LIFEcar and the Hydrogen Debate
How a New Sports Car Could Help the Fight Against Global Warming
The Morgan LIFEcar, shown at the Geneva Motor Show, makes a powerful case for Hydrogen as an alternative fuel in the fight against global warming.
The “Hydrogen as a perfect fuel” debate rages on, no where more so than at the Geneva Motor Show. As the global warming debate intensifies and the price of gasoline goes thru the roof, the public’s interest in alternative fuels and the greening of the economy, especially transport, rises too.
Geneva Motor Show
Mr. Luc Argand, Président of the Geneva International Motor Show said at the opening of the show “Drive green! This is the exhortation which has been the theme of our event for the last two years. Today this green wave has become a tidal wave. Ecology is no longer perceived as being marginal, like a fleeting fashion; it is associated with the real economy, the production of daily consumer goods, with the quality of life and our future.” The show has proved its green credentials with a large amount of exhibits devoted to alternative fuels and radically changed auto architecture.
Hydrogen Car
Whether any of these ‘futuristic’ designs will make it to the mass market is another question, but one small British company has put its money where its mouth is. Although its car design is not futuristic, instead harking back to the golden age of motoring, the 1930’s, the finished product is certainly designed for the 21st Century. Harvey Morgan, a maker of hand made sports cars, in conjunction with “QinetiQ” and England’s Cranfield University have introduced the first Hydrogen powered sports car that looks and drives like a conventional sports car.
Charles Morgan, the company's Strategy Director, says, "The real challenge is to design and build a car that is fun to drive - a proper sports car” and that is what they have done. Although proper, it is anything but conventional. Inspired by the design of the Morgan Aero-8 roadster, the LIFEcar boasts a top speed of nearly 100 mph and a maximum range of 250 miles (400 km); according to Morgan boss Matthew Parkin, the futuristic car should be able to do 0-60 mph in 7 seconds. The car will be powered by a QinetiQ-made fuel cell, which converts hydrogen, from and on board tank - and oxygen taken from the air around it - into electrical energy. It will be clean, quiet and economic, and the only waste product from the car will be water.
Because of it's traditional look and feel, and because it can achieve speeds and distances that are nearly as good as gasoline powered cars, the LIFEcar (LIght Fuel Efficient) has given a much needed boost to the concept that Hydrogen can replace gasoline as a perfect fuel, if not immediately, at least in the not-too-distant future.
Hydrogen Fuel
As a perfect fuel, hydrogen has a lot going for it. It is the most abundant element in the Universe, and on earth there is an inexhaustible supply of it stored as water, and its combustion products, water, is not harmful to the environment. Unfortunately, unlike gasoline, there is no ready made supply of pure Hydrogen on earth. It must be manufactured, from water, or methane or other compounds. At the moment, this takes as much energy as the burning of Hydrogen produces.
The Morgan LIFEcar has shown that Hydrogen power can run a “traditional looking” car, at speeds and distances that the average consumer expects from an auto. It will take new technology and new infrastructures to ensure that the fuel to run such a car, Hydrogen, will become a viable and environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline.
