BMW has recently announced its upcoming hydrogen-powered 7 series. According to Andreas Klugescheid, corporate communication manager of western operations for BMW, the upcoming cars will be having top speed BMW engines of 143 mph and runs off a V-12 internal combustion engine with 260 horsepower. The vehicles will also be capable of running on gasoline.
Milivoje Kostic, associate professor of mechanical engineering said "It could burn with oxygen in an engine or a burner similar to other hydro-carbon fossil fuels, but it could be used in a fuel cell to produce electricity without any moving parts, just electro-chemical reaction. The BMW hydrogen car can burn hydrogen in a combustion engine and could use regular fuel instead. It does not use fuel cells."
Another professor in mechanical engineering by the name Pradip Majumdar added, "It is very clean when hydrogen is used directly rather than through conversion from other conventional fuels using a reforming process. The only by-products of fuel cells are water and heat when hydrogen is used as fuel." He also added, "Since the molecular weight and density of hydrogen are very small, storing and transporting a significant amount of hydrogen in its gaseous form requires very large, high pressure containers which may not be feasible in application such as in automobiles."
Kostic further noted, "Hydrogen, as a very reactive gas, has a whole host of problems with regard to storage and distribution. That's why the American Academy of Arts and Sciences issued a statement that without a major breakthrough there is not a future for hydrogen economy."
Hydrogen is part of water, biomass, natural and landfill gas. It is obtainable from various sources in nature. Furthermore, hydrogen produces cleaner emissions compared to fossil fuels. Nonetheless, it also has its set of drawbacks that can delay its development.
Anima Bose, associate professor of mechanical engineering, finally noted, "Illinois has abundant resources for renewable energy to resolve the energy problems in our state. I hope that Illinois' leadership takes advantage of these resources to be the leader in alternate energy development and technology."
