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Hydrogen fuel car can be the solution of our future; it wouldn't solve by itself all the problems related to traffic jams, but it could eliminate every kind of pollution from our roads.
There're 2 types of H2 cars now still object of intense research:

1) FUEL CELLS CAR. It uses a fuel cell system formed by a series of many electrolytic cells in which O2 combines with H2 not without a direct combustion, but taking at the anode the electrons that H2 has lost at the cathode. Before reaching O2, electrons close this circuit making work an electric engine that moves the car. O2 and H2 react in the semi-porous layer separating the anode from the cathode giving water, H2O, the only discharge product of this combustion.

2) H2 COMBUSTION ENGINE. In this system, there's the direct combustion of H2 and O2 in the cylinders, but the yield of this engine seems to be less than in the case of fuel cells.
For both types of solutions, the main problems are about production and storage of H2 fuel into the car to allow it the same autonomy of actual gasoline or gas-oil cars.

The simplest solution is based on tanks for highly compressed gaseous H2; the needed volume of these tanks would be excessive for a car, but tolerable for a city bus. Another solution is based on a cryogenic container keeping H2 liquid at about -250 C. More fuel would be chargeable on the car, in the liquid state, but the cryogenic insulation that should keep H2 cold and liquid also for many days, while the car is not used, is a great problem.

So, another solution would be to generate H2 by electrolysis of methane, methanol or water thanks to a series of alkaline batteries (some researches are in course to optimize their dimensions and autonomy).

Another study is about storing in the tank a metallic hydride (LiH, NaBH4, LiAlH4, etc.) that are thermally or electrically decomposed by some batteries, thus generating H2 for the fuel cell or combustion engine.
The problem, in this case, regards the production cost and chemical stability of metallic hydrides.
In the case that the H2 generation is external to the car (filling the tank with liquid H2) there' s the problem of a capillary network of fuel stations possibly producing on the spot liquid H2; they could use sun energy for electrolytic decomposition of methane, ethanol, or better, water.

H2 could be a good solution for cars but today, better results in term of car performances, autonomy and security seems to be given by electric engines powered not by H2 , but directly by alkaline batteries, while H2 seems to fit well to city buses, trains, industrial plants or also for burners in houses at the place of methane, but generated when needed by solar energy.

Learn more about this author, Aldo Bonincontro.
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