Since the discovery that raising food crops like corn and soybeans for ethanol would not only cause food prices to sky rocket, but also produce more greenhouse gases than simply burning gasoline; the debate over environmentally friendly fuel sources for cars has centered on electric and hydrogen models. Each type of fuel has advantages and disadvantages, but the electric models seem to have beaten the hydrogen cars in the commercial market.
The Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt
The Nissan Leaf is a fully electric car with a range of about 73 miles. The Chevrolet Volt is a plug in hybrid which uses both battery and gasoline power and can travel about 50 miles on battery power alone. Both vehicles are compact, although the Leaf has room for 5 people. The Volt is more popular with American car buyers since its hybrid design allows drivers to travel greater distances. American buyers have shown limited interest in all electric vehicles due to their limited range.
The Honda FCX Clarity and the BMW Hydrogen 7
The Honda FCX is exclusively powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and produces zero emissions. Honda has reduced the size of previous hydrogen fuel cells with new cells which weigh about 150 lbs, about half the size of hydrogen cells ten years ago. The BMW Hydrogen 7 is a hybrid with a conventional combustion engine that uses either liquid hydrogen or gasoline. The car carries a higher risk of explosion than hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and has limited cargo space.
Which Type of Vehicle is Better?
Hydrogen cars are efficient, can be made larger and heavier than electric cars and can travel greater distances between refueling. While electric cars do not create greenhouse gas emissions directly, much of the electricity in the U.S. is produced with fossil fuels like coal. A large scale shift to electric cars might create more demand for electricity than the present power grid can supply. Car makers are currently experimenting with solar power to generate additional electricity.
Disadvantages of Alternative Fuel Car Models
Since hydrogen cars do not need outside electrical power for fuel, they do not create greenhouse gas emissions either directly or indirectly but there are currently very limited facilities for refueling in both Europe and the United States. In addition to indirectly increasing greenhouse gas emissions, electric cars cannot be refueled during power outages which are not uncommon in certain areas, particularly California which schedules rolling blackouts during times of peak usage.
Electric Seem to Currently Have the Advantage
At recent car shows, hydrogen cars were conspicuous by their absence. Most car manufacturers seem to be concentrating on producing electric cars which were very much in evidence at European and American car shows. This is largely due to the lack of refueling facilities for hydrogen cars which makes them difficult to market. However, hydrogen cars will offer Americans many of the advantages of gasoline powered models once refueling facilities become more common – which will likely then see a decline in electric powered cars.
Other fuel alternatives are being studied with blue green algae showing great promise as an alternative fuel source. Blue green algae feeds on greenhouse gases and can be used to create ethanol. Other alternative fuel technologies including solar and wind power are being studied, but the only alternative fuel vehicles which are currently available on the U.S. market are electric and hydrogen cars.