Hydrogen Vehicle - Hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen does not come as a pre-existing source of energy like fossil fuels, but is first produced and then stored as a carrier, much like a battery. Hydrogen for vehicle uses needs to be produced using either renewable or non-renewable energy sources. A suggested benefit of large-scale deployment of hydrogen vehicles is that it could lead to decreased emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone precursors.

According to the United States Department of Energy "Producing hydrogen from natural gas does result in some greenhouse gas emissions. When compared to ICE vehicles using gasoline, however, fuel cell vehicles using hydrogen produced from natural gas reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60%." While methods of hydrogen production that do not use fossil fuel would be more sustainable, currently renewable energy represents only a small percentage of energy generated, and power produced from renewable sources can be used in electric vehicles and for non-vehicle applications.

The challenges facing the use of hydrogen in vehicles include production, storage, transport and distribution. Because of all these challenges, the well-to-wheel efficiency for hydrogen is less than 25%.

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