As I was reading more of my latest Business 2.0, I saw a blurb about home hydrogen filling stations. The article starts off, "What could be cooler--or greener--than a hydrogen car in your driveway?" If you are wondering what the answer is...."Try a solar-powered hydrogen fueling station in your garage." Once again, it seems the Australians are coming to the rescue in terms of optimizing the use of solar power. Scientists in Melbourne have created a prototype fueling station, which is a file-cabinet size and operates "on electricity generated by standard-issue rooftop solar panels." The initial version of this fueling station will allow a car to run 100 miles with no greenhouse emissions. Such a device may eventually sell for $500.00, which sounds pretty appealing. Certainly, the 100 mile range would allow trips to and from work or the store on a regular basis, but not cross-country roadtrips, as the article discusses.

The article discusses the problems that hydrogen production faces if these home units are not available. If a person could only fuel a hydrogen vehicle at a fuel station, there would be two major problems. For one, "today most hydrogen is produced by burning fossil fuels to create hydrogen gas...." Am I the only one who didn't know that hydrogen is not always a renewable source? Second, hydrogen stations would require national networks of pipelines. With the home fueling station, an electrolyzer is used, which is like a "fuel cell in reverse." An electric current from solar panels or even a home wind turbine, would separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. After that, the hydrogen is compressed, stored and is ready for use in a vehicle.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could have a fueling station in our garage next to our tools, bikes, etc.? There would be no more fear about not making it from home to the gas station in time, when the car is on "E." Further, it sounds like after the device and the solar panels are set up, the fuel would basically be free, since water would be the resource needed to make the hydrogen. We could then smile when oil prices rise, or at least, not be as upset as we are now when we have to fill our cars with gas when prices are elevated.