Hydrogen power produces no emissions other than steam. Some companies are researching these engines, but no progress (or interest) seems forthcoming. Do you think there is a concerted effort to suppress this technology?
2007-08-09 06:26:50 · 18 answers · asked by Mike 1 in Environment ➔ Alternative Fuel Vehicles
Quite the opposite, an abolute ton of money is going into hydrogen fuel research.
The problem is not how to use the hydrogen, the problem is how to get and transport the hydrogen. You need either a method of producing hydrogen within a car, or a method to transport it to a car (like a hydrogen fueling station). If you have a fueling station, you need a way for the station to produce the hydrogen or a way to get the hydrogen to the station.
There are several ways to get hydrogen. The only reasonably efficient method we have right now is to get it from natural gas, but the process produces just as much greenhouse gas emissions as burning gasoline, so it's essentially useless. We can get it from water by means of electrolysis, but this is far too inefficient a method right now to be a viable option.
If you're going to produce the hydrogen within the car, you need a fuel cell. Technology for fuel cells is simply not sufficiently advanced right now. If you're going to use hydrogen fueling stations, you need to build an absolute ton of infrastructure to transport the hydrogen to the fueling station or provide the stations with a method of producing lots of hydrogen gas. You also need a method of storing lots of high-pressure hydrogen in a car.
So there are a number of reasons why we don't have hydrogen cars, nor will we have them for several decades. The most promising development is the production of hydrogen from aluminum-gallium alloys. By combining these alloys with water you can produce hydrogen. This would solve all the problems listed above, because you'd just have to fill up your car with aluminum pellets and water. There are some problems with this technology, such as the amount of heat produced by the reaction, so it's still quite a ways off.
http://www.physorg.com/news98556080.html
2007-08-09 07:13:58 · answer #1 · answered by Dana1981 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The technogy to run engines on hydrogen isn't the problem. That's been around for more than 100 years. It's our ability to produce hydrogen cheaply in large quantities that prevents its use. And, SMERC72 is incorrect about the danger. Gasoline is more dangerous than hydrogen (I'm a chemist ... I know).
2007-08-10 16:39:00 · answer #2 · answered by jdkilp 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To the best of my knowledge, at present, the carbon footprint to produce the hydrogen is larger than the emission saving for it's use. it may take a while for this to change, or the technology may be surpassed by something completely different in the future.
If anything is profitable, an entrepreneur or big business will not be suppressed. It's just not profitable yet.
2007-08-10 16:40:57 · answer #3 · answered by electricpole 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it does. What does not exist is a source of hydrogen to use for fuel in those engines. Almost all the hydrogen we use today is made from natural gas in a process that is not really any cleaner than just burning the gas in an engine directly.
2007-08-09 07:47:07 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The technology exists. It isn't being suppressed, it's being intensively developed by many companies.
It's still too expensive, and we'll need alternative power plants to generate the hydrogen. And a distribution system.
It's coming but not soon. 10-25 years.
2007-08-09 06:38:05 · answer #5 · answered by Bob 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Hydrogen cars can and will be built, but making hydrogen through electrolysis of water is expensive. In a 60% efficient electrolyzer it takes 52.8 Kilowatt hours to make the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline. At 10 cents a kwh the gallon of gasoline equivalent would cost $5.28.
Hydrogen can be made impurely from heating biomass and letting it break up into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane and other gases.
I am in the process of building a hydrogen car. It will not run on 100% hydrogen though because of cost. It will use 95% liquid fuel and 5% hydrogen. Doing this allows you to burn any liquid fuel you want in your engine in addition to an extra 25 mpg boost.
I recommend buying the DVD from knowledgepublications.com. That's where I learned everything.
As for fuel cells, wait another 20 years and see then.
P.S. Don't believe anything you hear about hydrogen's safety. It is a very safe fuel.
2007-08-09 07:09:02 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I researched this over 30 years ago with the Hedtke Institute. The fact that the technology has existed for this long with feasible integrated solutions, is discouraging. There are certainly opponents, energy companies, to having this in consumer hands without replacing the revenue they would lose if this technology were introduced without their control. So to say that there is not some kind of conspiracy to withhold this is naive. You can see some of this research posted on the Institute's site.
2007-08-13 05:12:08 · answer #7 · answered by Stormy on the border 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one is suppressing the technology.
The problem is that the hydrogen that is needed to make these devices run is not readily avbailable. Hydrogen can be extracted from natural gas and from water (by using electricity), but it probably costs more to produce the hydrgen than to simply use the gas and electricity for other purposes.
Furthermore, there is presently no storage and distribution system for hydrogen, even if it were available.
2007-08-09 06:41:58 · answer #8 · answered by BAL 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Impracticality makes it less than desirable. It is highly explosive and costs to produce are prohibitive. It can't be made idiot proof and fuel stations could turn into giant bombs by some dummy trying to fill his tank. And wrecks could be disasterous, a backfire could explode an engine, a fuel leak could burn a car like a cutting torch in seconds before you could stop to escape the fire. The Japanese have determined that it's too dangerous and will not waste time or money developing it any further.
2007-08-12 11:32:53 · answer #9 · answered by ideamanbmg 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, technology exists, and there are in fact a few hydrogen powered vehicles running around. They are, however, experimental in nature and not ready for commercial use. The main problems with hydrogen as a vehicle fuel are:
1) Cost - it is much more expensive than the equivalent amount of gasoline or diesel. Hydrogen is not free it must be produced. This requires both capital equipment and energy the cost of both of these must be factored into the cost of the fuel.
2) Transportation and storage - Hydrogen can only be held as a liquid at extremely high pressures or very low temperatures. Thus, storage in the liquid state involves both safety issues (high pressure containment) or large costs (refrigeration). When stored as a gas, its energy density is very low meaning that the range of a hydrogen fueled vehicle will be short.
3) Infrastructure - There is currently no network of convenient fueling facilities for hydrogen powered vehicles.
Work is being done to address many of these problems, but the solutions will not be easy (or cheap).
Your last question, with its conspiracy theory overtones, is not worth answering.
2007-08-09 18:01:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
FEAR!!! Does Hindenberg ring any bells. that was hydrogen and left a reminder of what can happen with Hydrogen.
2007-08-11 19:41:50 · answer #11 · answered by greatlakesmedved 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋