Automakers race towards hydrogen-fuel vehicle technology.

While the Philippines is still mulling over regulating and commercializing the use of alternative fuels such as cocodiesel, CNG, LPG or alcogas, the world’s automakers are already racing towards the development and commercialization of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

General Motors,Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Daimler-Benz and BMW are among the top automakers racing towards marketing the new technology that uses hydrogen as fuel.

General Motors recently partnered with Quantum Technologies, an alternative energy company, and aims to put hydrogen-powered GM cars on the road by 2010.

Toyota, on the other hand, recently set the fuel cell community abuzz with plans to start selling hydrogen fuel cell cars on a limited basis in Japan in 2003. Japan is the first country to successfully introduce hydrogen-power technology into everyday use with a fleet of hydrogen-powered delivery trucks that simultaneously refrigerates groceries hauled.

Hydrogen has been used to fuel space technology as well as in the making of devastating bombs. But vehicle fuel cell technology harnesses its electrochemical reaction instead of its combustible nature. This makes the technology efficient, the fuel light, with no heat and gas to deal with. It’s exhaust is water vapor, thus making it an absolutely clean fuel and an inexhaustible fuel source.

The main obstacles to its commercialization is its high production cost and the fueling infrastructure. Extensive research and testing is also being done by automakers to make it a safe fuel.

Taken from Hangin.org [http://hangin.org/archive/0011/Hydrogen.htm]

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