Homemade hydrogen may revive the fuel-cell car
A few years ago, the race to replace the petrol-driven internal-combustion engine was dominated by hydrogen. Fuel cells, which mix hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity and water, were the darlings of the technological world. The crowd, however, is fickle, and the favoured technology now is the lithium-ion battery. One battery-powered sports car, the Tesla, is already on the market, and others are expected to join it soon. Mainstream battery cars should follow in a year or two. Hydrogen, it seems, is fading fast.
Not if ITM Power has anything to do with it. This British firm, based in Sheffield, thinks that hydrogen is still the fuel of the future. It differs from others who cleave to that view in that it also thinks that instead of being delivered by an expensive, new infrastructure of pipes and storage tanks, the gas will be brewed at home by car owners using water, electricity and ITM’s proprietary technology.
