Companies producing hydrogen cars

Here is a list of the companies that are making hydrogen cars:

Ford

BMW

Mercedes-Benz

Honda

Hyundai

Toyota

DaimlerChrysler

Carbon footprint

By buying one of these cars, your carbon footprint would drop down by a considerable amount - becomes about 15 tons of CO2 anually, compared to the American average of 20 tons.

Hindenburg disaster

Most people will have heard of the Hindenburg crash. This is the best example of a hydrogen powered vehicle. The Hindenburg crashed after a lightening strike hit it.

The Good and the Bad

The pros and cons of oil


Pros

• Lots of energy from a small bit of Fossil Fuel.




• Easy to get.




• Provides jobs in oil rigs and mines.
  
  

Cons

• Causes pollution from smoke and soot.




• The extraction of coal is very dangerous with the miner facing roof falls, flooding, explosions and gas leaks.




• When a mine collapses below the earth the layers above move to fill n the the gap so the Earth sinks leaving ridges and dips which effects farms and plant life.




• The wast of coal mines are dumped in slag heaps but if the heaps get wet they cause land slides which in one case killed 144 people.




• The various materials such as sulphur dioxide and trioxide which are by-products of coal fires are mixing with water causes acid rain to ruin plant life and crops.




• Because of the amount of oil and coal we need, we are exhausting the Earth's supply and the price is going up. FAST.




• Smells bad.




• Oil and waste dumped in the sea kills animals and pollutes the sea.




• The smog and pollution gets rapped in our atmosphere and it allows heat in but not out so the Earth heats up but cannot cool down which melts polar ice caps and the North and South Poles.

The Pros and cons of Hydro-electricity.

Pros

• Eco friendly.




• Doesn't pollute.




• Only emits water vapour.




• Hydrogen is one of the more common elements so it cannot be exhausted easily.




• Highly efficient.




• The price will come down when lots of people buy them.




• Can be produced anywhere in the world.




• Hydrogen costs a lot less than petrol.




• Reduces the dependence on other countries for their oil supply.




• Hydrogen is safer than coal and oil.




• Their emissions won't kill wildlife like soot and smoke.

Cons

• Will be expensive when it first comes out.

• Highly flammable

The Cost

As with all great things in our world, there is a price to pay.

And this particular price is BIG.

Hydrogen cars are currently quiet costly to produce, making them expensive to buy. At the moment, Honda is not selling their hydro-electric cars, but are just leasing them. For a three year lease plan the price $690 a month, and $8300 a year. though Honda is charging high prices, Toyota say that they aim to cut their prices by 95% within the next 10 years, putting it at a much more affordable price. But considering that the current price for 1 of these cars is about $1 000 000 (million) that would still cost $50 000 after the 95% is deducted.

Efficiency

Having an environmentally friendly, non-polluting car is exactly what our world needs. But it also needs a car that runs well.

Most people, when told about this new way of running cars, imagine a loud rumbling vehicle, bumping its way down the road. But this car is completely the opposite.

Honda has created a car which performs at the same standard as an oil powered car. It can move at up to 100mph. In some ways, it works the same way as a hybrid (electronic) car does. To gain the energy to climb hills, it stores energy from moments when the car is running but not moving. There is no excuse for not finding these cars up to standard. They would satisfy any ones concerns about the environment as these cars only emit water vapour. They are 80% efficient, whereas a petrol engine is only 30%. Therefore, hydrogen cars are an efficient choice.

How does it work?

The process of creating hydro-electric energy is quite simple. It involves splitting a water particle (H2O) into its 2 components, hydrogen and oxygen (H2 + O), then joining them together again in a fuel cell, to create an electrical charge (e-).

When the H2 particles pass through the anode (positive) section of the fuel cell, the electrons become positively charged. When the H2 particles hit the O particles, the electrons flow out. This electrical charge can be used to power lights, heaters and, in this case, motors.

Instead of petrol fumes coming out of the exhaust pipe, only water vapour is emitted. This is because the H2 + O particles, once rejoined, create water (H2O), making this a truly eco-friendly product.