Hydrogen-Powered Honda FCX to go Into Production
And that brings me to the last item relating to this revolutionary concept: Honda’s Home Energy Station (HES). The HES is an all purpose energy station for home and vehicle energy needs. When fed a steady diet of natural gas (which, at the molecular level, consists mostly of carbon and hydrogen) that is readily available in most residences, the HES converts the gas to straight hydrogen. The hydrogen is then stored for future use, piped into your hydrogen-powered car, or used by the HES for its own set of fuel cells to generate electricity for the home. The system not only reduces carbon dioxide emissions by some 40 percent, it also is expected to lower the total running cost of household electricity, gas and vehicle fuel by 50 percent. Who wouldn’t want to save 50 percent on their gas bill? [Crazy people, that’s who, and maybe the guy that who just bought Exxon stock, and probably the Saud family!]
That just about wraps up the FCX news. As I mentioned earlier, it won’t be hitting North American shores any time soon, but it is definite progress, and the Home Energy Station is a great solution to the lack of hydrogen fuel stations to refill hydrogen cars of the future. I doubt the concept could be patented, only the specific technology in it, so any company selling hydrogen cars can sell its own stations if they develop their own technology or through partnerships with home energy suppliers. Prices will be stratospheric to begin with, but that doesn’t come close to how much Honda, and other companies intensively researching hydrogen fuel cells (GM, Ford and BMW come immediately to mind, not to mention Ballard), have invested in this technology. And when the time comes, they will be poised to make a killing as the leaders in the hydrogen race, just as Toyota is ahead of the pack with hybrids, and when that happens, the other car companies that lag behind will be feeling, well, green with envy.