Cleaning the Air and Improving Health with Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Converting all U.S. onroad vehicles to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (HFCVs) may improve air quality, health, and climate significantly, whether the hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of natural gas, wind electrolysis, or coal gasification. Most benefits would result from eliminating current vehi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2005-06, Vol.308 (5730), p.1901-1905
Main Authors: Jacobson, M. Z, Colella, W. G, Golden, D. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
Air Pollution - prevention & control
AIR QUALITY
Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding
Alternative fuel vehicles
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Automobiles
Biological and medical sciences
Carbon dioxide emissions
Climate
Climate change
Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change
Coal
COAL GASIFICATION
Comparative analysis
Computer Simulation
Cost estimates
Costs and Cost Analysis
Earth, ocean, space
Economic aspects
Electric potential
ELECTROLYSIS
Energy
Energy-Generating Resources - economics
Environment. Living conditions
Environmental aspects
Environmental protection
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Fossil Fuels
Fossils
Fuel cells
Fuels
Gasoline
Greenhouse Effect
Health
Humans
Hybrid vehicles
Hydrogen
Hydrogen as fuel
HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS
Hydrogen fuels
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
Medical sciences
Meteorology
Mortality
Motor Vehicles
NATURAL GAS
Organic Chemistry
Outdoor air quality
Particulate emissions
Pollutant emissions
Pollution
Pollution sources. Measurement results
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Smog - analysis
Steam electric power generation
Transports
Unit costs
Vehicle Emissions
VEHICLES
Water
Water vapor
WIND
Wind power generation
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Description
Summary:Converting all U.S. onroad vehicles to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (HFCVs) may improve air quality, health, and climate significantly, whether the hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of natural gas, wind electrolysis, or coal gasification. Most benefits would result from eliminating current vehicle exhaust. Wind and natural gas HFCVs offer the greatest potential health benefits and could save 3700 to 6400 U.S. lives annually. Wind HFCVs should benefit climate most. An all-HFCV fleet would hardly affect tropospheric water vapor concentrations. Conversion to coal HFCVs may improve health but would damage climate more than fossil/electric hybrids. The real cost of hydrogen from wind electrolysis may be below that of U.S. gasoline.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1109157