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How is hydrogen used as a fuel? Hydrogen is not a primary fuel itself but can be manufactured from fossil fuels and even water to power fuel cells or internal combustion engines. Most hydrogen in North America is produced from natural gas, but there are refrigerator-sized units that can produce hydrogen from water through electrolysis.What is a fuel cell? A fuel cell is a device that produces electricity without combustion. Hydrogen is combined with oxygen in a chemical process to produce electrical energy. The conversion process is environmentally benign: Only heat and water are emitted as byproducts.

What would a fuel-cell vehicle cost? Given that no commercial vehicles are being produced, it is difficult to gauge eventual retail prices. A small California company produced hydrogen vehicles at a cost of between $100,000 and $150,000 (U.S.). British Columbia is expected to pay well in excess of $1-million (Canadian) per bus for its 20 hydrogen-powered vehicles, compared with $800,000 for a diesel/electric hybrid.How is hydrogen used today? Although its role as a transportation fuel is in early stages, hydrogen has many commercial uses today. Some 60 per cent of hydrogen produced in North America is used to make ammonia for fertilizers, and it is also used in the oil industry to upgrade heavy oil and remove sulphur in the refining process. Fuel cells are being used to replace batteries in applications such as forklifts, specific stationary power needs, and even powering laptops and cellphones.

Isn't hydrogen unstable and dangerous? For many people, the idea of using hydrogen as a transportation fuel calls to mind the Hindenberg, the hydrogen-powered airship that famously burned over Lakehurst, N.J., in 1937. But hydrogen is no more dangerous than gasoline, and is much lighter than air and dissipates quickly at accident sites. Storage tanks at fuelling stations and on-board tanks have been tested and certified as safe.

When is the fuel-cell car going to be widely available? Car companies like Ford and General Motors say they could be ready to market fuel-cell vehicles by 2015, depending on the availability of fuelling stations. Expert panels have told the California and federal governments that target is optimistic. Hydrogen critics, like former U.S. Department of Energy official Joseph Romm, says: “Not in our lifetime.” Shawn McCarthy