Hydrogen and Ethanol Based Energy

1. Using hydrogen for energy

There are two major reasons at the moment why we don't simply make the switch from gasoline fueled cars to hydrogen. Cost and efficiency. Currently hydrogen fuel cell cars cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more to produce than your average gasoline fueled can, and still have only half of the range of cars currently on the road. For the time being the most effective way for us to extract hydrogen, and the method that is used most often, is extracting hydrogen from natural gas. The issue with using natural gas for our hyrogen supply is that natural gas, just like coal and oil, is a non-renewable resource which we will at some point run out of. It seems logical that we would simply extract hydrogen from water considering it is not only renewable but also covers 70% of our planet but this has its own issues as well, because extracting hydrogen from water is an extremely ineffecient way to gain energy. With improved technologies I do feel that hydrogen is a viable source of energy, as scientists and manufactures focus on other ways to use hydrogen energy, including channeling the energy into electricity to power automobile batteries, or into creating fuel cells as apposed to combustion engines.

Source:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3210/01-point.html

2. Ethanol Based Fuels

On the surface using ethanol as a substitute for gasoline seems like a perfect solution for our reliance on foriegn oil and polution. Not only is ethanol cheaper, but it can be extracted from home grown crops and is much less toxic to our environment than gasoline. However, switching from gasoline to ethanol based fuels will not come without consequenses, which will be felt all around the world. As demand for corn for both energy and domestic uses continues to rise, prices follow the same trend. While some countries stand to gain quite a bit from increased production of corn based ethanol fuels, others will suffer. Countries who export corn will undoubtedly gain from increasing prices on corn based products, while countries who cannot produce their own corn crops and are forced to import will face much higher prices than they have in the past. The rise in demand for corn will also impact the prices of domestic goods that rely on our corn crops. Products and foods that are corn based will continue to see higher prices, along with competing crops such as wheat and soybeans as they fight to stay viable.

Source:
http://www.card.iastate.edu/iowa_ag_review/winter_08/article4.aspx