Fuell cell technology - Essay Example

It does not take a great deal of environmental knowledge to realize that the effect that humans are having upon the environment has produced noticeable side effects. Although technology has aided in making life easier, the fact of the matter is that many of the negative impacts that humans are currently displaying upon the environment are the direct result of the technological advancement that has been realized within the past few hundred years. Almost invariably, the negative impact that humans have upon the environment is both the result of the production process of passenger cars as well as the pollutant nature in which they oftentimes operate.

Once again, technology, within the past few decades, has aided automobile manufacturers in greatly reducing emissions; however, the fact of the matter is that within the current technology of engine designed and means of transportation that is practiced, there is only a certain amount that can be improved without moving on to a new more sustainable and efficient process. As a function of this unique juncture that exists, this analysis will pay a particular level of interest with regards to fuel-cell technology, the use of CNG, and LPG fuels as well as seeking to measure their overall efficiency, abundance, and cleanliness with respect to the environment.

Fuel cell technology Though it may seem as something that is only been around for a relatively short period of time, the fuel-cell can trace its basic principle back as far as 1893; discovered by Sir William Grove. More recently NASA utilized the same principles of the fuel-cell in seeking to power space exploration vehicles; such as the moon car that was used on the Apollo mission. As technology has increased, fuel cells and become much more popular within the consumer market; even powering homes around the world.

At its most basic level, the fuel cell is nothing more than a battery which is powered by hydrogen. In comparison to the fuel efficiency of such a mechanism, one should consider the fact that the energy content in a single kilogram of hydrogen is greater than three times the same amount of gasoline. Moreover, as any introductory chemistry lesson will make plainly evident, hydrogen is the most common element within the entire universe; making this an ideal fuel to exploit without the necessary drawbacks that fossil fuels bear.

However, environmentally speaking, the greatest advantage of hydrogen is the fact that the process of burning hydrogen as fuel creates no exhaust rather than mere water and oxygen. With regards to the overall drawback, the greatest of these is the fact that storing and readily retrieving the hydrogen any useful state has provided researchers with many difficulties. The fuel-cell benefits on the mechanical level of fuel cell can be used to provide motion to a vehicle by producing electricity which then drives an electric motor providing power to the wheels.

Due to fact that fuel cells do not have any specific omissions, such as carbon, the net exhaust of this process is environmentally neutral. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly from the engineering standpoint, the fuel-cell represents a more efficient transfer of energy as compared to internal combustion engines (upwards of 40%