There is an abundance of hydrogen on our planet. Many can not wait until we see hydrogen refilling stations on every corner. To be able to use the fuel cell concept in vehicles as a power source it needs to be pure hydrogen. Pure hydrogen does not happen naturally, it must be harvested by employing a chemical or electrical process. At the moment the most inexpensive way to yield hydrogen is 'last "steam methane reformation". Another concept undergoing research and development is a procedure involving solar energy. Fuel companies can save ten percent if they use the environmentally safe solar energy to remove the hydrogen.
Automotive corporations like Toyota, Honda, and GM are paying a lot of attention to fuel cell powered vehicles. Toyota assures us that fuel cells are the most efficient energy source for a car and much more cost effective than internal hydro combustion engines. A battery and a fuel cell are very much alike, by means of an electron chemical response between hydrogen and oxygen to build energy.
Toyota has begun to investigate on a broad array of fuel sources such as natural gas, gasoline and liquid hydrogen, in addition to development of components to utilize with such types of energy. Toyota is justifying thoughts whether or not they should propose a fuel celled car meant for the general public for retail sale before than October of 2014 and at a very expensive price tag.
The major problem that has to be conquered if fuel celled cars are going to be usable by the general public is the infrastructure. The infrastructure will have to include company¡¯s input, Chevron Texaco, who are developing a unique gas station that hosts a on a small scale an onsite steam reforming of natural gas, to produce hydrogen is a great example.
Traditionally hydrogen cars meant a lack of performance. Toyota has made colossal success with a prototype high powered vehicle. We will not be seeing hydrogen cars on the market until auto makers figure out an optimal way to manufacture the cars in order to drop the price tag. Currently there are no commercially available hydrogen powered cars for consumers, but the government and the automotive companies are aiming for the year 2010 to have the infrastructure in place.
