Water to Gas Technology

BMW's Hydrogen Fuel Quest

Think a hydrogen powered car is a farfetched idea? Think again! BMW is hard at work in their quest to become the first automaker in the world to have a production vehicle available that can run on hydrogen fuel. 2008 looks like the date when the first hydrogen powered BMW could be made available, infrastructure in place or not.

German automaker BMW is on a quest, one that may likely make them the first automaker in the world to produce a fleet of vehicles capable of running on hydrogen fuel. That’s right, BMW is leading the way and if all goes as promised the first hydrogen cell powered production BMW will hit the streets in 2008.

Back around 2000, General Motors announced that they would work toward building a fleet of vehicles that could run on hydrogen power. When that announcement was made few thought that hydrogen technology could be successfully tapped and used in a car. However, if it was to come about, most people thought that it would take at least 20 years to come to pass.

In 2004 BMW announced that they, too, would bring hydrogen powered cars into production. But, the automaker said that they would accomplish this feat much sooner – by 2008! As it stands today it looks as if BMW may be well on the road to meeting their lofty goal as automotive blogs are currently commenting on recently surfaced photographs showing what appears to be a hydrogen powered BMW. Specifically, a V12 powered BMW 7 Series has been spotted being tested in Germany and it was learned that this particular test car also had a working alternate fuel source available, namely hydrogen.

Several things still need to occur before hydrogen fuel cells are a readily accepted and available alternative to the internal combustion engine. These include:

The cost of developing hydrogen fuel cells. Currently, the price of fuel cells is prohibitive but technological advancements are lowering that cost. When the cost drops below that of outfitting a vehicle with an engine, than hydrogen fuel cells will become a viable alternative.

Production and storage concerns. Currently, significant amount of fossil fuels must be used to develop hydrogen cells. In addition, storing hydrogen can be a problem and transmitting the fuel through existing natural gas lines doesn’t look possible given the fuel’s negative interaction with steel. Hydrogen proponents are calling on the U.S. government to authorize “Manhattan Project” type funding to create an all new distribution system across the country. Speculation on the cost of implementing a hydrogen infrastructure is in the hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps well over one trillion dollars.

Should the day come when hydrogen powered vehicles are produced and some sort of distribution system is created, two big benefits will emerge: American dependency on foreign oil will evaporate and greenhouse gas emissions will drop considerably. These two reasons alone may be enough for BMW, General Motors, and other automakers to continue with hydrogen fuel cell development. Will the government step in to help out? That remains to be seen.

About The Author

Copyright 2006 – Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance automotive writer covering new products and current models. Please visit the Tornado Fuel System:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/shop_brands/tornado.html

page to learn how you can improve your vehicle’s fuel economy. Check out BMW Parts:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/bmw~rep.html for all of your aftermarket and replacement part needs.

Using Byproducts to Fuel Hydrogen Cars

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One of the key sticking points of going to a hydrogen economy is how are we going to produce enough hydrogen to fuel both car and home? Current methods include steam reforming natural gas and electrolyzing water.

If a hydrogen economy is to come to fruition in the near future, we will most likely need many methods for producing hydrogen. Renewable resources for producing hydrogen will include biomass and ethanol, wind farms, tidal energy, hydroelectric energy, solar and other experimental resources such as gravitational energy.

Another resource for producing hydrogen will be in capturing hydrogen that is currently (or in the future) being produced as a byproduct for other processes.

Clean coal technology is one of these processes currently being developed in order to turn coal into electricity. Hydrogen is to be captured during this process and sold as a secondary commodity. Noxious fumes are to be sequestered providing near zero emissions.

Hydrogen is also a byproduct of producing sodium-chlorate, which is used to manufacture pesticides and bleaches. In Vancouver, Canada it is said that there is enough hydrogen as byproduct to power 20,000 hydrogen cars for one year. This technology will be featured in the 2010 Olympics to be held in Vancouver.

Current nuclear reactors can also be modified to use the steam they produce in cooling the reactor to do high-temperature electrolysis to produce hydrogen. The Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative as well as researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory are already moving ahead with studying this technology.

It's good to know that in moving to a hydrogen-based economy, we don't have to totally reinvent the wheel, only upgrade the wheel to current and future needs.

About The Author

Kevin Kantola

Kevin Kantola (aka Hydro Kevin) writes about hydrogen cars and vehicles plus the developing H2 infrastructure.