It's all about the electricity.

Josh mentioned something about the use of solar (or wind or any other renewable energy source) in conjunction with a hydrogen fuel cell in an attempt to clean and free up current energy usage. A respectable goal, and one that we should all be working toward in any small way that we can.

Hydrogen fuel cells are clean (mostly) and reliable, and as such they appear to be the technology of the future. There are, however, there are some things about Hydrogen fuel cell technology that most people don't know.

Hydrogen fuel cells work by combining Hydrogen and Oxygen into ozone and water, and using the tiny bit of energy that is let off from this reaction to power an electrical engine. The mechanism itself has no moving parts, and is relatively inexpensive to produce, save for some rare hazardous metals in the transfer plating. A fuel cell using hydrogen is not to be confused with an internal combustion hydrogen engine, since both are being tested, and both have a strong following.

So why do I have reservations regarding Hydrogen fuel cell technology? It is a new middle step in the energy equation. Essentially all we are doing by using a hydrogen fuel cell is replacing our dependence of oil with a dependence on hydrogen. Hydrogen is very common, but it isn't just floating around in midair, it is combined with other atoms to form molecules, mostly water. Splitting water molecules to get at the hydrogen uses some energy, as well as pressurizing the hydrogen for transport and storage, and what you end up with is something that is only marginally efficient, just like oil, only with no exhaust.

On the other hand, we have purely electric cars starting to hit the marketplace. The Tesla is a great example that I've discussed in the past, and the hybrids that the major automakers are coming out with are a step in that direction. There is really no need to put a new middleman in place with the advent of lithium-ion batteries, since all the hydrogen fuel cell is doing is generating energy for an electric motor. EV (electric vehicles) are the real solution, in my book, since it doesn't matter where you get the electricity from, it will still run the car. Build a hydrogen fuel cell power plant, and it will power your electric car. A coal power plant does the same thing, only marginally messily. Put a wind turbine (or photovoltaics) up on your house and let that charge your batteries, and you've got a fully sustainable closed system.

Essentially what I'm saying is this: Hydrogen fuel cells are a neat technology, but they have no place in a car or truck, leave them at the power plants. Transportation lends itself to a straightforward electrical engine, in which the only fuel that you are bringing with you is the sandwich and juice that you need to keep from falling asleep at the board meeting.

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