Word: engineeering
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The process of extracting hydrogen from more conventional fuels such as gasoline and methanol inevitably releases some carbon dioxide--but not as much as the internal combustion engine does, and therein lies the rub.
Mitchell estimated that a fuel-cell car with the Arthur D. Little reformer could offer between two to three times the gas mileage of a conventional, internal combustion engine car, which gets no more than 30 miles per gallon for city driving.
Today's fuel cells can not compete on a price basis with mass-produced internal combustion engines. The usual indicator of measuring the cost-efficiency of an engine is the amount of money required to build one that puts out a kilowatt of power (about 1.3 horsepower).
On that scale, an internal combustion engine is about $50 per kilowatt. In comparison, a proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel cell--the ideal fuel cell for vehicles--costs up to $10,000 per kilowatt, according to Maru.
In addition, scientists must still determine how to maximize the power output of a fuel cell engine.