Fuel Cell Technology There Are Over 600

¶ … Fuel Cell Technology

There are over 600 million motor vehicles in the world today. If present trends continue, the number of cars on Earth will double in the next 30 years." ("Cars Emit")

As the demand for energy increase and resources, such as fossil fuel, decrease alternative must be sought. Of these alternatives, hydrogen fuel cell technology, in automotive applications, has significant benefits and is now technologically feasible. Given this knowledge, it is imperative that we begin to set up the infrastructure necessary to utilize this technology.

I have studied this topic over the last three years, and the advancement of the technology has become increasingly exciting. What was once a dream is now a reality.

I'm going to provide you first with an overview of how fuel cells work and then describe for you the benefits of the use of fuel cells, including why hydrogen is the best choice. And, in the end, I will recommend a course of action for the beginnings of the infrastructure that is sure to be an entirely new chapter in our global history.

To understand why hydrogen fuel cells hold the key to combating our pollution problems, one must first understand how fuel cells work.

How fuel cells work

With a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, there are four basic elements.

The anode is the negative post of the cell and "conducts the electrons that are freed from the hydrogen molecules so that they can be used in an external circuit. It has channels etched into it that disperse the hydrogen gas equally over the surface of the catalyst." ("Proton")

The cathode is the positive post of the cell "has channels etched into it that distribute the oxygen to the surface of the catalyst. It also conducts the electrons back from the external circuit to the catalyst, where they can recombine with the hydrogen ions and oxygen to form water." ("Proton")

The electrolyte is a "specially treated material, which looks something like ordinary kitchen plastic wrap, only conducts positively charged ions. The membrane blocks electrons." ("Proton")

And, the catalyst, which is "a special material that facilitates the reaction of oxygen and hydrogen. It is usually made of platinum powder very thinly coated onto carbon paper or cloth." ("Proton")

When the pressurized hydrogen gas enters the fuel cell on the anode side, it is forced through the catalyst. As it contacts the catalyst it splits into two H- ions and two electrons. These electrons then are pulled through the anode where they exit through the external circuit to power the motor. ("Proton")

On the cathode side, oxygen is being forced through the catalyst where it forms two oxygen atoms. These "attract the two H+ ions through the membrane, where they combine with an oxygen atom and two of the electrons from the external circuit to form a water molecule."

This incredible technology has many benefits.

Benefits of Fuel Cells, particularly hydrogen

The most important benefit to hydrogen fuel cell technology is that the only emission, other than a low amount of heat, is pure water.

In addition, they are incredibly efficient, in comparison with gasoline or battery vehicles where the electricity is gotten from a combustion power plant.

Gasoline powered cars have an overall efficiency of just 20%, which means that only 20% of the thermal energy content is turned into mechanical work. ("Gasoline")

Electric cars have only an overall efficiency of 26% when their electricity comes from combustion power plants ("Gasoline")

Fuel cell vehicles, powered by pure hydrogen are up to 80% efficient. ("Efficiency")

Hydrogen is preferable because when a reformer is added to convert other fuel sources, such as propane, to hydrogen, the efficiency drops dramatically to approximately 32%. ("Efficiency")

Despite these benefits, the one challenge is the lack of infrastructure to begin the mass production of fuel cell vehicles.

Where to start with infrastructure

Certainly, if a magic genie waved his wand and turned all the vehicles in the world into hydrogen powered vehicles, our problems would not be immediately solved. Think for a moment about all of the gasoline stations in just this town alone, and you can begin to see what an enormous undertaking switching fuel sources will be.

For this reason we need to start small, but also effectively.