[chaosagent]

Yes but the amount of energy has to be equivalent. That's why a hydrogen-powered car has to carry more fuel than a conventional one.

Gasoline is hard to beat in the mass-to-energy department. That's why nothing has replaced it yet. And the same reason propane/LNG powered cars have to have larger fuel tanks to travel the same distance.

[TBall]

While I do not currently own this stock in this company, but I do think there work is very interesting and addresses many of the concerns brought up in this thread.

http://www.millenniumcell.com/index.pl

[Still Thinking]

Gasoline is hard to beat in the mass-to-energy department. That's why nothing has replaced it yet. And the same reason propane/LNG powered cars have to have larger fuel tanks to travel the same distance.

Well, maybe we shouldn't think of hydrogen as a gasloine alternative, but maybe as a precursor. Since the h2 is already in the high energy state (from the process in the original post), could we add carbon and synthesize gasoline? If so, we would avoid all the investment, infrastructure, tank size, and leak prevention issues which have been mentioned as hurdles to acceptance of hydrogen fuel. Plus, if we were making it from scratch, perhaps we could come up with a cleaner burning formula. I don't know if the pollution producing components of gasoline are dictated by the way it is used or are a side effect of the petroleum feedstock.

[myself6]

I don't think that is correct. A diesel sub can stay down a predetermined amount of time before refueling. Therefore the amount of space it has for fuel equals x amount of energy. A nuclear sub is about the same size as a diesel sub and I believe the fuel rods will keep it going for many years. If people didn't have to live on these things they would never have to stop. The amount of space for fuel on a nuclear sub equals infinite (relatively speaking) amount of energy to do work.

Obviously I was taking liberties with the language here but the concept is clear. 20 gallons of gas and a 20 gallon tank of compressed hydrogen do equal the same amount of energy.

[myself6]

do = do not.


I hate typos