BMW Hydrogen 7

Hydrogen: The New Alternative Fuel?

Our fossil fuel supply is running out. There is no question about it. In the not so distant future, the natural reserves of fossil fuels on the planet will eventually run out. This is why people have come up with many different ideas as solutions to this problem. One such idea is the use of alternative fuels which will be obtained from renewable resources such as solar, wind and wave power to name a few. Sustainable development is a concept that has been around for many years. It has recently grown in size and become a global issue. The term sustainable development has predominantly been described as a process by which we meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to grow and prosper.

A key factor for sustainable development is the reduction in the overall CO2 emission produced by modern vehicles today. The use of certain fuels such as vegetable oil, ethanol, non-fossil methane and other biomass sources can contribute to reducing CO2 emissions; however as our fossil fuels eventually start running out, these alternative fuels will not be sufficient enough to fill the gaps. Nevertheless, hydrogen which is highly renowned for its obtaining ability from renewable sources such as solar, wind and wave power, is available in infinite supply, and is also able to meet our energy needs in a sustainable way.

The sustainable technology issue being raised here is if hydrogen is capable of replacing petroleum as our main source of energy carrier to power motor vehicles. In order for me to be able to look into this claim I have chosen to write about the newly developed hydrogen powered vehicle by BMW, which is due for release into the public sometime in 2008.

The Hydrogen 7 is the world’s first hydrogen-powered luxury saloon car manufactured with one goal in mind – a near zero emission car capable of everyday use. Based on the existing 7 Series, it comes equipped with an internal combustion engine capable of running on both liquid hydrogen and conventional petrol. While in hydrogen mode, it emits virtually nothing but water vapour. With its unique ability to switch between hydrogen and petrol at the press of a button, it increases its cruising range, which is 125 miles on hydrogen alone, to over 300 extra miles albeit on conventional petrol. This is one of the strongest points for the Hydrogen 7 as conventional hydrogen vehicle run only on the alternative fuel and are far less flexible. The dual power technology means that switching between the two fuels has no effect on driving behaviour or performance at all. This type of vehicle is a perfect example of sustainable technology as it is currently available and tries to minimise the emission it produces in order for future generations to prosper.

Some technical facts about the Hydrogen 7 are that it has a V12 engine derived from the current 7-series model, capable of running on both petrol and hydrogen. It produces about 260bhp (brake horse power) and is able to accelerate from 0 to 60mph in 9.5 seconds and has a top speed of 143mph.

Unlike other hydrogen powered cars, which use the hydrogen fuel-cells technology, the Hydrogen 7 uses the hydrogen in its liquid form rather than in its conventional gaseous state. This means that the hydrogen in the BMW is specially stored in an isolated tank that has to be kept at -253 degrees Celsius in order to prevent it from boiling. In my opinion, this is one of the Hydrogen 7s worst disadvantages, as if the car is left unused with a tank full of hydrogen, it will evaporate in about 12 days. Another disadvantage is that hydrogen does not provide the same MPG (miles per gallon) as standard petrol; in fact it provides much less which is a major concern for the customer. When the car is using normal petrol as its fuel, it averages at around 20 MPG, on the other hand, while using hydrogen the car averages only 6 MPG.

I have decided to write about the Hydrogen 7 as the amount of cars on the road is increasing daily and they are all emitting harmful gases into the atmosphere which in fact has very catastrophic long term effects on our planet, a hybrid vehicle is something that we should all be interested in as it is our main way of commuting and we should all try and be as sustainable as possible. There are 2 cars in my family, one which runs on diesel and one running on unleaded petrol. They both contribute to the emission of harmful gases and in order for them to run, non renewable resources have to be used up.

The picture below shows an x-ray image of the Hydrogen 7 and the location of the hydrogen and petrol tank within the vehicle.

BMW

The way I am planning on carrying out further research is mainly using qualitative methods. The type of analysis I plan to do includes a mixture of numerical, statistical and economical. I furthermore plan to research the BMW Hydrogen 7 by reading up on more secondary sources, mainly form the internet. Some websites I plan to visit include the following:
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6154212.stm
• http://www.bmw.com/com/en/index_highend.html?prm_content=../../com/en/insights/technology/cleanenergy/phase_2/_highend/xml/cleanenergy.xml
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml;jsessionid=CVPDI404LJ5Y1QFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/motoring/2006/11/25/nosplit/mfbmw25.xml
• http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448648,00.html
• http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2006/11/72100?currentPage=all

In addition to my secondary research I plan to email a BMW representative which would provide me with further data on the Hydrogen 7.