Fueling America: How Hydrogen Cars Affect the Environment

Abstract:

This paper examines in detail the quantitative effects of how hydrogen fueled vehicles would affect the environment. The results, based on publicly available data, demonstrate that the effect of converting vehicles to run on hydrogen would be marginal at best, especially when compared to other larger sources of carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, if hydrogen-powered vehicles are made to have the same performance characteristics as gasoline-powered ones, the use of hydrogen may actually increase atmospheric emissions of CO2.