Using Alternative Fuels

When it comes to alternative fuels, General Motors Company, or GMC has proven to be an industry leader when it comes to developing alternative fuel vehicles and pushing for more and more people to switch over to alternative fuels. They have more hybrid and alternative vehicles than any other car company and have made great strides to inform the general public about the advantages of using alternative fuels as well as GMC alternative vehicles.

GMC’s newest campaign for alternative fuels is the “Think Green, Go Yellow” which promotes the use of Ethanol blend E85 fuel. Ethanol E85 is made from corn and is mostly an alcohol based product. It has lower emissions than regular gasoline and burns cleaner causing less damage to the environment. GMC wants people to know that they firmly support the alternative fuel movement and offer plenty of vehicles that run on E85 fuel.

GMC has also been innovative in the development of the fuel cell vehicle whose only emission is water vapor. The Chevy Equinox is GMC’s answer to the requests of people who want a clean burning car without having to give up luxury or quality. The Equinox is fully functional, carrying up to four occupants and their gear. Plus, it’s engineered to reach a top speed of 100 mph.

Equinox Fuel Cell has been crash-tested and is expected to meet all applicable 2007 U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. And you will enjoy the benefits of driver and front passenger head curtain side air bags, the StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control System, four-wheel antilock disc brakes with Traction Control, and OnStar. On the outside, you’ll notice premium Tricoat paint and unique styling that is distinctively Chevrolet.

In other words, the GMC Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle runs on totally clean fuel cells and emits only water vapor so it is truly a “green” vehicle. While fuel cell technology has come a long way, it has taken awhile for car manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon and produce a vehicle that is run totally on fuel cells. That makes GMC a leader in the alternative fuel department.

GMC also produces several other types of vehicles that run on alternative fuels including hybrid cars and flex-fuel vehicles that are becoming increasingly popular. With the push toward alternative fuels, GMC has met the demand and become a favorite among those who also support the “green” movement in vehicles.

When talking about alternative fuel technology, it doesn’t often occur to people that they might actually be able to make homemade hydrogen fuel cells as part of their choice to switch to an alternative fuel. Hydrogen fuel-cell cars eventually will eliminate U.S. dependence on foreign oil. With a fuel cell, hydrogen produces electricity to propel vehicles. No gasoline, no emissions.

But automakers say it could be 10 years or more before they can produce hydrogen-powered vehicles for the masses. A company called United Nuclear says it can speed the process. It sent an e-mail stating that it will produce hydrogen conversion kits for “individual owners to adapt their gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles to burn hydrogen.”

So are they living a pipe dream by promoting a kit that can help you make homemade hydrogen fuel cells? That’s hard to say. However, what we can say is that it has taken years and years for experts to perfect the process of producing hydrogen fuel cells, so making a homemade product probably isn’t going to be as good as a professionally produced version. However, as disturbing as it might be, it certainly is possible.

The purpose of this article isn’t meant to teach you how to make a homemade hydrogen fuel cell. That would take much more space than what we have available. The thing is that while you might be able to manufacture your own fuel cell, finding hydrogen to power it could be a real problem. After all, the everyday Joe probably can’t extract hydrogen from water by him (or her) self. And right now, there aren’t an abundance of hydrogen filling stations around.

The funny part about homemade hydrogen fuel cell kits such as those trying to be marketed by United Nuclear is that they really aren’t available yet. They are being advertised as being available, but the CEO of the company says that there really are no kits available for sale as yet.

If you want to convert your vehicle to run on hydrogen fuel cells, you really should depend on a licensed mechanic rather than trying to make a homemade unit. It is definitely a great move to switch to a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle. After all, it has zero chemical emissions giving out only water vapor which is environmentally friendly. But trying to make a homemade hydrogen fuel cell should really be best left up to the experts.

However, if you want to try, our only advice is to do so only after doing extensive research. Know what you are doing when making a homemade hydrogen fuel cell and then proceed with caution. If you get hung up, leave it to the experts.

The alternative fuel lobby will say that using hydrogen fuel cells to power your vehicle is definitely the way to go, but what about the disadvantages? They give us all the information about the advantages to switching to hydrogen fuel cells, but they gloss over the disadvantages. The truth is that while hydrogen fuel cells are highly advantageous, but they also have some significant disadvantages.

People who have studied hydrogen fuel cells say that there are three main disadvantages to using hydrogen as a fuel source.

1. The low density. A hydrogen fuel tank will have three times the size of a gasoline tank. Also it must be insulated, and this will add to its bulk. This seems entirely bearable.

2. Safety problems. Liquid hydrogen is cold enough to freeze air, and accidents have occurred from pressure build-up following plugged valves. Some say these problems can’t be overcome, but many side with those who think they can be overcome.

In a collision the hydrogen tank may rupture, as can a gasoline tank. Limited accident experience suggests that the danger is somewhat less with hydrogen than with gasoline, because the hydrogen dissipates rapidly. The release of hydrogen into a confined space like a garage risks an explosion.

3. Since the insulation can’t be perfect, the hydrogen will gradually evaporate, typically 1.7 percent per day. This is too fast for a car to sit for months between uses. A tank of compressed hydrogen holding enough to get to a hydrogen station would solve this.

If the engine is flexible enough to burn gasoline as well as hydrogen, a half gallon gasoline tank would suffice. Some automobile companies like BMW, have experimented with vehicles powered by liquid hydrogen. However, hydrogen cannot come into common use until the political obstacles to nuclear expansion are overcome or the technological obstacles to large scale solar energy are overcome.

It is unlikely to be used as long as gasoline remains so cheap – in other words as long as oil remains cheap and fear of global warming does not prevent its use. Hydrogen enthusiasts will just have to wait if this persists.

There’s really no doubt that using hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative fuel can be very advantageous both for the environment as well as for America in general by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. But there still are significant disadvantages that must be overcome before we can realize the real benefits of using hydrogen fuel cells as our main source of energy to power our vehicles.