Taylor Parizo

12/5/15
Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1103-035

Hydrogen or Electricity?
Writing this thesis paper has given me a lot more to think about.
Before this assignment, I had only heard of hydrogen vehicles but didnt
know the first thing about them. I didnt even think the Toyota Mirai was a
real car, I thought it was just a concept. These are two great alternatives if
you are looking for an efficient car that is just as good, if not better, than
combustion engine vehicles. Although they are more expensive, the benefits
pay off over the years because electricity costs are minimal compared to gas
prices and you dont have to worry about electric cost volatility compared to
gas prices. This is something everyone should know about because our
generation and the next will be growing up with these types of vehicles.
As our generation grows, people are starting to treat the environment
with more respect now. Weve discovered how much waste we have,
recycling is becoming a lot more important, and weve figured out how to
make materials out of other recycled materials. But there is one major factor
that affects our environment more than anything and thats pollution. One of

the major polluters are cars. The two biggest countries that have a large
number of cars are the U.S. and China. In China, one in every six people have
a car compared to one in three Americans owning a car. There are almost
two billion cars worldwide and thats only counting vehicles with a
combustion engine. Scientists tell us about global warming because of the
cars and factories that release a large amount of carbon dioxide. Some
people think its a myth whereas others take it seriously, so they switch to a
more fuel efficient vehicle, or better yet, a car that uses a different source of
energy. Three major alternatives to gas are diesel, electricity, and hydrogen.
You may have already heard of diesel and electric cars, but hydrogen is
something new. Hydrogen is a renewable energy that can be produced from
natural gas, coal, biomass, oil. It can also be produced from renewable energy
sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power. Diesel cars only
make up about one percent of our nations car market and is slowing fading due to
ZEVs or Zero Emission Vehicles. Electric cars are becoming increasingly more
popular because of Tesla and consumer cars such as the BMW i3, Nissan Leaf,
Chevy Spark, VW e-Golf, and the Ford Focus Electric. But some people arent ready
for the full switch to electric cars.
Now, this paper wont be telling you to go out and buy an electric car or
hydrogen car. Personally, I like the roar of a Jaguar V8 from an F-Type R and I
couldnt see myself switching away from a combustion engine, but as the future
progresses, zero emission vehicles will become the new normal. However, I do like
the benefits of hearing and seeing electric cars on the road rather than a lifted truck
around town with an eight inch exhaust pipe, or worse, a diesel stack coming from

the top protruding a vast amount of fuel or coal into the air. It doesnt smell good,
looks trashy, its an eyesore, they are very top heavy, and the exhaust is
unnecessarily loud. If a firetruck is quieter and more efficient than your vehicle,
youre doing something very wrong. Zero emission vehicles are nice to look at
because theyre sleek, quiet, very aerodynamic, and are filled with technology. Just
look at Porsches new Mission e concept. The new BMW i3 is even able to drive to
you and park itself by just using an app on your phone or smartwatch. Technology is
advancing at a much faster rate now, so we might as well deal with emissions too.
Since diesel still emits harmful chemicals, that wont be part of this essay. The
purpose is to discuss the difference between electric and hydrogen power and to
see if one is more effective.
Hydrogen is a new option that is still under heavy development. Right now,
the Toyota Mirai is the only consumer based hydrogen car, but that is only sold in
Japan. Once other companies can start manufacturing their own FCEVs, they can
work to get more hydrogen fueling stations around thw world and go at a slow pace
like electric cars did. Hydrogen is a complex chemical to understand and a few more
car companies are doing heavy research for it as well. There was a TED talk about it
around 2004. Larry Burns, the former Corporate Vice President of Research and
Development for General Motors, talked about their research of hydrogen as a fuel
source. People still have varying questions about what exactly hydrogen is and how
it is able to be used as a source of power. In his TED talk titled The Future of Cars,
Larry Burns describes how hydrogen cars are the future of automotive transport.
One of his main points is how hydrogen can be made from any natural resource and
the only emission from the car is water vapor. Since hydrogen can be made from
any natural resource, any country would be able to take part in this advancement.

Once the hydrogen molecules are extracted, they can be stored inside of a fuel cell
or fuel stack which would then be used to create electricity, giving power to the
automotive transmission. It is more complex than just using electric batteries, but
all of the harmful chemicals from factories are put converted to hydrogen. BMW was
recently recognized for converting their landfill gas to hydrogen. In this article by
the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, BMW is using gas from a
nearby landfill to power their operations within their factory. The landfill gas is being
taken and converted into useful hydrogen which will be used to power their
machines in the factory such as forklifts and transport vehicles. The benefits of
doing this is that it limits air pollution and gives a use for the unused gas. By using
hydrogen instead of batteries, it reduces the cost of recharging batteries by 80%
and requires 75% less space since there isnt a need for recharging stations. The
hardest part for BMW was getting clean hydrogen out of the gas. They worked with
EERE, Gas Technology Institute, and the South Carolina Research Authority to create
several catalysts that would be used to remove the unwanted chemicals, creating a
clean hydrogen gas that would only emit water vapor. The reason for changing to
hydrogen fuel cells is that lead-acid batteries can become dangerous after a few
years. Like normal batteries we use in our devices, they start to corrode after a
while which is harmful to the environment as well as ourselves. Then, disposing of
the batteries can become costly and if not done properly, also harmful. Hydrogen
fuel cells can also be refueled very quickly which is great because these factories lift
and tow a heavy load of equipment every day. With normal batteries, you would
have to recharge these vehicles for hours and that costs time. Memphis
International Airport has started their campaign for their zero emission ground fleet.
They brought in 15 new hydrogen fuel cell cargo trucks to replace some of the

diesel powered trucks. These hydrogen trucks are capable of pulling 40,000 pounds
of cargo without any noise pollution. They will also save about 175,000 gallons of
diesel and 1,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. The benefit to using
hydrogen fuel cells over electric fuel cells is that hydrogen can be stored. They are
able to have a larger output of work because the power isnt only coming from the
motors powering the wheels. This makes hydrogen the more efficient option for
work vehicles or factory equipment.
Fully electric cars are obviously a lot more popular since they are easier to
produce and arent still in the development process. Manufacturing ZEVs is cheaper
because their only power source is electricity and they dont need as many parts. If
you take a shell off of a normal gas-powered car and an electric car, there is a huge
difference in needed parts. Just four electric motors for the wheels and a battery
stack to store the power compared to an engine, transmission, gas tank, drivetrain,
flywheel, etc. A lot more companies believe that electric cars are the way to go, but
that doesnt mean their right. I mean, we all believed the Volkswagen diesel cars
got amazing low-emission scores, now theyre in huge financial trouble and their
stock is down almost 50%. Their diesel cars actually emit 40 times past the EPA
limit. To put that into perspective, a Hummer had cleaner emissions compared to
some Volkswagen models.
Whenever there is a question about electric cars, the main man to go to is
Elon Musk. CEO of Tesla, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, and chairman of SolarCity. In his
TED talk from two years ago, he talks with Chris Anderson about Teslas purpose,
what their cars are all about and where he thinks the future is headed. In the
beginning, Elon talks about how inefficient power from natural gas works. Using
natural gas in a turbine, you get about 60 percent efficiency whereas if you put it in

a combustion engine, its about 20 percent efficient. Thats because of the wasted
heat that is being exhausted from the engine, it doesnt go anywhere. Using it in a
power plant is more beneficial because the excess heat would be used to power a
steam turbine to create a secondary power source. He then goes on to explain why
Tesla cars are so efficient. With the power from electric motors instead of using a
real engine, you have to figure out how to accelerate. That means the car has to be
light, very aerodynamic, and a low drag coefficient. A drag coefficient is a rating
given to a car to tell how well it can cut through air when driving to increase its
range on a single charge and with Tesla, they have beaten every other car company
with that rating. Now, Teslas arent for everyone yet because when they introduced
the Roadster at $100,000 at minimum, then the Model S starts at $50,000 and can
go past $100,000. Elon stated that in a few years, there will be a new model that
will be priced at $30,000 which is great because it means electric motors are
becoming even more powerful and less costly to produce. They even offer a great
warranty for their batteries since lithium ions are known for depleting over time, just
like our cell phone batteries. They offer an 8 year/ 100,000 mile warranty on just the
battery. Then you also get a separate warranty on the car itself. Im not comparing
Tesla to hydrogen cars, Tesla is just the leading company in electric innovation, so
its much easier to get facts about their cars rather than any other ones. But if you
do own one of their cars, you get a personal recharging station put into your home
and some solar panels put on your roof. The reason theyre doing this is since youre
charging your car, it uses a lot of electricity. By providing solar panels, you are able
to consume energy and any electricity you dont use each month, you can sell it
back to your electric company and earn a profit. The problem with all electric cars
and not just Tesla is that they are very heavy. The electric motors in the car make

up for most of the weight. A typical sedan weighs roughly 2,500 to 3,500 pounds
while most electric cars are 4,500 5,000 pounds.
To sum it up, there are negatives and positives to both sides. The positives for
electric cars are that you basically get free electricity, there are actually multiple
choices to choose from right now, and there are zero emissions. The negatives for
electric cars are that they cant tow a lot since it takes a lot of power from the
motors, the batteries take a long time to charge, and there arent as many charging
stations as there are gas stations. The positives to hydrogen cars are that the
energy can be stored for a longer time, their refuel times are only about 10-15
minutes, and any country can create hydrogen since it comes from an abundant
amount of resources. The main issue is that hydrogen is still in its developmental
process. Hydrogen is still a very complex chemical which makes it a long process for
companies to research. FCEVs are being built to exceed safety standards of normal
cars. Their batteries and fuel stacks are housed in different metal casings to prevent
high voltage hazards and theyre well protected to prevent explosions or fires.
Although the Mirai is being sold in Asia and it works, its the only hydrogen car right
now. Fiat-Chrysler, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz are working on producing efficient
fuel cells that arent too expensive so they can be incorporated into consumer
based cars. But there is one thing people dont think about. Where do we get our oil
for gas? The Middle East. Thats why Dubai and Abu Dhabi are some of the richest
cities. Their economy is based on exporting oil to countries throughout the world
and when countries start selling more electric and hydrogen cars, their economy is
going to fall because they will no longer have a steady source of income. They wont
go bankrupt, but they definitely wont be as rich as they used to be. This is a quote
by Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani, oil minister of Saudi Arabia. The big powers are

seriously trying to find alternatives to oil by seeking to draw energy from the sun or
water. We hope to God they will not succeed quickly because our position in that
case will be painful. We know this change wont happen quickly, but it will slowly
degrade their economy.
There isnt a definite answer yet about which version of energy is more
efficient, but each group has their perks. Since hydrogen fuel cells are still being
researched and there is only one consumer car out right now, its hard to compare
these two. For now, if people want an emission free vehicle, theyll have to buy an
electric car. But if you wait about a decade, hydrogen cars will be in a larger supply
and many more companies will have developed some prototypes or better yet,
actual cars. For me, Im going to stick with the classic car with an engine so I can
still drive manual and not forget the sound of a revving engine.

Works Cited
Burns, Larry T. "The Future of Cars." Larry Burns:. TED, 7 Feb. 2005. Web. 26 Oct.
2015

Hoffmann, Peter. Tomorrow's Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a
Cleaner Planet.

Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2001. Print.

"One Man's Trash, Another Man's Fuel: BMW Plant Converts Landfill Gas to Hydrogen
Fuel." Energy.gov.

N.p., 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

"The Mind behind Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity ..." Elon Musk:. N.p., 10 Feb. 2013. Web.
29 Oct. 2015

"World's First Fuel Cell Cargo Trucks Deployed at Memphis International Airport."

Energy.gov</i>. N.p., 25 June 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015