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Who think fuel cells will eliminate fossil fuels. Fuel cells work by combinining hydrogen and oxygen across a catalytic membrane to produce electricity. Now we all know the oxygen comes from the air, but just where do you think the hydrogen comes from. The answer is FOSSIL FUELS. Hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of hydrocarbons, typically methane (natural gas), LPG (propane and butane) or naphtha (aka gasoline). To get the hydrogen out of these materials, they must be heated to a high temperature and then passed over a bed of catalyst. Guess where the heat comes from - by burning fossil fuels, typically natural gas. Now, you have the hydrogen out of the hydrocarbons, what is left behind - carbon and because of the chemistry of the steam reforming process, this carbon comes out as carbon dioxide. The hydrogen of course is combined with oxygen in the fuel cell (that is it is burned) so what do you get - water. What do you get when you burn gasoline directly, especially when you have a catalytic converter on the exhaust system - thats right, carbon dioxide and water. So what is different? Well first, with a fuel cell powered vehicle you now have a pressurized tank of highly flammable gas in your car. Not quite as bad as what the space shuttle carries (which is liquid hydrogen) but still much more dangerous than a tank of liquid gasoline. Second, when you factor in the total quantity of hydrocarbons consumed to produce the hydrogen you burn in the fuel cell, you will find that the total fuel used is higher than for gasoline powered cars. Finally, while there is no question that an electic motor can be designed to produce high torque (needed for good acceleration) they are terribly inefficient when doing so. In most cases, high torque windings are used only to get the motor started, and they use a lot of amps and qet quite hot. Due to these drawbacks, I know of many large motor applications that do not have start-up windings and instead use an auxiliary drive to get the motor going. Can cars be built to run on fuel cells - absolutely they already exist and there are several mass tranportation applications (buses) already in service. Will they reduce the use of fossil fuels - not likely. Will they be able to provide the same performance, convenience, and cruising range of gasoline powered cars - certainly not in my life time, and probably never. I can see fuel cells becoming a major factor in commuter transportation, but not for vehicles intended to run on the open road or where any type of performance is required.
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