Hydrogen power

This activity from a series of resources looking at the future of flight from the IET, explores making hydrogen from water, which is the basis of hydrogen fuel cell technology. Hydrogen is an alternative to petrol and diesel fuels for combustion engines and the only byproduct of using it is water, so it does not harm the environment or cause pollution. Hydrogen fuel cells could potentially be used to power cars, buses and even aircraft. 

In this activity pupils discuss the problems associated with the use of oil-based fuels and how the use of hydrogen fuels could solve them. They will then produce hydrogen from water and investigate ways to make it work better. This activity could be used as a main lesson activity to teach about power supplies and renewable energy or used as part of a wider scheme of work to teach about sustainability and environmental issues in design technology, or to teach about electrolysis and simple chemical reactions in science.