A pollution-free car in every garage
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2001-07-16
"It sounds too good to be true-an automotive power source that efficiently converts a limitless supply of chemical energy into electricity without producing smog-causing emissions." But according to an article on AlterNet , more and more scientists, automakers, and consumers are agreeing that hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicles may be the answer: to air quality, to the threat that burning fossil fuels poses, to high gasoline prices, to the dwindling stocks of petroleum, and to our dependence on overseas oil suppliers.
Since the invention of fuel cells in 1839, false hopes, failed efforts, and more than a few dreamers have come and gone. But new developments mean that fuel cells are safer, smaller, cheaper, and more "in vogue" with the big automakers. Buses in two cities now run on them, and more fleets will be soon adopting the technology, followed by general consumers-perhaps as soon as 2004 in limited numbers. One method being proposed is to use gasoline instead of hydrogen for creating electricity in fuel cells for the first few years. This will ease the huge problem of the lack of hydrogen stations in North America for refuelling, though some scientists predict that a car may eventually get 600-700 miles (1,000 km) per "tank."
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