For more than a century, we have relied on oil to fuel our cars. But did you know that the world’s oil is close to drying up because it is a non-renewable resource? Well that may not happen tomorrow or next year but we are getting closer because of the demand in the world market. Why wait for that day when we can rely on a green energy source like water to power our cars.

Water can power a car? If you think that’s impossible, well it is already here but is not yet being made on a commercial scale.

The German automobile BMW company produced the world’s first ever hydrogen powered car in 2006. While only 100 of these units were produced initially there are plans to continue the development to make it more readily available, you can imagine the oil savings if more of these vehicles are on the road.

The initial model namely the BMW Hydrogen 7 uses the body of the 760i model. Once you pop the hood, you will notice that the engine is different since it is dual fuel and uses gas and hydrogen.

This means we have not yet totally abandoned our dependence on gas. Given more time and money, the current 4.7 miles per pound of hydrogen used could hit double digits in the future.

The biggest challenge to using water as a green energy source, as opposed to oil, in vehicles is the current engine technology. While there are cars around like the Prius which runs on electricity and gas thanks to fuel cell technology, the hydrogen combustion is less than 10 years old so you could say we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

With the success of the BMW H7, the company came out with a new car that is also partly powered by water known as the H2R. While we cannot yet put our garden hose into the fuselage to fill it up, this vehicle uses liquid nitrogen as a fuel.

Tests on this vehicle have shown it can achieve 285hp and reach a top cruising speed of 185.5 miles per hour. It can also accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour under 6 seconds.

But why use water? It is because hydrogen combustion is clean so it does not emit harmful gases into the atmosphere unlike cars that run on petrol or diesel that emit carbon monoxide. Studies have shown that it also weighs less than hydrocarbon-based fuels and burns faster than conventional gasoline.

So when can you expect to buy a car that uses water as a green energy source? Hopefully in the next 10 to 20 years. It is really up to the automakers because all we can do is wait until better engine technology is available.

Right now, the best option we have is electric cars. Since their introduction in 1999, more people are using them because the running costs are far lower (though the initial purchase price is still far higher) and the impact on the environment is far less than conventional automotive power plants.

The next big technology that looks likely to be developed is in the field of solar powered cars. Up to now the only ones that have been seem have been prototypes used for development purposes. But with far more photovoltaic cells becoming available it may not be too many years in the future before a commercially viable solar powered car is launched.