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The fuel cell is being considered as an eventual replacement for the internal combustion engine for cars, trucks and buses. Major car manufacturers have teamed up with fuel cell research centers or are doing their own development. There are plans for mass-producing cars running on fuel cells. Because of the low operating cost of the combustion engine, and some unresolved technical challenges of the fuel cell, however, experts predict that a large scale implementation of the fuel cell to power cars will not occur before 2015, or even 2020.

Most fuel cells are still handmade and are used for experimental purposes. Fuel cell promoters remind the public that the cost will come down once the cells are mass-produced and lower cost material are found. While an internal combustion engine requires an investment of $35 to $50 to produce one kilowatt (kW) of power, the equivalent cost in a fuel cells is still a whopping $3,000 to $7,500. The goal is a fuel cell that would cost equal or less than diesel engines.

Wind power generates electricity with... No air emissions No fuel to mine, transport, or store No cooling water No water pollution No wastes

Wind power can reduce pollution generated by fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. A typical (750 kW) wind turbine provides enough power for 328 typical (non-electric heating) homes.

Wind energy is cost-competitive with fossil fuels, especially coal. In Montana, wind energy is less expensive than coal for NorthWestern Energy--the state's largest utility.

ccording to the EIA, the total cost of wind energy without federal tax and other financial incentives is about 9.7 cents/kilowatt-hour. The total cost of conventional coal without federal tax and other financial incentives is about 9.4 cents/kilowatt-hour.

here are integration costs associated with intermittent renewable energy but unlike fossil fuels, wind (and solar and many other renewables) the fuel price stays the same: Zero.  Plus, wind-power technology has rapidly evolved. Turbines are much larger, growing from an average of 1.2 megawatts to 1.6 megawatts (a 33% increase in average capacity) in just three years.

Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, tasteless and non-toxic. It is a gas at temperatures above -423° F and is highly diffuse, having a density approximately 14 times less than that of air. Because it is buoyant and diffusive, hydrogen dissipates quickly in open areas and can move through small spaces, which makes it difficult to store. Hydrogen is flammable over a broad range of gas concentration (from 4 to 74 percent), although its lower flammability limit – that is, the lowest temperature and pressure at which it will combust – is higher than those for some common fuels such as gasoline, propane or diesel.1 Hydrogen has been described as “the fuel of the future.” On Earth, hydrogen is found in combination with other elements such as carbon (hydrocarbons), oxygen (water) and nitrogen (ammonia). Although hydrogen may sometimes be used as a fuel, it is most often used as an energy carrier, such as electricity, and not an energy source. To make hydrogen a usable, stand-alone fuel, it must be separated from these other elements by chemical, thermal or electrochemical processes.

History British scientist Henry Cavendish identified hydrogen as a distinct element in 1766. Subsequent experiments by British and French scientists resulted in the first flight of a hydrogen balloon and the discovery that applying electricity to water can produce hydrogen and oxygen.

In the 1960s, NASA space capsules used hydrogen fuel cells for onboard electric power, heat and water.

Most transportation fuels are liquids, because vehicles usually require high energy density, as occurs in liquids and solids.

First generation biofuels 'First-generation' or conventional biofuels are biofuels made from sugar, starch, and vegetable oil.

Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—are America's primary source of energy, accounting for 85 percent of current US fuel use.

Many of the environmental problems our country faces today result from our fossil fuel dependence. These impacts include global warming, air quality deterioration, oil spills, and acid rain.

Over the last 150 years, burning fossil fuels has resulted in more than a 25 percent increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

In the hydrogen economy, there is no storehouse to tap into. We have to actually create the e­nergy in real-time.

There are two possible sources for the hydrogen: Electrolysis of water - Using electricity, it is easy to split water molecules to create pure hydrogen and oxygen. One big advantage of this process is that you can do it anywhere. For example, you could have a box in your garage producing hydrogen from tap water, and you could fuel your car with that hydrogen. Reforming fossil fuels - Oil and natural gas contain hydrocarbons -- molecules consisting of hydrogen and carbon. Using a device called a fuel processor or a reformer, you can split the hydrogen off the carbon in a hydrocarbon relatively easily and then use the hydrogen. You discard the leftover carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

To have a pure hydrogen economy, the hydrogen must be derived from renewable sources rather than fossil fuels so that we stop releasing carbon into the atmosphere. Having enough electricity to separate hydrogen from water, and generating that electricity without using fossil fuels, will be the biggest change that we see in creating the hydrogen economy.

Like electricity, hydrogen is a secondary source of energy. It stores and carries energy produced from other resources (fossil fuels, water, and biomass).

ydrogen is the simplest element. Each atom of hydrogen has only one proton. It is also the most plentiful gas in the universe. Stars like the sun are made primarily of hydrogen. The sun is basically a giant ball of hydrogen and helium gases. In the sun's core, hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms. This process — called fusion — gives off radiant energy.

Hydrogen gas is so much lighter than air that it rises fast and is quickly ejected from the atmosphere. This is why hydrogen as a gas (H2) is not found by itself on Earth. It is found only in compound form with other elements. Hydrogen combined with oxygen, is water (H2O). Hydrogen combined with carbon forms different compounds, including methane (CH4), coal, and petroleum.

Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals (microorganisms). Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis. The chemical energy in plants gets passed on to animals and people that eat them. Biomass is a renewable energy source because we can always grow more trees and crops, and waste will always exist. Some examples of biomass fuels are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage. When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. If you have a fireplace, the wood you burn in it is a biomass fuel. Wood waste or garbage can be burned to produce steam for making electricity, or to provide heat to industries and homes.

Crops like corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce ethanol. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, can be produced from left-over food products like vegetable oils and animal fats.

Ethanol and biodiesel were the fuels used in the first automobile and diesel engines, but lower cost gasoline and diesel fuel made from crude oil became the dominant vehicle fuels. The Federal government has promoted ethanol use in vehicles to help reduce oil imports since the mid-1970s.

William Grove, a chemist, physicist and lawyer, is generally credited with inventing the fuel cell in 1839

n the late 1950s and early 1960s NASA, in collaboration with industrial partners, began developing fuel cell generators for manned space missions.

Fuel cells are self-contained power generation devices that are able to produce reliable electricity for residential, commercial, industrial and transportation applications. A fuel cell can convert hydrogen directly into electricity that can be used to power an electric car, for example, or a home.

In fuel cells, the use of hydrogen produces fewer greenhouse gases than does burning fossil fuels

. Fuel cells convert energy efficiently, which helps conserve energy resources. And a byproduct of this electro-chemical process is pure water—a clear benefit for the environment

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Biofuel, based on fuel derived from organic biomass from recently living animals or plants or their byproducts, has transformed from a niche alternative to fossil fuels (e.g., gasoline, diesel) to become a booming industr

The term “biofuels” encompasses a wide range of fuels, including vegetable oils, animal fats, ethanol, biodiesel (any oil or fat that undergoes transesterification to more closely resemble mineral-based fuel), and synfuel (fuel made from gasified organic matter, then liquefied to form fuel). The main common trait of all these fuels is that they are derived from organic biomass, rather than minerals.