Is Nanotechnology being considered for improving Fuel Cell performance?
Research on Fuel Cell is going on for years,yet efficient car is not coming in the market.

What is the reason?

P.J.LAKHAPATE
plakhapate@rediffmail.com

Is Nanotechnology being considered for improving Fuel Cell performance?
Research on Fuel Cell is going on for years,yet efficient car is not coming in the market.

What is the reason?

P.J.LAKHAPATE
plakhapate@rediffmail.com


There are efficient cars, but oil companies have more power than the auto industry.

Alcohol powered fuel cells would be fine, but hydrogen gas is a dumb idea that has no real future.

Advancements in battery/capacitor tech might just render fuel cell research pointless.

Pollution-free hydrogen cell technology is predicted to be the next wave in emissions-control after the hybrid electric motor, currently used in the automotive industry.

DaimlerChrysler, Ford and GM have spent about $2bn on fuel cell cars, trucks and buses. The first products came out last year, and many UK cities have deployed hydrogen buses.

But there have been a number of technical and financial stumbling blocks - including taxation - which have prevented its large scale adoption.

In order for this technology to move forward it requires a bit of political muscle.
It has to be strategically thought out and driven by government.

"There is a chicken and egg issue here,"

Who is going to build a car before they have filling stations, and who is going to build stations before we have the cars.

Even IF a cheap enough fuel cell was developed, it still wouldn't be a viable option, for the simple reason that hydrogen costs a lot more per mile than any other fuel.

Electricity by contrast, is a lot cheaper than all other options.

Isn't the real issue the near non-existance of nanotech?

I assure you, in the field of fuel cells, no technology is being ruled out. Nanotech is not a cure-all.

Nanotechnology or not, the precision construction of "smart" materials is definitely necessary to the further advancement of technology like batteries and fuel cells. It's a little obvious that the materials of electrodes are going to have to be sculpted like integrated circuit dies.