Transportation engineering 937 hydrogen fuel cell

As can be seen from Table 1.57, the efficiency of fuel cells is about double that of gas-burning internal combustion (IC) engines. Therefore, if fuel cells can be made at the same cost as IC engines, hydrogen fuel cell-based transportation is already cost competitive with gasoline-based transportation. Unfortunately, at this point in time, fuel cells are much more expensive, but that is likely to change as soon as mass production starts. 

A hydrogen-based economy in the long term where hydrogen is the final product (transportation fuel used in combustion engines or fuel cells, hydro gen-fuelled power plants to regulate electrical grids with intermittent power sources...). 

However, to overcome present barriers, sustainable energy vectors should be developed in a harmonized way, taking into account all possibilities and related technologies, and not be limited to one or few sources. For example, in the transportation sector, several technologies present great potential biomass conversion into biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells, hybrid engines and the exploration of metal... 

Chapter 7 will describe the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel. It will show how it can be used in automobiles with current technology internal combustion engines. It will show how hydrogen fuel cells have the potential to provide advanced automobiles with excellent performance and zero pollution. It will show that aircraft and heavy industrial equipment can be converted to hydrogen. 

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