Chemistry Midterm - Hydrogen Fuel Cells

In no doubt, it feels as though this time of the century is just about to roll over the seemingly endless hump that finally gets us to a point of efficient industrialization of the modern world. Starting from the revolution with factories and beginning of mass production in the 1760 to 1800’s, we have approached a keystone to what may make or break our role in maintaining the earth.

The idea of hydrogen fuel cell cars is not unfamiliar, but it is still an unspoken idea that has yet to spread through the mass general eyes. Even though the United Kingdom has the most amounts of functional hydrogen fuel cell car stations, there are not enough to radicalize this new idea. With less than twenty hydrogen fuel centers in United Kingdom, we are still in a vast comparison with the petroleum and oil industry in numbers.

Inclusive of the oil industry, the market for hydrogen fuel cell cars is not very high in comparison to regular cars as of now. It would not be a surprise to see big oil companies do what they can in their monetary power and political influence to stay on top. The only crucial factor that may alter this hierarchy of economical priorities may be the consumer’s change of demand for a cleaner system of transportation.

The statement from SME Manager of Arval, Paul Marchment is a great approach to how we should prepare for the future and birth this new section of vehicles to the public:
“We’re still a few years away from mass deployment but we need to understand how it works now so that we’re ready for the future when it does take off in a big way.”
The idea of an alternative reality of the world coming to the brink of disaster and seeing massive amounts of people frantically purchasing hydrogen fuel cell cars and cramming up for the little fueling stations there are in this world seems like chaos. In that perspective, it does feel rather clever to slowly introduce hydrogen fuel cell cars over time.
The merging of Audi and Hyundai is a great example to see that both mid-tier and high-end auto companies are willing to collaborate with each other to be ahead of the game. Not only to produce beautiful and environmentally friendly cars, but to also set a positive example for other auto companies to consider in following the idea of leading the industry with a lower carbon footprint. . It is to be predicted that the stocks for these handful of companies which produce hydrogen fuel cell cars and stations now to skyrocket once investors understand the value of forward-thinking technology.

I do believe that hydrogen fuel cell can prove to be the way in further development of both vehicles and to create a cleaner and greener world around us. With Tesla’s massive success in putting high-quality, electric vehicles in the game, we are left with the final player in a highly clean and efficient option to come into play.

It may seem like hydrogen fuel cell cars are the tortoises and the oil companies are the hare, but when priorities are shifted from instant gratification to environmentally-friendly decisions, the race will not seem all too much of a loss.