The National Hydrogen Road Tour from 11 August to 23 August in the US will showcase clean, efficient, hydrogen-powered vehicles and focus on hydrogen's potential as a commercial fuel. Writes Tanmoy Mitra

The US Department of Transportation (DOT), in association with the National Hydrogen Association and other federal agencies is organising the National Hydrogen Road Tour from 11 August to 23 August.The two-week road tour will feature hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles and transit buses, making 31 stops in 18 states across the US to promote fuel cell technology, and help address future energy and environmental issues.

The tour will focus on hydrogen's potential as a fuel and to see what the future holds for hydrogen in the United States and also give the American public an unique opportunity to witness  these concept vehicles in real world driving conditions

Leading auto manufacturers including Daimler, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Nissan will showcase their hydrogen vehicles during the event. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc and Linde are providing mobile refueling stations and hydrogen fuel. (List of participants)

The Department of Transportation is working closely with research institutions, industry and universities  to make the hydrogen fuel cell technology more viable.

Current research focuses on the development of reliable, low-cost but high-performance fuel cell system components for transportation and buildings applications. With continued progress the technology will be ready for the market in the coming years.

However, commercial success of hydrogen-powered vehicles will depend on the performance and costing of hydrogen as a fuel. To create consumer interest, the fuel cell technology will have to be cheaper than petroleum fuel and cost-competitive with other alternate fuels. Most importantly, hydrogen powered vehicles should perform as well or better than, traditional power technologies.

Currently, non renewable fossil fuels make up the bulk of the world's primary energy sources. With global demand for energy increasing, there is a dearth in the supply of fossil fuels, with resources getting exhausted. The result is soaring crude oil prices, inducing a plunge in global stock markets,which is leading to inflation.

Fossil fuels are also a major source of carbon emissions leading to environmental pollution. Recent studies indicate that the concentration of CO2, the most prevalent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, is now at its peak with approximately 1,000 tonnes of the gas being released into the Earth's atmosphere every second.

Carbon-related pollution occurs primarily due to burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities.

Vehicular emission is also a major cause of environmental pollution. According to the UK-based New Economics Foundation, rising greenhouse gas emissions could pass a critical "tipping point" in the coming decade resulting in dangerous climate change. The Foundation said this was likely to be catastrophic for life on the planet. (Also see: Eco-Apocalypse in 100 months)

It is critical that petroleum-based energy is replaced with alternate renewable energy resources if mankind is to avoid disaster of epic proportions.

Alternative fuel systems
Fuel systems developed  from renewable energy is the alternative to fossil fuels. Renewable energy is generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tidal and geothermal heat. Renewable energy technologies include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, biomass and biofuels.

Work on alternative fuel systems has become a high priority for vehicle manufacturers and governments across the world. Leading auto makers have shifted focus towards hybrid vehicles that use both electric power and internal combustion and does not run on solely petroleum.

Current research and development is largely centred on alternative fuel technology such as battery electric vehicles, fule cell technology, compressed natural gas (CNG), solar powered, LPG and solar vehicles.

What is fuel cell technology?
Fuel cell technolgy generates electricity through chemical reaction. Every fuel cell comprises two electrodes - anode (negative) and cathode (positive) and an electrolyte. The electrolyte carries electrically charged particles from one electrode to the other, and a catalyst speeds the reactions at the electrodes, producing electricity.

Fuel cells can power almost any portable application that typically uses batteries, from hand-held devices to portable generators.Fuel cells can also power our transportation, including personal vehicles, trucks, buses, and marine vessels, as well as provide auxiliary power to traditional transportation technologies.

Of the many options in fuel cell technology, researchers say hydrogen fuel cell will play an important role in reducing pollution and fuel imports from vehicles. (View video of automotive fuel cell technology)

Advantages of hydrogen fuel cell technology
Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are not only pollution free,but also can have two to three times the efficiency of traditional combustion technologies.Fuel cells directly convert the chemical energy in hydrogen to electricity, with pure water and potentially useful heat as the only byproducts.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen stores and delivers energy in a usable form. Hydrogen can be produced using abundant and diverse domestic energy resources, including fossil fuels, such as natural gas and coal; renewable energy resources,such as solar, wind, and biomass; and nuclear energy.

Using hydrogen as a form of energy will reduce our dependence on crude oil, as wll as benefit the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants that affect our air quality.

Hydrogen powered utilities
Hydrogen fuel can be used in a broad spectrum of applications such as vehicles, laptop computers, power for cell phone towers, fork lifts, TV cameras, power for buildings, portable generators, and more. NASA uses hydrogen to launch Space Shuttles into space

The Future
Currently, leading auto makers have introduced hydrogen cars as concepts and auto researchers are studying ways to make it commercially available.

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