FUEL CELLS—ENERGY FOR A POWER-HUNGRY WORLD - Chemistry: Notable Research and Discoveries - page 135

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F UEL C ELLS —
E NERGY FOR A
P OWER -H UNGRY
W ORLD
In 1903, when Wilbur and Orville Wright made the fi rst sustained fl ight
in a powered aircraft , a gasoline engine was the best choice to supply the
power. Alternatives to gasoline engines were available at the time but had
disadvantages—a steam engine would have been too heavy, and an electric
motor might not have produced suffi cient power. Th e four-cylinder gaso-
line engine the Wright brothers built generated 12 horsepower, which is
not much more powerful than one of today's riding lawn mowers, but it
managed to keep the airplane off the ground for its short fl ight. Five years
later, in 1908, Henry Ford's fi rst Model T used a gasoline engine, and the
popularity of this car resulted in widespread usage of gasoline engines.
Today, there are nearly a billion cars on the world's roads. Most of them
run on gasoline or diesel fuel. According to the Department of Energy, the
U.S. government agency that monitors and researches energy sources, the
United States alone consumes about 140 billion gallons (532 billion L) a year,
and U.S. airlines burn about 20 billion gallons (76 billion L) of jet fuel annual-
ly. Burning an energy-rich fuel is effi cient and, despite recent price increases,
still reasonably cheap—although a gallon (3.8 L) of gasoline cost only about
30 cents in 1920, the price is not much higher these days when adjusted for
infl ation.
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