The Honda FCX Concept Car

The word sustainable has been the forefront word for the United Nations for the last decade, as our ever thriving civilization impacts the planet on which we live ever so more. As a result, the most powerful, and by default, most power consuming nations of the world work harder than ever to solve our need to continue to thrive, without compromising the future.
What really is sustainable technology? Put in the most basic form; “It is ensuring that our decisions now do not cost our children.” Energy is the most valuable resource on this planet. In whatever form it is acquired, its demand is and will always be high. This being said, an exceedingly abundant source must be found. Not only must this source be abundant, but it must also cheap. How cheap is cheap? Cheap is cheap enough for every person on the planet to afford. So the question begs to be asked. Just where exactly do we get such a source? At the moment we burn fossil fuels and other chemicals that release hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, which is where the third criteria for a sustainable source lie. Probably the most important criteria, is that the source be clean. There are many sources that are renewable and thus sustainable. Sources such as the abundant sunlight, the rushing waters of a damn, and wind that blows daily. But there is one source that is actually more abundant on Earth than all others, hydrogen. It is the most abundant element on our planet. It can be free, clean, and it can be cheap. Then why is this energy not being harnessed? Because while it can be all of the above...it’s none of the above.
In the analysis of hydrogen as an energy source in the first article, it was shown that hydrogen is sustainable. Hydrogen is viable, but not in today’s world. As it stands, it is expensive to produce. It creates more hydrocarbons when it is produced, and as a result it is not free. Hydrogen can be used in one of two ways as an energy source. It can be burnt like petroleum, but this gives off CO2 and contributes to rising levels of greenhouse gases. The second way is when hydrogen gas is combined with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity. The latter is the most efficient way to extract energy from hydrogen but there is a problem. Hydrogen does not exist purely on its own and thus, as a result must be processed. This is where hydrogen becomes unclean. Of the four main ways to produce hydrogen, only one is by use of a renewable source. And to compile the matter, that one way, is largely inefficient. Then there is the problem of storage. Hydrogen must be stored at high pressures to keep it in a form suitable for use. Then one must ask, with hydrogen having these difficulties, why bother? The answer is simpler than many people would imagine. Hydrogen, with all its flaws, offers the most benefit for mankind...once all the problems are sorted out that is.
However, one asks, where to start? This is another simple answer. With the most important issue being how to efficiently produce hydrogen, the main focus of the developers around the world that push for hydrogen development, are developing better ways of producing it. So then we turn to Honda. Reading this article from title to this line, you may wonder, where does, Honda Motor Corporation come into this? Well to begin with they have made what is considered by the many people, in the automotive industry, as the biggest step towards a hydrogen car. The FCX is a production car made by Honda. It uses fuel cell technology to power the car’s electric motors and other auxiliaries. The fuel cell is also responsible for charging batteries that are used for back up in the car. Since its introduction, the car, and the fuel cell that powers it, has gone through many alterations. The fuel cell is now 40% smaller in volume and 30% more efficient than when originally introduced. Using Honda’s patented V-Stack design the fuel cell is now efficient enough for a range of 570km. Honda’s concept is revolutionary as it is now a full production car. When they started in 1999, the company had an idea. They thought what if somehow someone came up with a way to produce large amounts of hydrogen cost effectively. If that happened then hydrogen would be as cheap as, or cheaper than gasoline, and since hydrogen is in the air we all breathe or the water we all drink, just what would this mean for the car industry? They then went further to think, what if that person made it so that the hydrogen could be sent to your home the way gas is for heating? This sparked a marvellous idea. Send hydrogen to someone’s home, giving them the fuel for their car and electricity for their home, by using of course...a larger fuel cell. Now this would mean that energy could be made at home, for the home. So now Honda has answered two questions by making one a reality. By making the FCX they have shown that while at the moment expensive, it is very possible for a fuel-cell car to be the replacement for the conventional car. At the same time they have shown that it is very possible to run the world on hydrogen.
Saying all this though, has no bearing, without real facts. So how many people are willing to buy fuel cell cars? At the present moment, not many people. There are four main things to take into consideration. A. Producing hydrogen efficiently. B. Distributing hydrogen. C. The cost to manufacture hydrogen technologies. D. Marketing hydrogen. To begin with, as stated earlier in the article, producing hydrogen efficiently is a tough task. As figure 1.0 show, of the four main ways of doing this, the only “clean” way is the least used, as it is the most inefficient. Also, even if hydrogen did become commercially available, you would have to build service stations for people to fill up. As figure 1.1 will show, the number of service stations for gasoline compared to that for hydrogen is effectively 13000:1. There are plans for more service stations to provide hydrogen but that is still some way off. When it comes to the technology, there is no doubt it exits. It’s even available. The problem is it’s expensive, very expensive. Looking at figure 1.2, it is easy to see that the cost to manufacture a fuel cell for a car let alone a home is very high. It is not viable today. And as a result makes the technology look almost science fiction. Marketing hydrogen has proven to be a bigger issue than anyone would have ever thought. This is because the facts are stacked against it. Scientists have now been able to prove that we need to cut emissions to lessen the damage to the atmosphere. So then you think it would be easier to sell the idea that hydrogen is the fuel of tomorrow. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that. As stated in analysing point C, the technology looks science fiction. Many people, including the business tycoons, are not willing to invest so much in something that seems like a science project. And normal citizens like you I may like the idea of being able to have “clean” electricity that is powered by a “clean” gas that is made “cleanly” at home. But we are not willing to spend the money if all else is not in place. So where do we go from here? Honda Motor Corp seems to have a solution.
Honda has decided to tackle the two issues it considers, of mass importance. One is lowering the cost of the technology by making it cheaper to manufacture and more efficient. Two, is by spending billions of dollars in an effort to make hydrogen easier to produce. In the first article, it was stated that an inquiry would be done by watching the progress of Honda and their ideas. One such way was by researching the factory owned by Honda, in Swindon. Research has shown that Honda Motor Corp has invested £1.15 million in the factory at Swindon. Even though the factory does not produce anything relating to hydrogen, Swindon does manufacture Honda’s state of the art diesel engines, which is one of the company’s ways of cutting emissions in their vehicle line up. The plant incorporates Honda Research Europe (HRE). This part of the Honda is responsible for research done in Europe and employs around 80 engineers. By investing so heavily in its different factories and engineers, Honda is trying to find different ways of dealing with both issues. At current, Swindon produces over 200,000 automobiles a year. If the difficulties with hydrogen were to be overcome, the factory could produce a large amount of cars for Europe, using the fuel cell developed by Honda.
So the final question. What does this all mean? Considering things from the perspective of a first world country is hard as many people do not know the price that petroleum has on a developing country with fewer resources available to it. In most, if not all developing countries, petroleum is the main energy supplier. As such, the country’s entire economical foundation is based on the price of the energy. In today’s world, we use energy for everything. Basic needs such as light and heating are needed by everyone. And as a result, petroleum is in high demand from everyone. But in a country whose economy is nowhere near as strong as the First World powers, fighting for some of that resource can be rather hard. As oil prices continue to rise and resources continue to dwindle, a developing country will find it harder and harder to compete and maintain its economy. Without a sustainable resource, like that of what hydrogen can provide, many Third World countries will come to a standstill. And soon after the First World powers will feel the effects. Globally the world will halt. In order to prevent this from happening, companies such as Honda are paving a way for a cleaner and sustainable future.

In conclusion, hydrogen has all the qualities of a replacement for petroleum (fossil fuels), though albeit some difficulties. With investment into research and bold thinking, revolutions, such as the one Honda is creating can be made possible. These revolutions stand the chance of providing a future for generations to come, where they will not suffer from the decisions made by us today. For mankind to continue to strive, he must not destroy the source of his resources. This writer believes hydrogen is one such way in which this can be achieved.

Appendix

References

Frequently Asked Questions. (2007). Retrieved November 20, 2007, from National Hydrogen Association, General Information. Web Site: http://www.hydrogenassociation.org/general/faqs.asp

Fuel Cell Folly: Sources of Hydrogen. (2004). Retrieved November 20, 2007, from The Community Solution, The Problem. Web Site:
http://www.communitysolution.org/fcf-8.html

Honda Technology (2007). Retrieved January 15, 2008, from Honda Motor Coporation, http://world.honda.com/news/2007/4071114Experimental-Home-Energy-Station/

IHS Energy's Report on 10-Year Petroleum Trends .(2004). Retrieved November 20, 2007, from IHS , Press Release 2004. Web Site:
http://energy.ihs.com/News/Press-Releases/2004/pr_101804-trends.htm

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