Petry 1

Joshua Petry

ENG-1201

Professor Cook

12 July 2020

Hydrogen or Electric Fuel?

A new breed of vehicles is hitting the road, they are powered by Hydrogen fuel. This new

breed emits only water out of the tail pipe, making it unique when compared to other types of

vehicles (Hicks 5). A debate is just starting between two advanced ways of fueling vehicles.

Electric battery vehicles and Hydrogen electric vehicles are battling between which fuel will be

the future of the automotive industry. The state of the environment is getting worse at an

alarming rate. Our lives and the lives of the generations after us depend on what we do now to

combat climate change, and one way to slow the damages and maybe even help repair the

environment is by using alternative fuels for vehicles. The immense benefits both fuels provide

could be the answer to fixing Climate Change. Their benefits have the possibility of impacting

humans lives on a massive scale. These fuels will enable humans to pollute less and lead

healthier lives. Hydrogen and electric fuels should be used more because of the ways they can

help fix climate change with environmental benefits, falling price, and increasing practicality.

To truly understand both fuels, it is important to look at the history of electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles have existed for around one hundred twenty years, right around the start of

the 1900s. When motor vehicles started being sold, electric vehicles were more popular. In his

book, Sperling mentioned that around the 1900s electric vehicles were sold more often than

gasoline vehicles (Sperling 36). Sperling shows electric vehicles were the more popular vehicle
 Petry 2

originally. Once the gasoline vehicles gained attraction, oil companies spent larger amounts of

money to develop gasoline vehicles instead of electric vehicles. Gasoline cars were also

mentioned in how they have billions more money spent in research then electric vehicles

(Sperling 36). The uneven spending of funds for research in vehicles left electric vehicles in the

dust of gasoline vehicles. This imbalance has resulted in a dangerous and uneven race between

alternatively fueled vehicles and gasoline ones. The power that gas companies obtained with

their monetary spending has left the world in an unfair position. Electric and alternatively fueled

vehicles have decades less of research and production then gasoline vehicles. Another important

fact to understand is that Hydrogen vehicles and plugin electric vehicles both use electricity to

drive. Electric battery vehicles use a plug to charge their battery and then run or are charged

through other ways. While Hydrogen vehicles are filled with Hydrogen and then use the

Hydrogen to power an electric motor in the vehicle.

 Petry 3

Fig 1. (Carter 7). This image shows a simplified way of how a Hydrogen Fuel cell vehicle works.

Understanding these facts create a better way to debate which type of fuel is better.

The environmental benefits of electric battery vehicles and Hydrogen vehicles are

immense. They can slow down much of the damage caused by humans to the climate. While they

have benefits, Hydrogen vehicles are cleaner to use. The Alternative Fuels Data Center has a

page on Hydrogen fuel that explains how it can be created. The page mentions multiple ways to

create Hydrogen fuel including solar, wind, and other renewable (Alternative Fuels and

Advanced Vehicles). Meanwhile, electric energy is produced in more environmentally damaging

ways. Another page showed how electric energy is commonly created, which included natural

gas, coal, and nuclear energy (Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles). This way of producing

electricity is less meaningful when owning an electric vehicle because users are still harming the

environment. It is important to know that while most electricity is produced in unclean ways, it
 Petry 4

can also be produced in renewable ways (Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles). In addition,

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can even improve health along with the environment, some benefits

were, improving air quality, personal health, and the global climate (Colella, Golden, Jacobson).

If all the on-road vehicles became Hydrogen vehicles, there would be many improvements.

While they have some environmental benefits of energy production, both fuels provide massive

benefits from their emissions.

Another main factor of environmental benefits is the emissions from these types of fuels.

The Hydrogen vehicles have few emissions and the ones they have are environmentally friendly.

The Alternative Fuels Data Center also says Hydrogen powered vehicles only emit water and hot

air, unlike gasoline vehicles. (Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles). These emissions are

clean and have zero negative impacts on the environment. Electric vehicles are similar to

Hydrogen electric vehicles in the emission factor, where electric vehicles have zero emissions as

stated by Alternative Fuels Data Center, “Vehicles that run only on electricity produce no

tailpipe emissions” (Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles). The electric vehicle’s zero

emissions are a huge benefit towards helping the environment. Current gasoline vehicles mainly

emit Nitrogen and Carbon dioxide. Without these extra Carbon emissions, the environment

would benefit. Less Carbon emissions means a healthier environment. Even though not all the

environmental crisis is from vehicle emissions, a huge part of the problem could be solved with

Hydrogen or electric vehicles. While their environmental benefits are great, alternative fuel

vehicle’s prices are also decreasing.

The second main factor is on price of the Hydrogen vehicle and fuel. Development of the

fuels and vehicles has led to many of their prices decreasing over time. The Hydrogen vehicle,

while being newer, has had multiple massive breakthroughs in pricing. The price of fuel is
 Petry 5

starting to lower because of cheaper ways to produce Hydrogen fuel. Real Engineering, made up

of multiple scientists and engineers, explained in a video how a new solution to producing

Hydrogen at a cheaper cost is by using a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) in the Chemical

reaction phase (“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future?”). This new way of producing Hydrogen fuel

can reduce the price significantly because of the rate and ease of which Hydrogen is produced.

Another benefit of Hydrogen fuel is the multiple ways it can be produced, which enables it to be

produced at a much cheaper cost. Daniel Sperling mentions, “Currently, the least expensive and

most common way to make hydrogen is by reforming natural gas. The cost is about $0.70 per

gasoline-equivalent gallon, slightly more than gasoline” (Sperling 90). While the book was

written in 1995, and the price per gallon has changed, that price inflated today is about one dollar

and twenty cents. The decreasing price of Hydrogen vehicles has followed the decreasing prices

of electric vehicles.

Electric vehicle prices are concurrently falling with Hydrogen vehicles. While the price

of fully charging an electric vehicle is hard to calculate because many people are charged

through their electric bills, they are generally cheaper (Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles).

In addition, electric vehicles save the owner money from spending it on gas. There are also

incentives to buying electric vehicles that some governments have even imposed. The

government in New South Wales, Australia has worked to speed up the rollout of electric

vehicles. A recent article by Susannah Guthrie mentioned that users switching to electric vehicles

could save over one-thousand dollars on fuel and upkeep on their car (Guthrie 6). The New

South Wales governments report used the savings to promote the purchases of electric vehicles.

These monetary benefits can make up the price of buying an electric vehicle over a gasoline one.

In addition, Lawrence Fulton states, “Another study indicated that hybrid vehicles were better
 Petry 6

than gas-powered vehicles in terms of life-cycle costs and high travel miles” (Fulton 2). Fulton’s

article explained how people could save money by purchasing hybrid vehicles in the lifetime of

the vehicle. After the amount of time a vehicle normally lasts, hybrid vehicles save the owner

money with the expenses of the vehicles lifetime and how far it has gone. These benefits of

hybrid vehicles are even less compared to all-electric vehicles because they have zero

expenditures on gas. The Hydrogen vehicles are also improving in their practicality.

Over many years, Hydrogen vehicles have changed because of the scientific

advancements made. At the same time, Hydrogen vehicle’s charging stations have been

improving. The article, “Hydrogen Storage Technology and Fuel Cell Cars,” mentioned that

scientists were able to create a new way of storing larger amounts of Hydrogen to make them

able to reach distances of over three hundred miles on a single tank of fuel (“Hydrogen Storage

Technology and Fuel Cell Cars”). Those scientist compound enables the cars to hold more

Hydrogen, increasing the range of travel. This increased range of travel makes the cars more

practical to own. In addition, the speed of refueling is fast, like the speed of refueling a gasoline

vehicle. Wayne Hicks said that the way the Hydrogen is put into the tank is pretty similar to

filling up a gasoline vehicle’s tank. He estimated that an average Hydrogen vehicle tank can take

around six or less minutes to fully fill (Hicks 5). The quick refilling rate of a Hydrogen vehicle

makes them similar to gasoline vehicles. These similarities are a positive step in practicality.

Along with the fast refilling rate and larger range, more fueling stations are being built. The

Alternative Fuels Data Center claimed that around 2019, only about forty fueling stations were

open in the U.S. (Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles). The number of stations will almost

double in the coming years, and while Hydrogen is not the popular fuel currently, more stations

will make them much more practical for purchasing. Hydrogen vehicles are close to electric
 Petry 7

vehicles in practicality, but there are many improvements needed for these vehicles to become

mainstream for purchasing.

Electric vehicles advancements are like those of Hydrogen vehicles. Many of the areas

where Hydrogen vehicles have improved so have electric vehicles, especially in range of travel.

Electric vehicles do have a shorter range on average currently. The Alternative Fuels Data Center

mentioned that depending on the way people drive, most electric vehicles can go further than

one-hundred miles (Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles). The standard range of all-electric

vehicles is normally over one hundred miles but well below the range of Hydrogen vehicles. The

lower range hurts electric vehicles in practicality, but they make up for it in amount of charging

stations. Unlike the Hydrogen vehicles, electric vehicles have thousands of charging stations

with many more being built. The Alternative Fuels Data Center said the number of electric

charging stations numbered around twenty-two thousand just last year, enabling around fifty-five

thousand cars to be fueled at once. (“Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles”). This massive

number of charging station shows the imbalance between the few Hydrogen stations and makes

electric vehicles more practical in this aspect. With an improvement to practicality, there will be

improvements on the environment.

The world is facing a massive problem, the worsening climate crisis is being met with

more vehicles every year. If gasoline vehicles continue to dominate the roads, then huge

problems will be prevalent in the short future. Lawrence Fulton said, electric vehicles could help

to reduce some of the carbon emissions, while also helping the environment. He later mentioned

a study that said electric vehicles could lower the Global Warming Potential by around fifteen

percent and Carbon monoxide by thirty-seven percent in the (Fulton 2). This statistic is important

especially because it mentions Global Warming Potential which is a huge obstacle in stopping
 Petry 8

climate change. The climate crisis is a huge problem the world is facing, to effectively work on

fixing the crisis the world needs new policies.

World leaders and new policies are huge factors in letting more alternatively fueled

vehicles hit the road. David Sperling mentions in his book that the United States should, keep the

Zero Emissions Mandate to help invest and develop electric vehicles further (Sperling 138). The

ZEV is the Zero Emissions Mandate, which Sperling calls for the government to keep

developing more electric vehicles. This is something that is not currently being followed, but

some U.S. states are working towards. Governments must lead people to battling against climate

change, one important step is by using more alternatively fueled vehicles. Earlier, it was stated

that the New South Wales government of Australia is pushing electric vehicle sales (Guthrie 2).

This shows a government that is dedicated to helping become the solution to a problem instead

of helping the problem like so many other governments. Sperling again mentioned in his book,

the importance of governments promoting and expanding the research into clean energy car and

fuel cells (Sperling 138). Fuel cells are something that many automotive companies have spent a

lot of time researching and developing, but governments have not aided in developing these.

With more government guidance, Hydrogen and electric vehicles could see massive

improvements resulting in huge price drops. The lower prices would harvest more interest from

people to buy alternatively powered vehicles, which would help start to slowly fix the

environmental crisis.

While there are many positive sides to buying and owning electric and Hydrogen

vehicles, there are some worries about them. The most popular argument against Hydrogen

vehicles is safety and how the Hydrogen is stored. Many people think back to the Hindenburg,

which was a Zeppelin/Airship filled with Hydrogen. The Hindenburg caught fire and burned up
 Petry 9

in minutes (“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the Future?”). This accident is shown in the YouTube video

by Real Engineering. The fear of Hydrogen directly relates to the safety of storing Hydrogen in a

vehicle. To partially solve this, it is important to understand how the Hydrogen is stored in the

cars. Wayne Hicks mentioned how Hydrogen is stored by compressing it and cooled down to

super low temperatures of around negative forty degrees Celsius to prevent the Hydrogen from

exploding (Hicks 8). His explanation shows how it can be safely stored in fueling stations, which

is also a part of how it is safely stored in vehicles. This way causes the Hydrogen to be stable at

the low degree, making it safer to load into a vehicle. The video mentions how Toyota’s Mirai

had a bullet shot into the tank and safely released the gas into the air without exploding. Real

Engineering explains that Hydrogen can be safely expelled from the storage tank if needed. The

narrator also mentions that the gas is similar to gasoline in safety (“Hydrogen, the Fuel of the

Future”). These ways of safely storing Hydrogen have been developed to squash people’s fear of

it. When using these safe storage techniques, Hydrogen can be used without worry of explosions

or fire. While fear over a safe way of storing Hydrogen is a main concern, there are other

arguments against Hydrogen.

Another main argument against Hydrogen is how it is produced. This is one of the most

important factors when using alternative fuels because alternative fuels are mainly used to be

more environmentally friendly. If the alternative fuels are not more environmentally friendly,

then it defeats the purpose of using alternative fuels. While currently there are many ways of

producing it, some are not as environmentally friendly. The current cheapest way of making

Hydrogen is by Natural gas reforming, the Alternative Fuels Data Center says, “This method is

the cheapest, most efficient, and most common” (“Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles”).

Even though this is the most common way currently, many other ways are possible to create
 Petry 10

Hydrogen. The other main way of creating it is through Electrolysis, which the Alternative Fuels

Data Center also said that if the electricity can be created by renewable means, then the

electricity would also be labeled as a renewable energy, providing environmental (“Alternative

Fuels & Advanced Vehicles”). This way of production can be done through wind, solar, and

other renewable energies to create Hydrogen. While this is used less currently it is an extremely

environmentally friendly way of creating the Hydrogen. In addition, as more research is done on

alternative fuels, these cleaner production methods will be used more efficiently and at a higher

rate.

The importance of Hydrogen and electric vehicles is rapidly increasing. Hydrogen and

electric fuels need to be used more because of their benefits in the environment, reasonable

price, and increasing practicality. Their numerous benefits can help the world slow down the

environmental damages caused by. Hydrogen and electric share many similar characteristics and

possible benefits. Their environmental benefits can improve air quality, human health, and the

environment from using the cars. The environmental benefits from these fuels are a result of the

increasing efficiency from research and development into renewable sources of fuel. The price of

the vehicles ended up being similar with money saved in gas and repairs. Surprisingly the prices

were not incredibly expensive, while the larger upfront cost of these vehicles is not as popular, it

is reasonable to expect to save money from the vehicles because of their cost effectiveness in the

long run. While Hydrogen vehicles can travel much further, there are less fueling stations in

existence compared to electric vehicles. The more Hydrogen fueling stations that are created will

make the Hydrogen vehicles more practical, which should, result in more vehicles being

purchased. The increase in renewably fueled vehicles will only have positive impacts on the
 Petry 11

environment. While many of the benefits of using Hydrogen and electric vehicles are great now,

as more time passes the benefits will only increase.

 Petry 12

Works Cited

“Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles.” Alternative Fuels Data Center: Alternative Fuels

and Advanced Vehicles, National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

afdc.energy.gov/fuels/index.html. Accessed 1 July 2020.

Daniel Sperling. Future Drive : Electric Vehicles And Sustainable Transportation. Island Press,

1995. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=118286&site=ehost-live.

Fulton, Lawrence. “A Publicly Available Simulation of Battery Electric, Hybrid Electric, and

Gas-Powered Vehicles.” Energies (19961073), vol. 13, no. 10, May 2020, p.

2569. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/en13102569.

Hicks, Wayne. “NREL Research into Fueling Big Rigs Could Help More Hydrogen Vehicles Hit

the Road.” NREL.gov, NREL, 1 May 2020, www.nrel.gov/news/features/2020/nrel-

research-fueling-big-rigs-help-hydrogen-vehicles-hit-road.html. Accessed 1 July 2020.

“Hydrogen Storage Technology and Fuel Cell Cars.” TIDEE (TERI Information Digest on

Energy & Environment), vol. 6, no. 4, Dec. 2007, pp. 458–459. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=enr&AN=31325614&site=eds-live.

Accessed 5 July 2020.

“Hydrogen – The Fuel of the Future?” YouTube, uploaded by Real Engineering, 20 Apr. 2018,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPheEg-K2qc.

Jacobson, M.Z., et al. "Cleaning the Air and Improving Health With Hydrogen Fuel-cell

Vehicles." Science, vol. 308, no. 5730, 2005, p. 1901+. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A133864058/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=faa16a64. Accessed 5 July 2020.

 Petry 13

Carter, James. “Does Hydrogen Have a Future in the Auto World?” Auto Service World, 9 July

2018, www.autoserviceworld.com/features/does-hydrogen-have-a-future-in-the-auto-

world/. Accessed 12 July 2020

Guthrie, Susannah. "NSW fast-tracks electric vehicles." Age [Melbourne, Australia], 21 Mar.

2020, p. 11. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A618033764/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=f9f60c58. Accessed 5 July 2020.