There are a number of methods used to produce hydrogen fuel. Some of these include incinerating garbage in order to heat water or natural gas to the degree necessary to release the hydrogen which is present. Of course we can't just put our old banana peels in the tank and drive off, but those banana peels can be part of fuel production in a hydrogen production facility. Hydrogen powered cars that benefit directly from the work that your banana peels are doing now are on the horizon.

Hydrogen powered cars can utilize hydrogen through several different methods. A hydrogen internal combustion engine powered vehicle utilizes the same engine used in the gasoline-powered production models with the exception of being modified to burn hydrogen fuel.

An existing auto can be modified to use only hydrogen fuel, completely eliminating the need for gasoline as the fuel source. You can also buy a kit or instructions to make a kit for your car that will add hydrogen to your car's current gasoline-air mixture. Installing such a kit will reduce your vehicle's pollution output and greatly improve its gas mileage.

Hydrogen powered cars leave no carbon footprint, thanks to being approximately 300% more efficient with fuel than vehicles using traditional gasoline fuels. Electric vehicles can also be made to use hydrogen fuel for on-board power generation. Built-in holding tanks can feed the hydrogen into fuel cells which in turn convert it into electricity and supply power to all vehicle systems.

Hydrogen fuel is an efficiently produced energy source. While gasoline production in the United States currently requires about three hundred billion gallons of water, the production of the same amount of hydrogen fuel takes about one hundred billion gallons. What this translates to is that hydrogen fuel production only costs roughly half of what it costs to produce the equivalent amount of gasoline.

Every major automobile manufacturer is engineering its own hydrogen powered cars. Several of these hydrogen-powered models will be available in limited production in 2008. As availability of hydrogen fueling stations grows you can expect to see a steady increase in the number of hydrogen-powered vehicles in your neighborhood. Several of the automobile manufacturers are also working on home systems for hydrogen production that can not only serve as a gas pump in your driveway for your hydrogen power cars, but can also supply hydrogen fuel to generate the electricity to power your home.

While you might think that safety could be an issue, a hydrogen-powered car is at least as safe as a regular car. High-stress testing has been done to insure that the tanks used for storing the hydrogen fuel can survive even the most serious accidents.