Hydrogen-powered BMWs to Debut in 2007

It must be true that necessity is the mother of invention. Or maybe the technology required to support alternative fuel automobiles was a little further along than consumers had been led to believe? No matter, really. BMW has become the first major car manufacturer to introduce a hydrogen-burning car that can be cost-effectively mass-produced. Granted, the specially equipped hydrogen-burning BMW 7 Series Hydrogen 7 Saloon will be prohibitively expensive and will only be available to consumers via lease and not sale.

BMW told Reuters, "The integration of hydrogen drive in an existing vehicle concept which has already proven its merits in the market paves the way for an alternative to conventional drive concepts fully accepted in the market and with all the assets the customer is looking for in practice."

Because the availability of hydrogen is currently very limited, all of the hydrogen-burning BMWs initially produced will also be able to run on standard gasoline. Without that ability, the vehicles would not be practical or commercially viable. When operating on hydrogen, the cars will emit only water vapor as a burn-off emission, thus eliminating all of the negative environmental impacts of traditional gasoline-powered automobiles.

Hydrogen is not only a completely "clean fuel", it is also renewable and completely independent of "finite" fossil fuels. But it's still not a significantly cheaper method of creating fuel than the current refining processes for gasoline. That is where the true race will be -- who can develop the most efficient means of producing and delivering fuel-grade hydrogen to the masses? BMW is establishing the market with its run of new hydrogen-powered luxury sedans. Will the fact that BMW will be capturing an affluent ownership demographic mean that energy companies will be faster to devote resources to hydrogen fuel technologies? Probably not. Until hydrogen-powered vehicles are affordable amongst a critical mass of the world, the profit motivation for energy companies simply doesn't exist.

But I would be more than surprised if Honda, Toyota, and even some of the American auto makers didn't unveil affordable hydrogen-powered options in the very near future. At that point, consumers and governments alike will demand hydrogen fuel -- and it will become a reality.