--- Joe Fish reverend.joe@gmail.com wrote:
Not saying it's impossible, BUT, as a friend of mine on this list often used to say to me, I'm from Missouri.
Ya gotta show me.
I do *hope* this is a viable solution, though the reality is
It is a viable solution today, albeit expensive.
hydrogen in gaseous form is KNOWN to leak from WHATEVER container it's put in at a somewhat-alarming rate --
Says who? What's your source on this? I don't buy it. Hydrogen in a sealed tank isn't going anywhere.
Car companies think plugging your car in is too much hassle for Americans?
Although there are lots of people doing it today. Lot's of people are converting gas-guzzlers into EVs. Google "Battery Box" to see some of the hits.
storing hydrogen in the vehicle in some chemical form in which its far easier to separate out than it is in water. There's been some progress in research on this front,
Well easier is a relative term. Yes, there are some avenues along here. There are many avenues unexplored also. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fanboy of Hydrogen Fuel cells. It's a plausible technology, but I think better batteries are a better solution. I'd rather go with a simpler solution. Fuel cells will never be simple. Although I am trying to design one (don't holde your breath though).
But its still just that ... RESEARCH.
With prototypes. There is a difference.
The other problem is that the site doesn't go into how much detail about just how many solar panels you're gonna need to create enough electrical power to electrolyze enough hydrogen to power a
It takes about 1KW of electricity to produce 6 cu ft of H/hr. It also make about 3 cu ft of O, which you could sell to welders, etc. It can be done cheaper, but I don't think any of you have access to commercial power plants.
SINGLE one-family car, much
You can produce Hydorgen for about $3 per gasoline gallon equivalent today. You meaning anyone with electricity in they're house.
Mercedes Benz is gearing up to produce a car in 2010 that "The new B-Class car's electric engine will generate top output of 136 horsepower and perform on par with a two-litre petrol engine, the company said. It will consume the equivalent of 2.9 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres driven." Impressive.
Although it probably is using some metal hydride and converting the hydrogen from solid pellets. Problem is most of those solutions produce some toxic waste. Lovely.
less to think of doing for hydrogen as some sort of large-scale infrastructural solution. The fact that they're
Pepperidge Farms Bloomfield, Conn plant runs on a 1.2MW Fuel Cell. Before that thay've been using fuel cells since 2006. When someone tells you it can't be done because it's prohibitive. Don't believe it. There are other examples I could find for you.
Hydrogen Fuel cells? A reality today. THe brass ring? I don't think so.
I forget the number, but you can look up the square footage for the Honda FCX one-family pilot project in California -- I think its something like 1700 square feet (!) of solar panels to create enough hydrogen to power that one family's car (they fill up about once a week).
And powering the house too. Right? That number sounds about right for So Cal, for complete freedom from the grid. Probably also pumping occasional power back into the grid.
You do know they have entire cities in the SW running on Solar energy? Right?
Don't try it in MO.
that it takes a HUGE amount of electrical power to electrolyze a quantity of
No it doesn't.
hydrogen sufficient for pushing a 2000-pound car around for a week using fuel cells -- power that could be put on the grid and stored in batteries much more efficiently, at
No it can't. H produces 52,000 BTU/lb 3 time the energy of gasoline. It has the highest energy content of ****ALL**** fuels.
The point is, like the saying goes, this stuff has all been 30 years away
Except it's here today. Now.
My opinion is that, in the short-to-near term, our only viable big-ticket-item solution that stands ANY chance of getting us through this go-around of the energy crunch is CONSERVATION, much
Wrong. The best short term solution for now, is convert one of your gas guzzlers to EV. It'll cost you $3000-$10,000 and pay for itself in 2-4 years. With a vehicle lifetime of 15-50 years (excepting body failure).