A “Fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to electricity and water”[1]. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world. Hydrogen not only is cheap but also very reliable[1]. This would be a great alternative to the continueing use of gasoline for automobiles. The only biproduct for fuel cells is water, which is a completley harmless substance[2]. Water is a beneficial biproduct as opposed to the harmful gas of carbon monoxide. It only takes 8 kilograms of hydrogen to get the same amount of energy as you do from 16 gallons of gasoline[3]. “The leading fuel cell technology for automobiles is proton exchange membrane fuel cells”[1]. The proton exchange membrane is one of the new most efficient ways of using fuel cells. Most bustling cities contain high pollution levels because of all the traffic from vehicles. Cities would be substancially cleaner if fuel cell cars were the main source of transportation. Some cities in Europe have already have implanted buses which use hydrogen powered fuel cells. One of the concerns people have about fuel cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fueling stations. I feel confident by the time fuel cell vehicles are sold on a commercial market, which hopefully is early in the next decade, there will be enough fueling stations in America to be able to produce fuel cell vehicles efficiently. There are already 115 hydrogen fueling stations worldwide, with about 30 in the United States [1]. This Number is increasing rapidly
Fuel cell vehicles would have a huge impact on our every day lives. We will no longer have to deal with the horrendous gas prices, which always seem to be increasing. We also won’t have to deal with the relentless air pollution caused by the everyday travel of the internal combustion system vehicles. Fuel cell vehicles can reduce the effects of global warming which is mainly caused by humans. There clearly no bad effects that can come from fuel cell vehicles because the only byproduct of the reaction is water, which is completely harmless. The increasing number of hydrogen fuel stations and hydrogen fuel cell cars could mean commercial sales in the near future. It makes so much sense to develop a fuel source from the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen. Hydrogen is a very cheap and reliable source of energy because of its abundance [1]. I believe that these fuel cell vehicles will be of great help to mankind now and in the future.
I would like to thank the University of Pittsburgh Library for supplying me with sufficient resources to adequately finish the position paper. I also would like to thank Mike Barry for helping me find the resources. Last I would like to thank my roommate Seth Grills for leaving the dorm room while I did my paper so I was not distracted.