The U.S. Army thinks hydrogen fuel-cell technology could be applied to its vehicles, and it’s starting with the workhorse M1 Abrams battle tank.
So far, the testing is happening only in the laboratory, but the Army believes fuel cells can power a significant portion of the tank’s computing equipment, battle command technologies, sensors and other electronic equipment. The cells would extract hydrogen from JP-8 diesel fuel and convert it to electricity.
The ultimate goal would be to figure out a way to power entire fleets of military vehicles with fuel cells that use non-petroleum sources. A modern, heavily mechanized military faces the obvious prospect of fueling its vehicles in dangerous conditions. One obstacle of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been delivering fuel across two vast countries and providing security for those transport routes.
