The vertical structures and the branches of the nanotrees are essential to capturing the maximum amount of energy coming from the sun according to the engineers. The vertical structures absorbs the light compared to the flat surfaces which only reflects them.

The team compared the process to how earth’s seas and dessert reflect the sun’s rays while the forests look darker. The array of nanowire built by the team of engineers makes use of the process called water splitting via a photoelectrochemical process which separates water into oxygen and water so hydrogen gas can be extracted and used for fuel. The process has no green houses gases as byproducts. At the moment, production of hydrogen fuel still relies on the use of fossil fuels. The hydrogen fuel is a very clean fuel but the process of making it today is not clean.

The structure of the nanotrees with their vertical configuration makes most of harvesting sunlight and the team of engineers from California was able to optimize the process to get more sunlight compared to the planar configuration. The vertical structure of the nanowire trees also maximizes the output of hydrogen.

Basically, the long term goal of the team is to make a large scale artificial photosynthesis where aside from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide are also collected. The collected materials are then used to produce carbohydrates which fuels the growth of the plants. The team of engineers want to recreate this process and capture molecules of CO2 from the air so carbon emissions can be decreased and convert the material to hydrocarbon fuel.

Some types of fuel cells are more efficient than others, and fortunately one of the most promising kinds to be used in the future for cars, is one of the most efficient. The hydrogen fuel cell works at about 50% efficiency and that means that half of the hydrogen added will be converted to electrical energy. The other half is released as heat and neither of those products damages the environment. Cars that will use hydrogen fuel cells in the future will have no negative impact on the environment and therefore can be driven without feeling guilty.

Cars that use fuel cells also do not deplete any of our limited resources, such as oil. There is plenty of hydrogen available to make fuel with, but the process to extract hydrogen is not yet refined enough that it will be a low cost alternative. However, hydrogen is sustainable and available and that saves our environment from future drilling to find more oil. Hydrogen also burns cleanly and cars that use fuel cells have zero emissions, therefore releasing no pollutants.

More on Hydrogen cars in a post we did about a year ago!

Well, it’s a Hydrogen Mini using BMW’s CleanEnergy technology!

I wouldn’t mind driving one of these…

A good number of hydrogen vehicles dart on energy cells, wherever hydrogen atoms are divide and re-combined with oxygen, creating power to scurry the cruise and not to bring up environmentally-harmless water. The new hydrogen vehicles apply normal, run-of-the-mill inside burning engines, by means of a type of liquid hydrogen. Hydrogen fuel cells toil by recombining and splitting atoms within the cell’s membranes and casings allowing them to link and liberated on a molecular level that creates energy. The hydrogen fuel cell cars can be prepared by not-so-green sources, such as coal smoldering, the flaming of ordinary gas, or as a microbial throw away produce of disintegration.

Nowadays, chief car manufacturers are experimenting with the hydrogen internal incineration engine, whereas some other car manufacturers are focusing on fuel cells. A few companies are researching both methods. A good number of the hydrogen-powered vehicles are accessible currently in Japan and Europe.

(in the pic – a hydrogen-powered bmw 7-series, source: bmw blog)