Fuel Cell Research

Research of fuel cells are revealing new technologies that have real promise for the “green” movement that is taking place when it come to fueling our cars with alternative fuels.  Fuel cells are mechanical devices that use hydrogen or hydrogen-containing fuel such as methane to produce an electric current. Fuel cells are clean, quiet, and highly efficient sources of electricity.  Scientists are doing extensive research on how new, smaller fuel cells can benefit the alternative fuel industry, and their research is very promising.

In 2003, President Bush announced a program called the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (HFI) during his State of the Union Address. This initiative, supported by legislation in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) and the Advanced Energy Initiative of 2006, aims to develop hydrogen, fuel cell and infrastructure technologies to make fuel-cell vehicles practical and cost-effective by 2020. The United States has dedicated more than one billion dollars to fuel cell research and development so far.
A battery has all of its chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means that a battery eventually "goes dead" and you either throw it away or recharge it.  With a fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead -- as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.
The fuel cell research that is being done today focuses on making the fuel cells smaller and more efficient.  As more and more alternative fuel vehicles are being planned and produced, making the energy source that powers them the best that they can be.  Early fuel cells were large and cumbersome, but research technology has made them smaller and easily adaptable into an alternative fuel vehicle.
Pollution reduction is one of the primary goals of the fuel cell. By comparing a fuel-cell-powered car to a gasoline-engine-powered car and a battery-powered car, you can see how fuel cells might improve the efficiency of cars today.  That’s why scientists have devoted much of their research time towards making these tiny engines smaller and cleaner burning.
The trend these days is toward reducing pollution and the release of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  With extensive fuel cell research, we are well on the way toward converting our gasoline powered engines (gas guzzlers, if you will) into clean burning vehicles that will run just like the traditional car.  But researching fuel cells needs funding.  It’s a good thing the government has agreed!

Alternative Fuel Facts

There is a huge push in this country for people to switch from gasoline powered vehicles to those that run on alternative fuels.  The fact of the matter is that alternative fuels are environmentally friendly and can actually help conserve natural resources that we use to produce gasoline.  Here are some fast facts about alternative fuel:

* Alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol, compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and electricity produce fewer tail pipe pollutants than conventional gasoline and diesel fuel. Using them could improve air quality.
* According to EPA, the tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks — unburned hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide — account for almost a third of the air pollution in the U.S. Driving alternative fueled vehicles could reduce the level of vehicle emissions. And many alternative fuels are produced domestically, so they promote economic activity in the U.S.
* Some alternative fuels have lower energy content than gasoline. On a gallon-for-gallon basis, some alternative fuels do not allow consumers to travel as many miles as they could in a vehicle powered by gasoline or diesel fuel. In addition, an AFV may cost more than a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle.
* Alternative fuels are made out of a variety of materials including paper and vegetable oil.  Some alternative fuel vehicles can run on the old grease that restaurants use to fry foods.
* Cars that run on electric power are also considered to be alternative fuel vehicles.

These are only a few of the facts about alternative fuels.  The data is changing every day as researchers are finding out more and more about the trend toward “green” vehicles and “green” fuels.  New sources of alternative fuels are being found and the facts about them will certainly be made public as soon as information is available.

If you are considering switching to an alternative fuel vehicle, it’s important to find out all the facts before you “dive in”.  An alternative fuel vehicle might not meet your needs or might be financially detrimental.  However, when you consider the facts about alternative fuels, it’s difficult not to agree that using them is good for the environment.

The world we live in is ever-changing and part of the reason for that change is due to what we are emitting into the air through our lifestyles.  Looking at the facts about alternative fuels, it becomes very obvious that if we start thinking seriously about using these fuels, we might be able to undo some of the damage we have already done.