3. Hydrogen storage for vehicles is a challenge. Research and technology on
hydrogen fuel cells is being directed at solving the problem of storage. It’s
likely that niche markets will be the first target for hydrogen vehicles, and so
current pressurized tanks will actually meet the range demands for these entry
point vehicles. Ford has already designed a fuel cell vehicle with range of 380
miles using pressurized tanks. Some non-gaseous alternatives are getting as much
range as conventional vehicles.
4. Hydrogen is as safe as conventional fuels. Forget those old news reels of the
Hindenburg disaster putting scary thoughts of hydrogen in our head. Hydrogen is
actually safer than conventional fuels on the market today and has been mass
produced and used for transportation purposes for over 50 years without major
incident. The Department of Energy contracted with Ford to analyze safety issues
and the automaker concluded that overall, a hydrogen fuel system was safer than
gasoline or propane, and equal to or better than natural gas. Hydrogen has been
used as a residential fuel as well. However, that being said, hydrogen does not
behave the same as fuels and so safety procedures will need to be revised for
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
5. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are better for the environment than other hybrid
vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are actually able to remove motor vehicles
from the pollution equation, a status even hybrid cars can’t quite match. Unlike
gasoline, hydrogen will be able to make the switch from being produced by fossil
fuels to being derived largely from renewable sources. Hybrid vehicles are
cleaner than conventional vehicles, but they aren’t cleaner than hydrogen
vehicles when the hydrogen comes from clean sources.
Korea, North
Oklahoma, USA
Coral Sea Islands
Nicaragua, Managua
Wodonga, Victoria
Huntsville, Alabama
Kuwait Kuwait City
Broken Hill, Australia
Czech Republic, Prague,
St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Kingstown