China's going green with two new buses that produce only water and no carbon emissions. The buses, which just got put into service in Zhengzhou, run on hydrogen. According to a video posted up on Twitter by China Xinhua News, the buses produce water that you can drink straight from the tailpipe. The video even shows a bus driver taking a mouthful of the water from a glass that collected it. He said that it "has no taste and feels a little warm."
Hydrogen fuels green buses in China
The green buses run off hydrogen. In their video, the news outlet explained that hydrogen fuel cells are fitted to the bus.
Electricity gets produced by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen through the fuel cells. Charged with about 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of hydrogen fuel, the bus can run for approximately 400 kilometers (about 248 miles). Although only two are operating, it's hoped that by October 2018, there will be more than 20 of them.
The Union of Concerned Scientists explains how hydrogen works when it comes to propelling motor vehicles. According to their website, they are considered to be electric vehicles, (EV) as the combination of oxygen and hydrogen produce an electrical current. They have the advantage of traveling further without recharging than ordinary EVs. As heat and water are the "only by-products" they don't pollute the air with greenhouse gas emissions.
Producing hydrogen does cause some pollution
It's interesting to note that producing the hydrogen does actually cause some greenhouse gas pollution. However, even when extracted from natural gas, which is the "dirtiest" source, it produces 30 percent lower pollution than vehicles that have gasoline. However, for people who want to use the technology in their own cars, there's a need to live close to a hydrogen refueling station.
Eco Global Fuels note that "9 million metric tons of hydrogen are produced in the United States annually, enough to power 20-30 million cars or 5-8 million homes." Some buses in America do already run on the fuel cells. These have similar hydrogen fuel technology that produces water with no pollutants. Interestingly, they pointed out that NASA uses the water produced from their space shuttles which use the technology, to hydrate the astronaughts who drink it.
China's green push! The bus runs on hydrogen and emits only water pic.twitter.com/ObN0fXIX3I
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 26, 2018
Will hydrogen-fuelled cars become the norm?
Green Car Congress commenters pointed out that there are cleaner ways to produce hydrogen than through the current method of "steaming." They ask if the demand grows whether they could generate it from excess solar or wind energy rather than steaming it through reforming methane (as they do now).
It will be interesting to see if the use of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles becomes widespread. Stay up to date with new ideas, inventions, and interesting news by checking in with Blasting Pop often.
