A professor at Purdue University, Jerry Woodall, has found a method of producing hydrogen from aluminum alloy pellets and water. This is very important for the motor industry as it promises to solve many of the problems that confront the introduction of engines running on hydrogen as a fuel.

Although hydrogen is the perfect alternative fuel, its exhaust containing nothing more harmful than water vapor, its use has been dogged by a bad press, with memories of old airship disasters like the Hindenburg, the problem that generating it by electrolysis uses more power than it produces, and the difficulties involved in storing it in quantity. The Purdue solution offers a way around all of these, suggesting that cars of the future need only fill up with the alloy pellets.

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to pellets of the alloy, which is made of aluminum and a metal called gallium. The researchers have shown how hydrogen is produced when water is added to a small tank containing the pellets. Hydrogen produced in such a system could be fed directly to an engine.

Gallium is an important ingredient since it stops a skin of aluminum oxide forming and protecting the metal from further reaction with the water. And the by product of the reaction is hydrogen…

The Purdue Foundation has applied for the patent to the process and plans are in process for its commercial use.

In keeping with the “earthdream” color scheme for their F1 racers, Honda has been trying out a hydrogen-fueled car, the FCX, with selected customers in California. The styling is a bit retro, boxy and unimaginative but, when it’s alternative fuels that matter, who cares about the car’s looks?

Well, it seems Honda does. They have been showing off a new body for the FCX that is much more up to date and stylish. Called the FCX Concept, it has the usual modern grin for a grille and swooping lines everywhere.

I must be getting old - to me it just looks ugly…

When it comes to alternative fuels, it seems there are more possibilities out there than ever dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio. We all know about ethanol (basically fuel made from sugar), hydrogen and electricity, but how about running your car on vegetable oil? Yes, ordinary cooking oil.

It sounds crazy but apparently lots of people in the UK are doing it. It only works with diesel engines but there are plenty available over there and the low cost alone is enough to make it a tempting proposition.

Don’t believe me? Have a look at this Top Gear clip then. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

And when you hear that it works best with used cooking oil, preferably from a Mexican restaurant, well, I guess all those fiery chillies were bound to make a difference…

In an earlier post I mentioned that, sooner or later, we are going to have to get serious about electric cars. Fossil fuels will not last forever and will have to be replaced by an alternative, most likely hydrogen or electricity. GM’s Hy-Wire is an elegant combination of both that may well show the route to the future, but Tesla have the best answer yet from the electricity side of the debate - their roadster is completely electric and powered by their own design of battery.

The electric motor has obvious advantages in that it is clean, light and quiet; but it also presents us with great problems. Power similar to that provided by the internal combustion engine is necessary before we will consider it as a valid alternative; a big problem in the past has been that any practical electric vehicle will have to have a similar range to gasoline-driven cars before we will be persuaded to swap; and the origin of the power that recharges the batteries remains a stumbling block as long as we continue to get most of our electricity from power stations burning fossil fuels.

Tesla have solved the first two of these problems - their roadster accelerates to 60 mph in 4 seconds, surely enough power for anyone, and has a range of 250 miles, which is very close to the average for a standard production car. As for the power stations, I guess that will have to wait until we face the fact that nuclear power is the only viable answer.

If you want to learn more of the technical ingenuity behind the Tesla, visit the engineering page on their website. And, if you want one of next year’s model, get your order in now - the 2007 batch sold out in four months.

Update:

Here is a link to a video of the Tesla being driven. It also has more detail on features of the car but listen to it when in motion - that is the sound of tomorrow!

And another video just for the Brits…