TANKING up on alcohol could soon take on a whole new meaning. A compact reactor that makes hydrogen from alcohol could allow electric cars to run cleanly on hydrogen-powered fuel cells without needing high-pressure fuel tanks to carry the gas. Instead, they could use an ordinary fuel tank holding a mixture of ethanol and water.
The technology could also abolish the need for another problematic feature of the hydrogen economy – filling stations storing vast quantities of highly combustible hydrogen. This idea has already faced resistance. In Hornchurch, Essex in the UK, for instance, a trial fuel cell-powered bus service…
