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Your car is very likely to be running on gasoline blended with ethanol, a corn-based fuel, which has been touted recently as the answer to the dilemma of ever-increasing oil prices and emissions of greenhouse gases. There is a great debate about whether growing crops for fuel is an efficient use of the land and is as environmentally friendly as advocates of the technology would have us believe. While this debate rages, ethanol has been considered as a viable fuel for cars. However, it has been used in this capacity for a long time without optimization, making it questionable that it has a long term future as the answer to energy problems. Hydrogen gas in cars can offer improved fuel economy, and is a more recently available option in this field.

Using hydrogen gas in cars gives numerous more advantages over ethanol and gasoline fuels. Hydrogen gas is a better and cleaner burning fuel leaving no carbon behind but emits only water vapor consisting mainly of majority of nitrogen. Nitrogen makes up more than three-quarters of the air we inhale. Hydrogen fuel roughly gives two-thirds better fuel economy at half the cost of gasoline.

The lack of available hydrogen fueling stations and the complications of on-board fuel generation are the two biggest problems facing advocates of this new solution to our fuel needs. Hydrogen-powered vehicles will never be commercially available until it is easy to buy hydrogen fuel at a location convenient to you.

The process of generating large amounts of hydrogen on board the vehicle for burning in place of gasoline is still facing some technological limitations limiting use of the technology on the open road. Some auto manufacturers that plan to offer fully hydrogen-powered vehicles are also working on producing home hydrogen gas fueling stations. The home hydrogen fueling station has the potential to not only fuel your car but also power your home as well, offering tremendous saving both financially and environmentally.

There are several viable options for converting your gasoline-powered vehicle into a hydrogen hybrid that will allow you to take advantage of both the increases in fuel economy and a large reduction in your vehicles emission. Commercially available kits produce small amounts of hydrogen using the electricity generated by your car and add it to the gasoline air/fuel mixture the car is already running on. Prices range in cost from roughly two hundred dollars for kits composed of easy to find parts, to kits requiring specialty equipment that costs several thousand dollars.

Large-scale commercial production of hydrogen fuel shows signs of expanding, and it will likely become more widely available. This will allow us to begin seeing innovative new methods of using hydrogen gas to fuel vehicles. some prototypes exist in the major car manufacturers research facilities, but they are purely research cases. No commercial prospects yet exist. Until that day, backyard mechanics and car enthusiasts can experiment with putting together their own version of a hydrogen gas hybrid using a few easy-to-find parts and water. You can find instructions for this so-called “water4gas” kit at various websites.

It’s not only do-it-yourselfers and automobile manufacturers paying attention to hydrogen gas in cars, energy companies and even governments are now exploring hydrogen fuel technology. With more interest along with financial resources to back up continuing research, the day may soon come that hydrogen gas will be the fuel of choice powering your car.

Tags: Auto Tips

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