Clean Air Technologies

Fuel Cell Cars
Imagine a car that only had one waste product: water. That is the tantalizing promise of fuel cell cars, which have not yet arrived in the commercial marketplace. If it sounds too good to be true, that's because it might be. Fuel cell cars produce electricity by chemically breaking down hydrogen fuel. When pure hydrogen is used, the only by-product is water, but pollution is produced in creating the fuel itself. Also, because hydrogen is a flammable gas, safety is an issue. Fuel distribution stations, such as this proposed northern California hydrogen pump, and storage solutions are under development but still rife with kinks. It could be two or more decades before fuel cell cars are widely available and adopted by drivers.