We are being told by Congress, the news, the President, politicians, the oil companies and others that there are solutions to the fuel crisis.  However, every entity has a different opinion as to what the most appropriate solutions are.

There are ideas about alternative fuel, alternative energy, traditional fuel, fossil fuels, solar power, hydrogen power, water power and more. 

All of these seem to have their place and it seems as though, since the world is in such a crunch for energy, there might just be a place for most types of energy to keep the world running.

Since all of the various energy sources are available – some in more limited quantities than others – why not do what we can to use them all in the most efficient ways possible? 

Wind power can provide for the energy needs that electricity provides for.  Solar power can create electric energy plus energy to run cars and fill other energy needs.  Hydrogen and water can run vehicles and they can provide for other energy needs, as well. 

There is water power – hydro-electricity, which has been around for decades.  There is also nuclear power – which is often a “nasty” word, but in times like these even some of the ideas we don’t like become less distasteful if we can find positive uses for them – especially in saving the planet, creating energy and saving money, not to mention, making the country “fuel independent.”

When we look at all the types of fuel available, it is good to know that there are choices, alternatives and combinations of energy that we can use to address the energy needs now and in the future.

In the UK this week, there was a successful testing of a Ford Focus that was converted to run on hydrogen instead of traditional fuel.  There is now a refueling station for hydrogen cars in the UK, and using hydrogen is an idea whose time has come for many reasons, two of which are that this eliminates traditional fuel costs while eliminating CO2 emissions.

The company who created the hydrogen conversion has also created a home hydrogen refueling station which can create hydrogen from electricity and water.  This successful conversion is a landmark invention.  Success in this area will not only save fuel and eliminate emissions, but its uses can also be expanded to be used in various ways for homes and businesses.

Scientists worldwide have been trying to find ways to create an alternative source of converting hydrogen to fuel.   Before the success of this invention, it was very expensive to convert hydrogen, partially because platinum had to be used as part of the process.  The new process to manufacture hydrogen – a process that was successfully developed by ITM Power – uses a specialized polymer which ends up costing only 1%  of what the old process using platinum used to cost.  This fact, alone, will keep the cost of using the fuel lower and more affordable.

ITM Power used the Ford Focus because it is one of the most widely used cars in Europe.  The converted car has the capability to transfer back to traditional fuel as a backup if the supply of hydrogen runs out.  More tests are in process to see how the conversion can work on vans and trucks.

This successful invention and test gives hope for help in this most difficult fuel crisis.