History of Hydrogen Power
Because of declining supplies of cheap fossil fuels and their effects on the environment, hydrogen has received much attention as a possible future solution to Earth's energy problems, according to the New York Energy Smart website. The idea of using hydrogen is not new, however.
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Nineteenth Century
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In 1838, Christian Friedrich Schonbein, a Swiss chemist, discovered the fuel cell effect, which is created by combining hydrogen and oxygen gas to produce electricity and water. Seven years later, Sir William Grove, an English scientist and judge, created a "gas battery" and earned the title "Father of the Fuel Cell."
Twentieth Century
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In the 1920s, German engineer Rudolph Erren converted the internal combustion engines of trucks, buses and submarines to run on hydrogen and hydrogen mixtures. In 1959 Francis T. Bacon built a hydrogen-air fuel cell that produced 5 kilowatts of electricity and powered a welding machine. In that same year, Harry Karl Ihrig powered a 20-horsepower tractor by a fuel cell. A 1972 Gremlin, modified by the University of California at Los Angeles team, won first prize for the lowest tail-pipe emissions at the 1972 Urban Vehicle Design Competition. In 1988, the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau ran one of a commercial jet's three engines on hydrogen. In 1990, the world's first solar-powered hydrogen production plant became operational in Germany.
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Twenty-First Century
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In 2000, Ballard Power Systems presented the first production-ready fuel cell for automotive applications. In 2004, the German navy deepwater tested the first fuel-cell-powered submarine.
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