Are Hydrogen Fuel Cells Good or Bad for the Environment
First, consider the fact that hydrogen fuel cells are good for the environment because they are the cleanest burning fuels ever developed. Hydrogen is extracted out of water and then place into fuel cells as a gas that can power a vehicle. The only emission that comes out of a fuel cell powered vehicle is water vapor. But there are disadvantages with hydrogen fuel cells and the environment.
A hundred percent efficient system of producing, storing, and transporting hydrogen should, in theory, lead to zero unwanted gas emissions. But scientists say that such a system would be very expensive, and that in reality around 10 to 20 percent of the hydrogen would escape into the atmosphere. Such that if hydrogen fuel cells replaced all the oil and
gas-based combustion technologies, such losses would double or even triple the total hydrogen deposited into the atmosphere at the surface of the earth.
Other scientists believe that the hydrogen would be oxidized when it reaches the stratosphere, which would cool the stratosphere and create more clouds. This event would delay the break up of the polar vortex at the north and south poles, making the holes in the ozone layer larger and longer lasting. It is estimated that the extra hydrogen will lead to a 5 to 8 percent increase in ozone depletion at the North Pole and between 3 and 7 percent rise at the South Pole.
The exact extent of this further depletion of the ozone depends on a number of unknown quantities. In addition to uncertainty over the extent of hydrogen emissions in the future, little is known about how the soil absorbs hydrogen from the atmosphere. The scientists believe that this process of hydrogen absorption into the soil could compensate
for all new hydrogen emissions into the atmosphere.
The truth, however, is that using hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative fuel is actually good for the environment in the long run. This is especially the case when the only emission that comes from hydrogen fuel cells is water vapor. This is a major advantages over the toxic emissions that are released into the atmosphere when gasoline is used to power our vehicles.
The bottom line is that hydrogen fuel cells have a major positive effect on the environment. Using hydrogen fuel cells has many more advantages that disadvantages and hydrogen as an alternative fuel has the most promise over any other alternative fuel.
BlueWaterArticles.com: - Are Hydrogen Fuel Cells Good or Bad for the Environment
About the Author
Richard Lee is a recognized expert on the subjects of environmental and energy conservation and has written many books about them. Visit his website to get more information and signup for a FREE 7-day ecourse and EBook at http://choosingalternativefuel.webmarkets.biz
Hydrogen Is The Free Fuel They Don't Want You To Know About
| The problem facing us all is that the cost of fuel, both Diesel and Gasoline is crippling our economy. Like never before we're spending more and more each and every month at the fuel pump without an end or a ceiling to the high prices in sight... But there is hope. Hydrogen or HHO Gas has become a very popular solution... Why? Hydrogen Gas is three (3) times more potent than gasoline which means you need less of it to get the same results. In fact just one Quart/Liter of water can produce 1833 Gallons of combustible gas. Even more, your engine only uses 20% of the energy stored in the now very expensive fossil fuels - and wastes 80% for heat, pollution in the form of unburned fuel and plan ole vibration. That answers the question of why older cars shake so much. The worse your engine becomes at burning gasoline the more gasoline it wastes, the more it pollutes and the more your engines vibrates. But, do you want to know the worst part? The worst part of it all is the fact that it makes a bad situation of high fuel prices even worse, because older engines are just so much more inefficient. Now stop and remember we're talking about burning "petrol" or fossil fuel... But what about Hydrogen Gas? That same car would run quieter and more efficient and with less pollution all because of the addition of Hydrogen Gas. Point blank, with Hydrogen being such an efficient and, may I add, such a cheap source of fuel means when the big auto makers begin selling their much hyped Hydrogen Cars, which are cars that run strictly on Hydrogen Gas (HHO) at that time we won't have to spend up all of our kids' college money driving them to high school. So how many years do we have to wait for Hydrogen Fuel based vehicles? That depends on if you want to wait on the automakers' versions of 100% pure Hydrogen burning cars or if you want to take advantage of some old technology that is already proving to provide up to 50% better fuel mileage by safely mixing HHO with your automobiles Gasoline or Diesel fuel. Yes, safely removing Hydrogen from water to produce a source of fuel is already a viable technology that is available for us all. Furthermore, the technology isn't new; its just recently been better perfected so that we can use it. Without fail anyone that knows anything about engine combustion and fossil fuel and how the process compares to the pure burning, more potent Hydrogen Gas will tell you that Hydrogen, if given as a viable option, is the fuel of choice. Sick and tired of out of control fuel costs? Then become a more active user of Hydrogen. It is simply a better choice. |
| Author Resource:- Michael Littles is a big supporter of the continued development of Hydrogen as a fuel source. You can learn all about Hydrogen and how to use it as an alternative fuel source simply by visiting: http://www.H2O-n2fuel.com |
| Article From New Ezine Articles |
How Do Fuel Cells Work
As a principle, Fuel Cells operate just like a battery complete with an anode, a cathode sandwiched between electrolytes along with a catalyst. However, unlike a battery, it does not lose its power and need recharging. As a matter of fact, it produces energy and keeps working until hydrogen is fed to it. It can also b stacked up and the total resulting current can be used to provide for the desired output.
In Operation, Hydrogen is made to pass over one electrode while oxygen is made to pass over the other produced electricity, water and heat in the process.
The Hydrogen gas, after having gone through a successful reform through the fuel-reformer, is fed to the "anode" of the fuel cell, while the oxygen enters through the cathode of the same apparatus. Due to the chemical reaction of the catalyst in the electrolyte, the hydrogen splits into an electron and a proton, both of which travel in different paths to the cathode. While the proton passes through the electrolyte, the electron and a bunch of more of its like pass together, forming an electric current in the process are tapped into for commercial use.
The 'Fuel-Reformer' as mentioned above can be used to extract the Hydrogen gas out of any of its existing forms, say from biogas, methane, and ethanol. Even though this is amongst the most plethoric elements on earth, it never exists as hydrogen itself and is found only as a compound, however once separated, it is the ultimate source of clean energy. There is really no problem finding the fuel for successful operation of the Fuel Cell.
However, problems still exist and apart from the fact there are still concerns about usage of hydrogen as a fuel, the fuel cells are very expensive and we haven't been successful in getting them through the economies of scale and hence lower the costs. Nevertheless, it should not worry us too long, since once upon a time, Ford's Model T was expensive too, while the automobiles today are ubiquitous and taken for granted.
Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com
Jason Uvios writes about "How Do Fuel Cells Work" to visit: dedicated backup generators, diesel generator and electric generator.
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