China Develops First Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Tram
It is possible to harness hydrogen from water in a process called electrolysis - but electrolysis requires electricity which still often requires fossil fuels to create.
When using the metric of CO2 emissions per country - China is the world's worst polluter. In an effort to reduce these numbers, engineers at Chinese company Sifang developed eight hydrogen fuel cell powered tram cars to be used on an existing tram line in Southern China's Guangdong region.
These green vehicles are designed to reach top speeds of around 45mph, and have a range of around 62 miles per charge and a charge time of only 3 seconds. The fuel cells used in the trams were created with the help of Canadian company Ballard Power Systems.
Hydrogen powered vehicles seem to be an ideal power source due to the fact that the emissions from this energy source is water, so why aren't all vehicles powered by hydrogen? The main issue with hydrogen power at this point in time is the fact that there is hardly any pure hydrogen found on earth due to it's reactive nature. It is possible to harness this element from water in a process called electrolysis - but electrolysis require electricity which still often requires fossil fuels to create.
This vehicle is a step in the right direction - the next step is ensuring the electricity used to harness the hydrogen used is sustainably created using energy sources like solar, wind, ect.
Check out a video of the vehicle here
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