Monday, September 24, 2007

Go Go Gadget Hydrogen Car

Virtually all of Iceland’s electricity and heating comes from domestic renewable energy sources -- hydroelectric power and geothermal springs. They are started to use hydrogen to power transportation. Hydrogen is produced with water and electricity, and Iceland has lots of both. Cars are being tested to run on hydrogen, such as the Mercedes Benz A-class F-cell -- an electric car powered by a DaimlerChrysler fuel cell. Fuel cells generate electricity by converting hydrogen and oxygen into water. And fuel cell technology is clean -- the only by-product is water. It's just like a normal car, except the only pollution coming out of the exhaust pipe is water vapor. It can go about 100 miles on a full tank. When it runs out of fuel the electric battery kicks in, giving the driver another 18 miles -- hopefully enough time to get to a refueling station. Filling the tank is similar to today's cars -- attach a hose to the car's fueling port, hit "start" on the pump and stand back. The process takes about five to six minutes. The city will need five refueling stations in addition to the one the city already has to support its busy ring road, according to Arnason. The entire nation could get by on 15 refueling stations -- a minimum requirement. COOL.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/18/driving.iceland/index.html

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