Introduction
Fuel cells have the power to change our future. A breakthrough "clean machine," the fuel cell harnesses the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity without combustion or pollution. Fuel cells will power the car of tomorrow -- quieter, cleaner and more energy efficieint, with equivalent range and performance. The benefits will be extraordinary, in national energy security, cleaner air, and economic opportunity.

Environmental Benefits
When operating directly with hydrogen, there are no polluting emissions and no greenhouse gases from a fuel cell, only water and heat. If the hydrogen is generated by reforming fossil fuels, some greenhouse gases are released, but much less than the amount produced by conventional vehicles. In addition to these benefits, fuel cells could dramatically reduce urban air pollution, decrease oil imports, reduce the trade deficit and produce American jobs.


Perks and Conveniences
Fuel cell engines offer a combination of the range of conventional combustion engines with low fuel consumption, minimal or no harmful emissions, low noise emissions, and the comfort of an electric vehicle.

Charging/Fueling
In 2004 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order to create a Hydrogen Highway in California that would accelerate commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell technologies. In the future, when you drive your fuel cell vehicle, the gas station you currently use may be the place where you’ll get hydrogen.

Developing the infrastructure for producing and distributing the fuel for fuel cell vehicles is a major task, and there are many questions and challenges to be addressed. Depending on how the hydrogen for a fuel cell is produced – for example, from hydrocarbon fuels, or through electrolysis of water using electricity generated from fossil fuels – there can be some pollutants associated with the fuel production. If the hydrogen is generated from renewable resources, like solar or wind-generated electricity for use in electrolysis, then the entire system is pollution-free and renewable.



Technology
Fuel cells generate electricity, using hydrogen as their fuel in an electrochemical process. A fuel cell can be used, in combination with an electric motor, to drive a vehicle – quietly, powerfully and cleanly.

An individual fuel cell consists of two electrodes, one positively charged (cathode) and one negatively charged (anode), with a substance that conducts electricity (electrolyte) sandwiched between them. Oxygen from the air passes over the cathode and hydrogen over the anode, generating electricity and water. The hydrogen fuel for a fuel cell EV can be supplied in several ways. Some vehicles carry a tank of pure hydrogen. Others could be equipped with a "fuel reformer" that converts hydrocarbon fuels—such as methanol, natural gas, or gasoline—into a hydrogen-rich gas. Individual fuel cells must be combined into groups called fuel cell stacks in order to achieve the necessary power required for motor vehicle applications



Facts

·	Fuel cell vehicles have the potential to strengthen our national energy security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. The U.S. uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day, at a cost of about $2 billion a week. In fact, half of the oil used to produce the gasoline you put in your tank is imported.
·	Fuel cells can provide much more electric power than the 12-volt batteries in conventional automobiles. Therefore, FCVs can be equipped with more sophisticated and powerful electronic systems than those found in conventional gasoline vehicles. For example, some vehicle manufacturers are designing vehicles that use electronic steering and braking. Eliminating the steering column and wheel may make these vehicles safer.
·	Internal combustion engines in automobiles convert less than 20% of the energy in gasoline into power that moves the vehicle. Vehicles using electric motors powered by hydrogen fuel cells are much more energy efficient, utilitizing 40-60% of the fuel's energy. Even FCVs that reform hydrogen from gasoline can use about 40% of the energy in the gasoline.
·	The U.S. Department of Energy projects that if a mere 10% of automobiles nationwide were powered by fuel cells, regulated air pollutants would be cut by one million tons per year and 60 million tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide would be eliminated. DOE projects that the same number of fuel cell cars would cut oil imports by 800,000 barrels a day — about 13 percent of total imports.