Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles join the Army – Feb. 23, 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The United States Army is looking at hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hoping that sometime in the near future they’ll play some important military roles, maybe even on the battlefield.

The military has been looking at alternative fuels like this because of the difficulty, expense and danger of securing oil and gasoline supplies.

Hydrogen fuel cells, in particular, seem promising because of their design flexibility, said Major General Roger Matthews, Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific.

Unlike an ordinary car’s engine and transmission, fuel cells and batteries can take various shapes and be arranged inside the vehicle in a number of different ways.

That allows for vehicles to be better designed for different roles, whether for carrying people, cargo or other duties, he said.

For now, the U.S. is testing a fleet of 16 General Motors fuel cell vehicles in Hawaii. They run on compressed hydrogen gas. The hydrogen is combined in a fuel cell with oxygen from the air in a process that generates electricity. The only exhaust the vehicles produce is water vapor.

This new fleet includes one vehicle that can be used as a portable generator, supplying enough energy to keep the lights on in several homes. The same technology could be useful in an “tactical” vehicle, said Matthews, providing power to a command center, for instance.

“We think this might have greater application in combat vehicles,” he said.

The car’s low environmental impact is a serious benefit, too, said Matthews. Particularly in Hawaii, the Army doesn’t want to be seen as a destructive force on the islands’ delicate ecology.

“We have to be good stewards of the environment,” he said.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles join the Army – Feb. 23, 2012