By Wim Swaan, alfa-mar resident and board member
Hydrogen cars represent one of the most promising innovations in sustainable mobility. Combining renewable hydrogen and oxygen, these vehicles generate electricity without emitting anything but water vapor — offering performance and range comparable to conventional cars. In this article, Alfa-Mar resident Wim Swaan explains how hydrogen technology works and why it could shape the future of transport.
How Hydrogen and Oxygen Create Clean Energy for the Road
Hydrogen vehicles are cars with an electric engine that generate this energy from oxygen and renewable hydrogen and are charged at service stations that have pumps of this fuel, known as hydrogen stations.
The progress of technology in the field of sustainable mobility has given rise in recent years to new transport alternatives. One of them, still little known, is hydrogen cars, which have a range similar to that of traditional combustion vehicles and only emit water vapor.
These vehicles, which have the Zero Emissions label of the Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT), generate the electricity that powers their engines using only oxygen and renewable hydrogen, which could make them a sustainable alternative for the cars of the future.
What if we were to think of a vehicle that only uses two renewable elements as fuel, returns only water vapor to the atmosphere, and has a performance and range similar to traditional combustion cars? We would think that this is the future. That horizon may be near, and it is that of hydrogen cars – or hydrogen fuel cell cars – one more option in the ecosystem of much-needed sustainable mobility.
Although there are still only a few hydrogen stations in Spain, they are increasing and the forecast is that they will increase significantly in the coming years. There are already 12 car manufacturers that now have a hydrogen fuel cell car model.
Incidentally, Welsh physicist William Grove discovered in the mid-19th century that hydrogen and oxygen can be used as a source for the production of electrical energy. The first hydrogen car did not arrive until 1966, when General Motors introduced an electric van powered by these two elements, which were stored in two tanks in liquid form.
How do hydrogen cars work?
Hydrogen fuel cell cars work through an electric engine, powered by a fuel cell. This fuel cell uses renewable hydrogen, which is stored at high pressure in one or more tanks of about 50 liters each, and oxygen, which is obtained by injecting air. Through a chemical process, from these two elements the fuel cell generates electrical energy and water vapor, which is the only emission produced by the hydrogen vehicle. The electricity produced is sent both to the engine and to the car’s battery, which is used for storage.
The hydrogen tank is located at the front of the car and is charged at service stations equipped with hydrogen stations.
For the user, refueling is very similar to refueling with a diesel or gasoline engine vehicle, although hydrogen charging stations are somewhat different. Typically, the pump has two hoses that offer different charging pressures, but in practice, refueling is the same for the user: just attach the corresponding hose and fill the tank.
Advantages of cars that work with hydrogen
Hydrogen vehicles are another alternative within sustainable transport solutions, as they only emit water vapor and have a range and refueling time similar to vehicles that run on traditional fuels. Specifically, the refueling time of this type of vehicle in the hydrogen station is between 3 and 5 minutes. In addition, the range of hydrogen cars is also very similar to that of diesel or gasoline vehicles, more than 600 kilometers.
These two factors together make the hydrogen vehicle one more feasible and convenient mobility alternative for everyday drivers, in addition to other sustainable options such as the use of renewable fuels or plug-in electric vehicles.