why isn't our goverments promoting hydrogen run vehicles at much faster pace?

Question

i mean putting in a infrastructure that can fuel cars with hydrogen??
we have the technology right now. They are already doing this in some European countries.
thanks!

Answer 1

Because the government is being run by people who are in with the oil companies.

Answer 2

Because we do not have the technology. For starters the price tag on research and development for a system as large as it would have to be for the united states to be run would be enormous that it would not be beneficial for many ,many years to come not to mention the price and energy expenditure to extract the hydrogen required and the noxious greenhouse gases needed to keep the pipelines cool enough to keep the hydrogen in its liquid state and the corrosive nature of these gases and the cost of high Q stainless steel pipes and the cost of everyone replacving there cars and the elec companies switching over to hydrogen from fossil fuels. Wow the cost keeps adding up and does not become anywhere near economically feasible.
Remember that we are not talking about a few tiny European countries we are talking about a land mass and population double the size of the european continent not counting Russia of course. Not to mention the fact that the european countries you are talking about have opted to go with the easier and cheaper compressed air option when that comew available.
\
Yes Big Oil is Evil and yes the Gov is all in with them but things can and will get worse if we rush into something that we are not ready for.

Answer 3

Because it isn’t a simple case of switching vehicles to hydrogen operation. First the hydrogen has to be made, then distributed, stored, put into the tank and finally burned. The last stage is the easy one, and the only one that involves the car companies.

Hydrogen is not easy to make. Almost all of the gas has been bound up in molecules so it is not found as an easy to get gas. The biggest source of hydrogen is water H20. Breaking down the water molecule doesn’t create hazardous waste so that is the best molecule to use. It is also very common and easily found, with huge resources.

Breaking down water is energy intensive, often as much energy, or more, than can be saved by burning the hydrogen. The energy has to be electrical, which is often generated by oil-fueled power plants. So you are taking the pollution that the car creates and letting a power plant create it instead. There are alternate ways to generate electricity, but only a few companies have invested in them. Nuclear power is efficient, but generates toxic waste that almost never becomes safe. Wind power is good and clean, but very few wind power generators exist in the US. Wave generators are still experimental, and geothermal power is rarely used in the US (it powers most of the heating done in Iceland). Solar Power is pretty popular, but current technology has solar panels running at 30%-40% efficiency, and that isn’t good. Most solar panels are actually heat collecting panels used to boil a liquid to run a steam turbine. Nuclear Power Plants, and all Hydrocarbon burning plants use this method too. That leaves power generated by dams. Dams are unpopular with conservationists and people who strongly favor the environment. Most of the dams we can build are built, and their will be a lot of resistance to any new dams. Environmentalists are trying to get currently built dams taken down. So this isn’t a solution to our power problems. In the US most of the electrical power is created by burning hydrocarbons: oil, coal and natural gas. The first two are the cheapest and most polluting, and refining hydrogen with power generated from these sources of power won’t reduce the pollution problem.

Hydrogen is a gas and storage of gases is inefficient, also hydrogen is most flammable in its gas form (remember the pictures of the burning Hindenburg). A liquid is denser and easier to store, but hydrogen doesn’t turn into a gas until it approaches the temperature of absolute zero (around 13.8K or –242 degrees F). It would have to be kept at this temperature in the fuel stations. This would create the need for powerful refrigeration equipment, which is expensive and power hungry. So the hydrogen has to be stored as a gas, both in the car and in the storage tank. It has to be pressurized so that requires a strong tank, which means more expense to construct the station.

Another problem with hydrogen gas is that it is inflammable; the slightest spark, like a steel nozzle hitting a steel concrete pad, can set it off. This means special equipment will be needed to prevent fires, and to fight a probably fire. Hydrogen is more flammable than any other hydrocarbon fuel source (coal, oil, or natural gas) because it is the hydrogen in these compounds that is burned the most, so the storage of pure hydrogen is a big risk. This means you shouldn’t use a standard gas station. The hydrogen refueling station would have to be specially protected and locating it near a normal gas station would be only asking for trouble.

The technology to create hydrogen fuel cells is pretty old. In fact it is what NASA uses to provide electricity and extra oxygen to most of its spacecraft. When there was an explosion in the Service Module of Apollo 13 it was caused by an exploding fuel cell. The Oxygen tank that exploded wouldn’t have burned for long if it hadn’t damaged the nearby Hydrogen tank—which provided the fuel. So fuel cells have to be handled carefully. If a hydrogen service station or a hydrogen powered car caught fire there would be a great chance of an explosion greater than one created by an equivalent amount of gasoline.

All of these problems can be fixed, given time and technology; technology, which is more expensive than other means of fueling a car. In Europe and Japan gasoline is much more expensive. They saw $3.00 a gallon gasoline long ago, so in these countries hydrogen power could be a good alternative. Another deciding factor is that European countries and Japan are so much smaller than the US so a much smaller infrastructure is required.

Still California is going ahead with the hydrogen concept and is attempting to construct one “Hydrogen Highway.” Of course the price of gas is the most expensive in California and Hawaii, so it makes sense to do it in California. Once the technology matures then the hydrogen-fueled car will be a good idea, but it is too early yet.

Answer 4

How is hydrogen made? It's often from processing natural gas or through the electrolysis of water, both expensive processes. A lot of money is being made off the sale of oil, in fact the highest profits of any business in the history of the world was reached recently by Exxon Mobile, or was it Shell....does it matter? With that kind of money comes impressive power to bend the powers that be to your will. We will be burning oil for a quite some time because corruption rules this planet at the present time and foreseeable future.

Answer 5

because electrolysis (the only way to make hydrogen) is very ineffecient. about 50% of the electricity is wasted.
we would be better off using electric battery cars which are 90% effecient. or use hybrids

people are adding extra batteries to a prius and plugging it in so that it doesnt use any gas on small trips.
an electric car costs the same to run as a gas car IF gasoline cost $0.60 per gallon

Answer 6

Fuel costs nearly double in most European countries. So it may be more economically viable in Europe. The technology has not settled or been perfected yet. but I agree its clearly time the world moved away from oil.

Answer 7

Because there's no infrastructure for hydrogen fuel and it would cost too much money to get it going.

Answer 8

There are many tests on vehicles that must be performed. Hydrogen is not the safest thing to be riding on. I know I wouldn't want to be in an accident without the safety standards. So if they want to take a little longer making sure we are secure then so be it. My life is priceless.

Answer 9

Because the present Administration's friends in the oil biz will profit by keeping things status quo.

Answer 10

Because it doesn't work.

Hydrogen is either produced from water which requires LOTS of electricity - which comes from power plants that burn coal and oil. Or, it comes from cracking natural gas - which is a limited resource from the ground.