At first glance, the fuel cell may seem to be an ideal power source for automotive use. Clearly the logistical problems outweigh the advantages at this time. List some of the problems. (No conspiracy theories please!)
The truly physics right here entails electrical power. In a hydrogen gas mobile, hydrogen combines with oxygen, and offers off 2 electrons which might be carried out to a battery or some thing it's powering.
(So you get a conspiracy theory as the 1st answer!) The simplest fuel cells use hydrogen as the fuel. There are two main problems with hydrogen. 1. Logistic: Hydrogen transport and storage is difficult. It can only be practically stored as -a liquid at very low temperature -a compressed gas at very high pressure -a hydride, which is a compound of some element with hydrogen which can easily be separated back into hydrogen and that element, but this is an exotic method 2. Efficiency: Generating hydrogen costs at least as much energy as the hydrogen yields as a fuel. It may be chemical energy, as in conversion (extraction of hydrogen from alcohol or petrochemicals), or electric energy as in electrolysis of water. Research on alternate methods such as biogeneration (e.g., using specialized bacteria) is ongoing. The advantage of course is that if the generation is done in a central plant, the byproducts (including waste heat, that would be discarded in small-scale operation can be economically collected and used. Still, the use of hydrogen does not reduce the input energy requirement for a given energy output.
Big oil companies would never allow for this to happen because all of the money they would lose. Just look at the electric car.
