Environmental and economic comparison of hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric vehicles

The study of alternative energy sources has accelerated over the years. Further investigation of alternative energy sources is important for reasons that are unknown and unthought about by people around the world. Many sources of energy that are not renewable energy sources are harmful to the environment and are causing a high rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If society would learn more about the increase of carbon emissions and their effects on the environment, then there could be a drop in these emissions. Transportation has been one of the largest sectors of GHG emissions and has not seen a large enough decrease to be substantial enough to better the environment. The transportation sector of the GHG emissions could be easily fixed with the use of hydrogen fuel cells or battery electric vehicles. The idea of fuel cell and battery electric cars has been around for decades but has only recently become popular. The increase in these vehicles will cause a decrease in greenhouse gasses produced by transportation. This paper compares hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric vehicles economically and environmentally.