The benefits of hydrogen fuel cells are that they produce power with water as their only by-product. The downside is that hydrogen is not abundant in nature, and so it has to be produced which is an expensive process. However, all things improve in efficiency with time, and this is a relatively new process. The oxygen can be derived from regular air in most cases, so the price of refining oxygen is not an issue.
As mentioned, water is the only by-product produced my fuel cells, as opposed to harmful greenhouse gasses and other harmful chemicals produced by burning fossil fuels. I don't believe anyone has done a study on the effects of taking oxygen from the air to power these fuel cells, but it would be something to potentially look in to. Also, as shown on the diagram, part of a hydrogen fuel cell uses platinum. I know I don't need to mention that platinum's expensive. In addition, current fuel cells produce a lot of heat; most of the energy they produce is in the form of heat. Consider, though, that power plants lose most of their power in production as heat and 40% of what actually leaves the plant is lost from power lines, and fuel cells don't look so bad. However, the current method of producing hydrogen involves using fossil fuels, and it takes more energy to produce hydrogen than the hydrogen itself can produce, thus creating more pollution than just using fossil fuels. There are, however, potential methods of producing hydrogen that don't use fossil fuel. These have yet to be refined.
Overall, fuel cells look average to me. Their downfalls will likely be solved through research and improved efficiency. Unfortunately, this is the one power source that the government pushes. You see, if cars are powered by hydrogen and air, people still have a reason to "go to the pump" and get hydrogen, it just won't be the same pump. In contrast, solar powered cars require no gas stations or hydrogen stations, and the government has yet to find a way to tax sunlight. Therefor, hydrogen fuel cells are a way for the government to look like it cares about the environment, all the while only switching their revenue source from oil to hydrogen.
I hate to look like a pessimist, but because of this I would rather see a switch to solar or wind power; sources that aren't taxable and would represent a real change to American people.
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I read once that if you took all the platinum in the world and melted it down, it would only fill an Olympic sized pool about 4 inches high. It seems the price accurately reflects the rarity. I wonder if there is enough platinum in existence on earth for a significant number of fuel-cells to replace gasoline engines. Maybe other rare metals like gold, silver, or palladium have similar properties?
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