resources, it isn’t at the moment. The only hydrogen fuel that we have today is currently made from nonrenewable natural gas. In order to create the hydrogen, and an enormous amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. The reality is that current hydrogen creation technology produces more pollution to create hydrogen fuel that is clean then burning fossil fuels do.
3. Hydrogen is expensive to transport.
Forget about the fact that it is virtually impossible to find a place to refuel a hydrogen tank. Hydrogen is also incredibly expensive to transport right now in order to do so with any measure of safety. This makes it virtually impossible to create a tank that is safe enough for a passenger vehicle to be able to use the fuel.
Hydrogen powered cars might be the future of transportation technology. At this current moment, however, that technology is not feasible. Developing the technology, by evaluating the pros and cons of it, can help us determine whether or not this is the right course of action to take.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
