Hydrogen fuel cells may revolutionize transportation but aren't perfect.
Hydrogen fuel could potentially reduce or eliminate dependence on oil as the fuel for transportation. Hydrogen fuel cells are sourced from hydrogen obtained from the earth's atmosphere. Hydrogen fuel cells are clean fuel, as the only emission they produce are steam vapor. Despite the enormous potential this fuel has for changing the way mankind may drive in the future, hydrogen cells have some systemic problems. As a result of these problems, the concept of hydrogen fuel cells as a form of transportation fuel is a theoretical concept only, as of 2010.
Cost
The greatest constraint to obtaining hydrogen fuel cells is the astronomical cost. Although hydrogen is available in great abundance, harnessing it into a usable form is extremely difficult and thus very expensive. Harnessing hydrogen fuel power and processing it for use in vehicles involves the use of technology that is still so new, its implementation could cost trillions of dollars.
Technology and Pollution
While the emission from a car that runs on hydrogen fuel is almost zero; producing hydrogen fuel cells in plants for eventual use causes the release of excessively high amounts of carbon dioxide. This almost neutralizes the cleanliness of the fuel in terms of final emission from a vehicle.
Storage
When hydrogen fuel cells are processed, they must be made available as gas that goes into separate tanks in vehicles. It is not possible to just fill up the gas tank as you do with diesel or gasoline. The fuel is stored in tanks that are fitted on the sides of vehicles, which is unsightly and causes te tank to be prone to explosion. Furthermore, there is no perfect way to insulate the tanks, resulting in loss of hydrogen from the fuel cells at a rate of close to two percent a day.
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