The technical name for a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity. Other electrochemical devices that are in use these days and for many decades is the well-known battery. The distinguishing difference between a simple battery and a fuel cell is that all the chemicals are stored inside the battery. The battery in turn converts those chemicals into electricity but in due course it “goes dead” as the chemicals are used up and at times you can either throw it away or recharge it.

Then again with a fuel cell, chemicals continually flow into the cell so as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell; the electricity flows out of the fuel cell. Combustion engines the gasoline engine burn fuels and batteries converted chemical energy back into electrical energy when needed. However, fuel cells should do both tasks more efficiently.

Simply put the construction and materials in a fuel cell release electrons from the hydrogen gas creating electricity and the waste product after the electricity is used to power an electrical device is water, formed with the negative hydrogen and the oxygen.This reaction in a single fuel cell produces only about 0.7 volts. To get this voltage up to a reasonable level, several separate fuel cells must be combined to form a fuel-cell stack.

However one major problem with using hydrogen is that it is cannot be stored easily for consumer use. Among the other alternatives, it could be natural gas, propane, and methanol gas. The main objective of using fuel cell technology is pollution reduction. Fuel cell is also very efficient; 80% of the fuel use in these cells is converted into usable energy as compared to only 20% for a gasoline powered engine and about 30% overall for a battery powered electric vehicle.

Evidently there is no question that the fuel cell holds greater promise for the future. However, the fuel cell technology must still gather all the pieces of finding the right ‘fuel’ source that is both easy to store and deliver to the consumer, efficiency of the vehicle using fuel cells, and the cost for the total package.

The Original Post is Located Here: A Basic Overview Of Fuel Cell Technology

Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have, in cooperation with industrial partners, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street cleaning vehicle

Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have, together with Bucher Schoerling, Proton Motor, BRUSA Elektronik AG und Messer Schweiz, developed a hydrogen powered municipal street cleaning vehicle which was presented to the public on 14th May 2009 in Basel. The vehicle is named the “Bucher CityCat H2″ and is the first municipal utility vehicle in the world powered by fuel cell technology. For the next 18 months it will be tested in everyday usage.

Fuel cells are considered to be clean energy sources well-suited for our future mobility needs. They convert hydrogen directly into electrical current, which is then used to drive a vehicle’s electric motor. The great advantage is that no pollutants are emitted in the vehicle’s exhaust, just water vapor produced by the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell. When such vehicles are used in sensitive areas such as pedestrian precincts, railway station halls or even in enclosed structures such as exhibition halls, air pollution is reduced significantly compared to conventional vehicles, which are generally powered by diesel engines.

Project creates a window of opportunity for hydrogen technology
“Our aim is to take fuel cell technology from the laboratory onto the street”, explains Project Leader Christian Bach, Head of Empa’s Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory. In addition, the project scientists want to test the operational characteristics and ageing behavior of the new technology under typical, everyday conditions of use. But it doesn’t stop there. Beyond these obvious aims, the project, called «hy.muve» («hydrogen-driven municipal vehicle») also serves as a research platform for socio-economic studies in which questions regarding the acceptance of hydrogen technology, its market introduction and its cost effectiveness will be investigated.

Because of their low power operational cycles, municipal vehicles are particularly well-suited for these kinds of drives and can be used to good effect in areas where the refueling infrastructure is limited. “They therefore offer an important window of opportunity for introducing other hydrogen powered vehicles onto the market,” according to Bach.

Significantly less pollution emitted
Computer simulations made at Empa show that the amount of energy consumed can be halved by using fuel cell drives instead of conventional diesel engines. This means that CO2 emissions can be reduced by some 40%, even when using conventional hydrogen production techniques based on natural gas. The project is financed by the ETH Domain’s Competence Centre for Energy and Mobility (CCEM), the Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE), the various project partners and pilot regions where the vehicle will be tested.

Empa. Hydrogen Powered Municipal Vehicle Being Tested In Everyday Use. ScienceDaily

The Original Post is Located Here: Hydrogen Powered Municipal Vehicle Being Tested In Everyday Use

Electric Powered Vehicle

Believe it or not, electric cars have been around for almost a century. Back in the early 1900s, there were more electric cars on the road than there were gasoline-powered cars.  Even in the early 1920′s when vehicles became more popular, gasoline was still quite expensive and it was also very hard to start a gasoline engine as you had to turn a crank in the front of the car to get it to start

Gasoline vehicles were also noisy in comparison and put out lots of smoke. The early gasoline cars either had no mufflers, or the mufflers didn’t do much of a  job. So, back then, electric powered vehicles were far more popular and at one time there were around 50,000 of them on the roads of the United States.

But like the horse-drawn carriage, electric cars soon faded away as new ways to make gasoline more cheaply were discovered. Also, in order to overcome the difficulty of crank starting an engine, the electric starter was invented allowing an engine to be started with the turn of a key or the push of a button. Add into the equation a decent sized fuel tank giving the gasoline car a much greater driving range and the demise of the electric car had begun.

However, the wheel has now turned full circle and with the push for cleaner “greener” cars, electric cars are once again being seriously looked at as a way to help reduce greenhouse gases released into the air by gasoline. Electric cars don’t burn any fuels, there are no noxious emmissions at all.

They use electricity stored in batteries, sometimes there are up to 12 or 24 batteries, or more, required to power the car.  To charge an electric car’s batteries, the car is usually plugged into a regular household powerpoint overnight. Electricity, is then stored in the batteries of the car.

The batteries can be standard lead acid batteries, like the battery used in a regular gasoline car, or they can be Ni-Cad (nickel-cadmium) , nickel metal hydride, lithium ion and Li-ion polymer – only much larger. Better batteries that hold more energy and last longer are being developed all the time with a lot of new development being directed into fuel cell technology

Car manufacturers and scientists are continually coming up with new ways to fuel our vehicles in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly way.  The production of the electric car is an exciting one that is being embraced by more and more manufacturers and consumers every year.

The Original Post is Located Here: Electric Powered Vehicles

GM Hydrogen Car

In 2003, President George Bush, in his State of the Union address, announced a $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel initiative with the express intention to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and to provide the fuel we need to reduce gasoline consumption in our vehicles.  That financial commitment enabled scientists to direct more energy into developing the technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses – with no pollution or greenhouse gases.

Since then, there have been increasing levels of funding provided to develop hydrogen fuel as an alternative to gasoline and we are now seeing many more vehicles being powered by hydrogen fuel than ever before.  One method of using Hydrogen to power a vehicle is with Hydrogen fuel cells, which store and process the gas that will power a vehicle. Fuel cell technology has developed so much over the years that General Motors now boasts a one hundred percent hydrogen fuel powered vehicle (see image).

However, Hydrogen fuel doesn’t come without its own problems.  Hydrogen is around four times more expensive to produce than gasoline (when produced from its most affordable source, natural gas). The hydrogen fuel initiative hopes to lower that cost enough to make fuel cell cars cost-competitive with conventional gasoline-powered vehicles by 2010; and to further advance the methods of producing hydrogen from renewable resources, nuclear energy, coal and even water.

GM Hydrogen Car

By using hydrogen fuel instead of gasoline, we could actually become energy independent, ie. we wouldn’t have to depend on other countries for our energy resources.  Hydrogen is domestically available in abundant quantities as a component of natural gas, coal, biomass, and water.  The Department of Energy estimates that the hydrogen fuel initiative may reduce our demand for petroleum by over 11 million barrels per day by 2040 – approximately equal to the amount of oil America imports today.

Vehicles are a significant source of air pollution in America’s cities and urban areas. Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity to power cars without any pollution, and the hydrogen fuel initiative could reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions from transportation alone by more than 500 million metric tons of carbon equivalent each year by 2040. Additional emissions reductions could also be achieved by using fuel cells in applications such as the generation of electricity for residential or commercial uses.

Hydrogen fuel is one of the main keys to a clean energy future.  It has the highest energy content per unit weight of any known fuel.  When it is burned in an engine, it produces no emissions, in fact, the only emission given off by hydrogen fuel when ignited is water vapor.

The newest, biggest thing in the alternative fuel industry is hydrogen fuel.  President Bush knew that and now the American people know that as well and with all the new fuel cell technologies appearing, owning a vehicle that is powered by hydrogen fuel alone is now a reality.  And it’s just the beginning!
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The Original Post is Located Here: Hydrogen – the Future of Alternative Fuels