Adrian NorthrupBMW has cars that run on water, emit water vapor at the tailpipe, fill automatically with robots and use hydrogen from sunlight.
All of this has been a part of BMW’s “Clean Energy” plan for 30 years. Within the next four years, a hybrid car that runs on both petrol and hydrogen will be offered to the general public. It’ll be at least another 20 or 30 years before hydrogen becomes a standard fuel source for the rest of the automotive industry. But when that happens, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a promise to build hydrogen fueling stations every 32 kilometers along the major California highways. Way to plan for the future, Arnold.
The rest of the nation should probably join Schwarzenegger in his planning. At some point, the petrol-based fuel we’re so dependent on right now is going to run out, and we’ll be desperately searching for a replacement. The U.S. government has set aside large amounts of time and money to investigate the hydrogen alternative because it’s very environmentally friendly. Hydrogen-based fuel emits no harmful toxins, doesn’t deplete any resources, is not a danger to our atmosphere and can be produced from a variety of renewable resources. A car that uses this hydrogen-based fuel is powered by sunlight and water. So it’s like a big, shiny plant with wheels.
It works by a process similar to that of photosynthesis, if photosynthesis used electricity. Solar-powered electricity is used to separate the hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The oxygen bit gets released into the atmosphere, while the hydrogen is stored at an incredibly cold temperature. Once the energy is used to power the vehicle, the hydrogen is released into the atmosphere as water, thus eliminating harmful emissions. BMW has been working on this hydrogen fuel idea for about 30 years.
In 2001, BMW took part in Clean Energy World Tour and bragged about their latest development. They had every right to brag, too. Fueling our cars with two of the same basic elements we need to fuel our own bodies is a brilliant idea. It appears to be so, anyway. We’ll never run out of sunlight unless the sun burns itself up someday. But I think it’s fairly safe to say that we’ll have sun until the day we die. Water is likely to stick around as well, although there are those out there who fear that one day the world will dry up and we’ll run out of water. I find this very hard to believe when so much of the earth’s surface is comprised of the stuff. But I suppose everyone needs something to be afraid of.
The only problem I have with this new development in BMW technology is the fact that a very small percentage of the automotive-owning population will be able to afford this car. Of course, in the epitome of suburbia, a BMW is a very common sight. But there’s generally a lot of money in the suburbs, so who cares? What about mass-transportation systems? Will they be able to fuel city buses, taxis and semi-trucks with hydrogen? That should be a big focus with this new development. It’s great that we’re fueling an expensive small car with something environmentally friendly, but it’d be fantastic if we could take care of the major polluters too. Because isn’t that what’s killing our environment? All of these big trucks and buses are seriously damaging so much of what we need to survive.
Hopefully, in 50 years when my driver’s license is being revoked because I’m going senile, they’ll have worked out all of the little details of this hydrogen business and everyone will be able to make use of it.
It’s a great idea, but what if we really do run out of water? We won’t be able to use oil, water will be useless and we’ll have to find yet another solution. But I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for the men and women at BMW working on this. With any luck, the seemingly endless supply of water we have here on earth will really be just that – endless. The idea of replacing petrol with hydrogen-based fuel will not sound so far-fetched, and Arnold will have no problem providing for all of his hydrogen fueling stations.
