If you're new here at Alternative Energy HQ, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed for all the latest updates on energy news. Thanks for visiting!

Is it time to buy a new car? You may want to consider a purchase that will address your future needs of our environment as well as your personal economy. Instead of the gas guzzling cars of the past, you may want to consider a fuel saving car of the future. Of course I mean a Hybrid car.

More: continued here

A glimpse into the future as we seek clean enrgy to power our cars and other devices.

More: continued here

It is said that Hydrogen cars are the way of the future. Today, the world is crippled by its need for oil, and its dependency on the Middle East for those fuels.

Cars that use Hydrogen for fuel use either a fuel cell based technology or an internal combustion engine.

The History of Hydrogen Fuel Celled Cars.

Swiss Christian Friedrich Schönbein developed the principle of the fuel cell and published it in the January 1839 edition of the 'Philosophical Magazine.' William Grove is credited with having invented a method, using the information from Schönbeins article, to mix hydrogen and oxygen through the use of an electrolyte in 1839. However, while this did produce some energy, it did not produce enough to be seen as useful.

Fuel cell research by the Germans in the 1920s made the concept of a carbonate cycle and oxide fuel cells to be thought of as being an alternative source of energy.

There is a debate as to where the term 'fuel cell' originated. It is said to have come from either Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer, or William Jaques. Mond and Langer attempted to combine the gas from industrial coal with air in 1889. William Jaques who is noted to have been the first to use phosphoric acid in an electrolyte bath as part of the 'fuel cell' process.

In 1932, Francis Bacon started to research fuel cells and discovered a less expensive catalyst than the previously used platinum. Bacon discovered that using a corrosive alkaline and nickel electrodes were effective enough to move research forward as it become more economically feasible. Bacon demonstrated the success of his fuel cell research in 1959 with his 'Bacon Cell.'

Since Bacons work in the 1960s, Fuel cell technology has grown exponentially, as it is seen more and more as the fuel of the future.

For example, men like Stan Meyer, an American inventor, became concerned about the ability of a little country in the Middle East to control the United States and Western economies, and he began to experiment with what he saw to be the worlds most available resource: water (hydrogen). Stans water powered engines are noted as revolutionary, and threaten to topple a vast empire of gasoline and oil based companies.

Today, it is both possible to buy a hydrogen powered car, and to convert your car to hydrogen based fuel, which costs on average between $2,500 and $5,000.

How do Fuel Cells Work?

Hydrogen fuel cells are very much like car batteries. They have two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, that are separated by a membrane. Hydrogen from a fuel tank come into the cell and is split by a catalyst on the electrode anode. This action creates a movement of electrons that generate electricity, which is used to power the vehicle. The electrons of the hydrogen ions move through the membrane to the cathode electrodes where they chemically combine with oxygen from a compressor, producing both heat and water.

Fuel cells are said to be more efficient than combustion engines. Fuel cells also are more ecologically sound as they emit only heat and water. Another nice feature of the fuel cell is that it never needs to be changed for the life of the car.

The Future of Hydrogen Cars

Hydrogen is seen as the number one source of fuel in the future. Despite all that has been said for solar and wind power, hydrogen appears to be the answer. Government grants exist in many countries to improve the hydrogen based fuel, and push the auto industry into Hydro car manufacturing mode, and away from fossil fuels. This is pleasing those pushing for cleaner air, as the only known emissions from the car are water and heat.

Unfortunately, there is a large lobbying factor against this concept. Major oil companies and automobile companies are not happy with the concept of moving away from the standard gasoline fuels. It is expected that should there be such a move to hydrogen based fuels, oil companies may go bankrupt and there may be less of a need for cars as the fuel cells are expected to last the life of the car.

The future most likely will go the way of hydrogen based fuel. Watch for it to be the focus of energy within the next 20 years.

Stevo Lim

Vehicleride.com is the place to find all your informations about cars, car reviews, car loans, car safety, future cars, hybrid cars, hydrogen cars, solar cars, sports cars, concept cars and many informations about cars.

During the old hot rodding days,oil was king. It was also only about 25 cents a gallon, and everyone thought there was an endless supply. Then we were hit with the oil shock of the seventies, and we realized that there was not an endless supply of oil (only of lines at the gas tanks) and we had to change our ways. Big, gas guzzling cars had to give way to economy models,and many of the traditional car companies suffered. But continued hish oil usage still threatens the supply.

This fact has forced the world to look at alternative sources of energy to fuel our vehicles. What knd of alternatives are suitable to running cars? Lets have a look at the facts.

There are many forms of alternative energy, primarily from the forces of the earth: water (tidal or hydroelectric), air,waste (biomass), the sun and the earth itself. But currently, we only meet 10% of our energy needs through these alternative natural sources. Coal, gas and nuclear fuel supplies 88% of our needs, and oil 2% For vehicles, however, oil is by far the biggest source of power. Diesel and gas oils powers most of the cars, trucks and SuVs on the roads today. Biodiesel fuel such as vegetable oil, methanol and ethanol are starting to be used in some buses. Using the same logic, we should be able to make our cars into mini-windmills or mini solar panels. But this use is limited and we nee to find a longer-range solution.

What does the future hold?

Using alternative energy directly in cars is not practical. What the solution, if not windmills and solar panels? Hydogen as a source of fuel for vehicles has proven to be the most viable. Many hydrogen powerd vehicles exist today, and more are being developed.

How do we involve alternative energy more in our lives? Hydrogen as a source of power is extracted form a number of different natural resources, such as water, biomass, coal and methane. The best source is water and many cars today are being run on fuel cells that extract hydrogen from water.

There are many processes to extract hydrogen molecules. But, in general, all of these processes require electricity tofunction. As the worlds population grows, the demand for power and energy grows with it. That will help the popularity of hydrogen power, but this type of alternative power will eventually be replaced by other, more efficient types of alternative energy.

So the quest for other, better energy sources for our vehicles will continue. We may see the day when an extremely powerful solar cell or roof mounted turbine will power a car for miles.

For now, the present problem of finding alternative energy solutions to power our vehicles continues. The task is large, but it is certainly is achievable.

Mike Batta

MJ Batta writes on various alternative energy related topics and hosts an alternative energy websites at Alternative Energy

Hybrid cars are the latest additions in the race of the auto industry. A few years ago there were only a few on the roads, but today there are thousands. Hybrids will make it easier for people to be spared the cost of out of control gasoline prices.

More: continued here