Fuel cell cars taking over

The world’s carmakers are backing a new technology that could see tomorrow’s vehicles become completely emissions free.

Hyundai will start selling its hydrogen-powered vehicle, the ix35 Fuel Cell, this year while Toyota and Honda plan to release their own versions in 2015.

The cars are powered by hydrogen, which reacts with oxygen in a ‘fuel cell’ on board to charge an electric motor, which turns the wheels. They create zero pollution, as only water vapour comes out the exhaust pipe, making them far superior to environmentally harmful petrol engines.

And one of their advantages over plug-in electric cars, which also have no exhaust pipe emissions, is that creating the fuel that powers them produces no pollution either.

In fact, hydrogen can be made by processing the harmful gases released by rotting garbage (see our story Sustainability to stay alive), making fuel cell cars environmentally beneficial rather than simply environmentally neutral.

Hydrogen – which along with oxygen is one of the two components of water, or H₂O – can also be created by splitting apart seawater with electricity, raising the prospect of a near-endless source of pollution-free fuel.

Electric cars, on the other hand, are only as clean and green as the electricity that powers them. In countries such as the United States, where much of the electricity supply is created by burning coal and gas, electric cars have been criticised for simply moving their pollution problem from one place (the exhaust pipe) to another (the power station).

Other advantages over electric cars include a greater range, the lack of a heavy battery pack, and a shorter refuel time – hydrogen is pumped on board in much the same way as in a petrol car, whereas electric vehicles take as much as 10 hours to fully charge.

Fuel cell technology, it seems, will be the future of green transport.

Toyota has said it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in hydrogen refuelling stations in California, where the cars will be first released, with vice president Bob Carter declaring that “fuel cell electric vehicles will be in our future sooner than many people believe, and in much greater numbers than anyone expected”.

Search for ‘Hyundai aquaponics’ on You Tube for a video of water from a fuel cell car being used to grow vegetables.