There is little hydrogen in the Earth. Most of it is in
water mixed with oxigen, there is plenty of it there. However, there is a huge amount of
hydrogen in other parts of our solar system, like the Sun or Jupiter, but there
is a problem, we can´t reach it!
The only way we can reach it is by the electrolysis of water.
It consists of separating hydrogen from oxygen using electricity. The problem of using
electricity is that to make electricity we pollute. That’s why some scientists
are trying to provoke this separation by using sunlight.
To make hydrogen efficient, we use fuel cells. There are
machines developed by the NASA which combine hydrogen and oxygen to make heat,
electricity and water. For instance, astronauts use fuel cells to obtain water
and energy in the space. The technology is developing, but in the future fuel
cells will be able to provide energy to whole cities.
Nowadays, there are already cars that use hydrogen as a fuel, it is
fantastic! They don´t pollute! Cars manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Lexus are working
in the development of FCVs (fuel cell vehicles). These are hybrid vehicles which
have an hydrogen fuel cell, which works with a battery to power an electric
motor.
The only problem of having a FCV is that there are very
few places where you can refill your car. However, if more people buy FCVs more
fuel stations will have hydrogen to fuel our cars.
A year ago I read a text very similar to this... XD. The truth is that we are facing a real competition of scientists and technology companies to find the cheapest, greenest and most efficient way to produce FCV's. On the occasion of the Olympic games of Tokyo 2020, Toyota will introduce a fleet of more than 100 fuel cell buses. This is feasible in Japan, where the government has been concerned to encourage the development of these energy sources and to install thousands of recharging points throughout its national territory. But here in Spain, where we will have only 20 of these recharging points by 2020, this sounds like fantasy. Once again, good work Mr. Rajoy, good work (note the irony).
ReplyDeleteA year ago I read a text very similar to this... XD. The truth is that we are facing a real competition of scientists and technology companies to find the cheapest, greenest and most efficient way to produce FCV's. On the occasion of the Olympic games of Tokyo 2020, Toyota will introduce a fleet of more than 100 fuel cell buses. This is feasible in Japan, where the government has been concerned to encourage the development of these energy sources and to install thousands of recharging points throughout its national territory. But here in Spain, where we will have only 20 of these recharging points by 2020, this sounds like fantasy. Once again, good work Mr. Rajoy, good work (note the irony).
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed a lot reading this post! Some years ago people didn´t know that hydrogen could end, so people couldn´t prevent this problem. Nowadays people seem to be more interested on it and they are trying to fight against the problem as for example using fuel cells. The FCV are now more common among the population and we can see they are increasing sales, and that´s something good! If people continues buying more FCV, they will became more popular, people will buy them and more chaging stations will have hydrogen to fuel the cars. Also, this cars don´t pollute the environment so there is another reason for buying them!
ReplyDeleteWhat interesting things! I have learned many things reading this. Nowadays, science has evolved a lot and even continues to evolve for the future. How can scientists do these things? It is amazing!
ReplyDelete