Do you think hyrdogen is the future of cars?

Question

Just got to thinking about this after reading this article.
http://www.getweyez.com/getweyezmain9.html

Answer 1

could be.
same goes for electric vehicles though.

The thing is, you have to think about how the electricity or hydrogen is made. If you have your own solar panel array at your home with an electric car, then your being very sustainable. If you have a hydrogen car and you use solar or wind at home to make the hydrogen from water, again you are being sustainable.

Now if you are just using the typical electricity to power your car, then you are relying on dirty energy. Now using electricity from a coal factory is still better than burning gasoline, but its still not sustainable. Using electricity from coal to generate hydrogen, to burn (or convert to electricity) in a car is even more inefficient still. That system is less efficient than just an electric car plugged into coal generated electricity, simply because they have added an unnecessary step which has to use energy (distribution of the hydrogen, etc.)

we should look at Denmark as an example, they have small self-sustaining hydrogen filling stations (look like coke dispensers) and they use solar to generate hydrogen from nearby ponds or catch basins. This is very efficient!!

Hydrogen is a good thing, but we need to be smart about how we produce the hydrogen, because if the hydrogen is coming from dirty electricity, we are better off with gasoline.

Answer 2

Possibly. A lot of money is being spent by the US DOE to find out. It has issues, as does any new technology, that need to be addressed:

Right NOW ... they have to determine a method of storage (i.e. design a "fuel tank") that can withstand the pressures that have to be used to compress hydrogen enough to make it small enough that you wouldn't have a trailer for a gas tank. I believe that report must be produced and submitted in the next year. Carbon fiber is the first choice, but very expensive. Production doesn't even meet current demand. Either way, invest in carbon fiber. It's the "plastic" of the next generation.

Fuel cells have a platinum catalyst and there is not enough platinum on the planet to put one in every car, besides, they are too heavy (100X the weight of a car engine for the same power). But they are working on an iron catalyst which could at least solve the rare metal problem.

Of course there is the issue of distribution to the oil companies to convert from a gas economy to a H2 economy, the same filling stations wiil be used and they will definitely incorporate the cost into the price. The real cost to the oil companies is trillions and trillions of dollars in oil derricks and worthless land holdings saturated with valueless oil. They want the time to control any technology which threatens to diminish their economic control. (psst ... who do you think is paying the bills? not the US government ... the foreign govt that owns 12% of the US is paying)

In the short to mid term expect more city vs highway cars, and more batteries. Long term maybe we'll see an H2 economy.

Answer 3

No.

#1. You must first make hydrogen, so hydrogen is not a source fuel like coal, oil, or uranium. (Or sunlight for that matter.)

#2. Hydrogen is a gas, expensive to compress, liquify, and store.

That is why hydrocarbons are such an efficient way to power vehicles. They store lots of hydrogen without need for pressurization of a tank.


#3. Almost emission-free vehicle technology has been available for 60 years ... natural gas / propane. They burn extremely clean and require little effort to liquify.

The cars exist today, but cost slightly more and are inconvenient to refuel.

If people won't pay $500 more for a clean vehicle available today, why does anyone think hydrogen, which is a heck of a lot more dangerous and expensive to use, is going to work?

Answer 4

At first clange H2 cars look like a great deal. No CO2 emissions. Hydrogen can be obtained by electrolysis of water.

Even IF we already had the infrastructure for hydrogen we have for Gasoline and Diesel you still have a load of obstacles to whip. How do you store it? Hydrogen in gas form requires a lot of pressure to get any signigicant volume. In liquid form you have to keep it below -200C. Combine it with oxygen and the least amount of spark you have got one heck of a fire. Remember the Hindenberg? In a confined space and you have an explosion!

Hydrogen is quite abundant in nature but not by itself. The only way you can get it easily is by electrolyisis and the amout electricity necessary to run hydrogen generation is very high. Where do you get the electricity from?

Solar? The sunlight you get for free but the solar cells are expensive. .

Wind? Wind is free but it doesn't always blow. And they too are expensive.

Hydrolelctric? Reasonable cost, long life, but Ecology folks don't want us to dam the rivers.

Nuclear? If the plants were standardized they could be made at much lower cost and do have a very long life. The spent fuel is a hazard but fired in to the Sun would pose no threat. Ecology folks still don't like them.

You noticed none of the things I mentioned produce any CO2. It doesn't really make much sense to go to hydrogen to run a fuel cell to make electric motor work when you have to expend so much energy to get the hydrogen.

Better rechargable batteries with shorter recharge times. Why make electricity to make hydrogen to power a fuel cell to make electricity to drive a motor.

Why not mkae electricity to charge a bettery to store the electricity to drive a motor.

Answer 5

Hydrogen is a late contender in the earth-friendly fuel battle. Electric got started in 1980, biofuels in the 2000's and hydrogen even later. The problem with hydrogen is that you need to build a hydrogen economy from scratch (cars, refuelling stations, hydrogen plants, suppliers, etc.) which needs a billion-dollar investment while stuff like biodiesel can be distributed with an existing gas station with with little need to build more structures, and automakers don't need to totally redesign their cars. Also, hydrogen production is in its infancy. by the time it is economically ready, the electric and biofuel industry will have left it in its dust.

Answer 6

Only if the infrastructure of supplying fuel to cars changes dramatically, and we develop a cheap way of generating hydrogen directly rather than using inefficiently generated electricity as an intermediate energy product. Probably better to burn liquid fuels, because we know how to handle them and they give a lot of energy for their volume. You can check out more at the Big Biofuels Blog.

Answer 7

I think eventually hydrogen cars will comprise a portion of the transportation sector. If the aluminum alloy technology works out on a larger scale, it could solve the storage and transportation problems of hydrogen.

The problem is that this technology is still a ways off. We already have environmentally friendly automotive technology in hybrids and electric cars, and we need to make better use of it. If hydrogen technology advances, we can incorporate it into the transportation sector. Until then we need to make use of the excellent technologies we already have.

Answer 8

Actually, the main problem is the reliabale and efficient way of extracting hydrogen, since it does not exist in its lone state naturally but included in other minerals and compounds like water.

The electrolysis of water to split hydrogen and oxygen is the most famous method of hydrogen extraction, but it takes lots of electricity to do so, making it economically unviable.

There is however a new method to extract hydrogen from water, using an alloy of alumuinum ang gallium. It is very promising.

When a reliable and cheap supply of hydrogen is made available, expect to see more hydrogen vehicles.

Answer 9

Hydrogen, as used to generate electric in a fuel-cell, is one possible technology. but it is years away & even then is very inefficient compared to the pure electric technologies available right now.

Electric you can refuel from any existing 110/250V mains socket at home or work (even from your own micro-generator); or in just 10 minutes from a high power supply http://www.phoenixmotors.com while you stop for a coffee.

You are not likely to be alowed to make your own hydrogen, so you need to drive to the oil companies garage to refuel (asuming they can figure how to manufacture, transport & store it commercially), where it can be conveinintly taxed and profit the oil co shareholders.

Answer 10

BMW thinks so. Just look at the most recent edition of BMW Magazine.

Personally, I think oil will be around for hundreds of years. And if they stop making gas burning cars, I'll buy one of the last ones and keep it running as long as they'll sell the gas--which will be a long time.