Hyundai is pulling out all the stops to attract attention towards its hydrogen fuel-cell development effort, which it is showcasing with its iX35 crossover, the world’s first passenger vehicle to go into series production and use such tech.
As we previously revealed, they were working on a fuel-cell-supplied greenhouse where plants could grow, and now they have unveiled the contraption outside of London’s Design Museum.
The outdoor exhibit was only kept assembled for one day (Monday, October 21), and visitors had a chance to see how it works.
Based a bit on one of the Top Gear producers’ daring ideas, Jeremy Clarkon’s towing of a greenhouse on wheels behind a heavily-polluting Range Rover, the Fuel Cell Farm, as it’s known, is very straightforward yet innovative in its operation.
It adopts a new kind of farming solution, called aquaponics, “a combination of hydroponics (growing plants in water) and aquaculture (raising fish in tanks). The Fuel Cell Farm operates by taking the water emitted by the hydrogen-powered Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell and filtering this water into the fish tank. The aquaponics technology then harnesses minerals from the fish waste to grow the plants on the farm.”
The green crossover only has one role in all of it: “It powers and facilitates the functionality of the aquaponics farm, using clean emissions (only water) to fuel sustainable agriculture.” Moreover, choosing London as the venue to display the Fuel Cell Farm was not accidental; the English capital already uses hydrogen fuel-cell buses on commuter lines, and has two hydrogen fueling stations currently active (only one is accessible to the public, though).
By Andrei Nedelea
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