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With the surge in global oil prices, there is growing interest in finding a way to lessen the pain at the pump.
Last week Seoul launched its first hydrogen fuel station, which is considered one such alternative energy of the future.
This newly-opened filling station may look like any old gas pump only the fuel isn't gasoline. It's not even a liquid. It's hydrogen gas, ushering Seoul into the new era of hydrogen-fuel.
The station is one of only 80 such testing stations being operated around the world intended to promote the development of this alternative energy.
At the station, hydrogen is produced through a catalyst reaction of naphtha and water. The product is stored in a high-pressure chamber that can be dispensed into cars.
A car running on hydrogen can travel 300 km when filled with only 3.5 kilos of this fuel. What makes this type of energy appealing is that it is pollution-free as the exhaust is pure vapor.
The government plans to open 50 such hydrogen filling stations across the country by 2012.
But experts say it will be decades before hydrogen-powered cars take to the road en masse. First prices will have to come down from the current US$100,000 sticker price.
Arirang News
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