Carmaker Hyundai and a postgraduate student from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a prototype solar-powered hydrogen car, the Telegraph reports.
Named the Hyundai City Car 2020, it uses solar panels to use sun’s rays to create electricity, which is subsequently used to create a hydrogen fuel source.
The electricity is fed into a water tank where it separates the hydrogen needed to powers the car. Pure oxygen is pushed out of the exhaust.
On-board hydrogen production is a necessary element to the development of the fuel as a serious mainstream contender. Current generation hydrogen cars, such as the Honda FCX Clarity are limited by the need to store hydrogen on board on the car and refill at a fuel station. As hydrogen is not a naturally free gas, it means that the hydrogen used in the FCX Clarity needs to prepared in advance to as part of an energy-intensive industrial process. Currently this usually means steaming it from natural gas.
Nicolas Stone, the student behind the project, said he believed that the use of solar energy could help solve the problem of cutting motoring’s carbon impact.
“My goal for this project was to 'attack' the global energy crisis from a fresh perspective,” he told the Telegraph.
“I feel this proposal is very realistic because the technology, as extreme as it sounds, really does exist. These technologies have enormous potential, I believe it is just a matter of time before it becomes more mainstream."
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