Hydrogen Fuel Could, Maybe, Possibly, be in Your Future

Cars that emit mainly water vapor from their tailpipes, instead of NOx, SOx, CO2, CO and who knows what else… Not only does it sound too good to be true, it recalls science fiction scenarios from Heinlein, Asimov, Dick, and others. Hydrogen fuel is a reality of course, although I personally haven’t seen proof in a large demonstrative way. There was once an alternative energy vehicle rally I attended with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle or two, but they were nothing more at the time than emblematic of a future that was too remote to live within.

In about five years Toyota says it will be selling a $50,000 hydrogen fuel cell powered sedan and that they’ve brought the price of hydrogen technology down 95% since the early 90’s. Sounds fantastic, will there be accessible hydrogen delivery in five years? Where will that hydrogen come from? The majority of hydrogen gas is currently made from natural gas… that doesn’t seem to fit in well with fossil fuel-less driving. Also, who will be able to afford 50K for a car? And, by 2015, the new crop of electric cars will have a significant head start on any hydrogen tech.

So we’re back to a kind of economic elitism, where only a small segment of the population can use the technology that may not have a real environmental benefit. Apparently GM, Hyundai, Daimler, and Honda say they too will have relatively inexpensive (current generation hydrogen fuel cell cars cost upwards of $1 million EACH to produce) hydrogen cars out by then. Why can’t there be a focus on small, affordable vehicles using hydrogen, like a scooter? Would that wind up costing $11,000 though? If I have a heads up now, I can start saving for my Super Hydrogen BatWing Scooter.

Will the cars be built, announced with great fanfare, and then sold only as fleet vehicles to be used by government workers? Hydrogen car potential recalls the old Lucy yanking the football right when Charlie Brown is about to kick it in scenarios from Charles Schulz.

It’s sad that a mild mocking of what I want to happen for personal transportation’s future is all I can muster at this point. Attaching too much hope to an untested, unaffordable, not widely available, and questionably environmentally beneficial but intellectually appetizing fuel has been a repeated letdown. Even with that there is still some lurking, wild delight in the potential. Sigh. There is a writeup here of the very recent hydrogen exposition in Long Beach, if you dare to read more.Hydrogen Fuel Could, Maybe, Possibly, be in Your Future