why dont we use hydrogen as our main energy source?

Question

its easy to make, you need watter, and electricity.

2 things we will never run out of.

Answer 1

umm.. because we ARE running out of water and electricity,

We have plenty of seawater, of course, but if you split up seawater to make hydrogen, then you also are splitting the NaCl which is in the sea water. Then you have chlorine and sodium, which are both tough to handle. This is possible, but difficult.

If you make hydrogen by splitting fresh water then you don't have that problem, but as you might know, in many parts of the USA there is a water shortage that is rapidly turning into a water crisis.

And you would need a LOT of freshwater. Say that as a fuel hydrogen is roughly equal to gasoline by weight. So you would need 100 pounds or more a week of hydrogen per car,

OK, to get 100 pounds of hydrogen from H2O you need about 900 pounds of water. ( H weight = 1, O weight = 16, so oxygen is 16/18ths of the weight of water. Hydrogen is only 2/18ths.)

And then there's the problem of electricity. You need a LOT of electricity to split water. The amount of electricity you need to split 900 pounds of water would be equal to more than the amount you would get from generating electricity using a generator that burned 100 pounds of gasoline. In other words, it would take more fuel to generate the electrcity than you would get hydrogen out.

Of course, if you could get the electricity from wind, solar and nuclear, then you would be in good shape. But we are not nearly there in terms of generating electricity from wind and solar. We will have to make a lot more progress. Then there are still some other problems that need to be solved, likethe distribution system, etc. (ps it is NOT true that hydrogen is more dangerous than gasoline... and the Hindenberg blew up in the 1930s. We have learned a lot about handling dangerous materials since then! Handling hydrogen safely is not the problem)

I am pretty confident that in the year 2050 you will be driving a hydrogen powered car. But it will take that long to put the whole system in place - making the electricity, gnerating the hydrogen, shipping it around, taking care of the water issue, and figuring out how to store it in the cars without having huge storage tanks....

Answer 2

The earth is warming, and the ice that was frozen thousands of years is melting. The big debate is whether it is natural or caused by man. Many say that man is causing it by adding carbon dioxide to the air ad causing the 'greenhouse effect'. I think it is natural since the earth has been through five Ice Ages and the earth heated then to end the Ice Ages. Climate science is not to the point to where it can explain the Ice Ages and man did not cause them because man was not around then. I take the attitude that if they can not explain the past then how do I believe them when they predict the future. Tempers tend to flare because of the talk of a 'carbon' tax to get money to fight global warming. When you hit some one in the pocket book, they tend to get very vocal. I must believe it is natural, but in 50 years we will know for sure.

Answer 3

It has to be controlled. It's VERY explosive, much more than gasoline. Ever hear of the Hindenburg?

By the way, I agree with your premise. Better, and cheaper controls on the use of the gas is needed first.

Answer 4

Probably we will, but it means retooling. Also the Oil Companies are not going to make it easy.

Answer 5

even if we did get hydrogen fission(?) centers set up all over, storing the hydrogen would be very very difficult considering that, as HOH, it is the most stable and unreactive compound ever, but as H alone, it is the most volatile and unstable.

Answer 6

and for electricity you need to burn oil.....