Posted on 06/19/2005 6:26:00 PM PDT by calcowgirl
It's clean and invisible, and it will take our cars farther than we ever dreamed. Hydrogen could be the fuel in our grandchildren's cars, or perhaps even our own, but only if we invest now.
(snip)
Generated by a variety of sources, some of them clean and renewable, hydrogen is not a pipe dream. While hybrid vehicles do reduce our dependence on foreign oil and clean our air, we also must invest in totally eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels and their related air emissions.
Hydrogen is the simplest and lightest element. It can be produced from molecules called hydrocarbons by applying heat. This process is currently used to make hydrogen out of compressed natural gas (CNG) and is the cheapest method of its production. CNG contains some of the hydrogen that is produced, and it also provides the energy needed to separate this hydrogen out. The rest of the hydrogen comes from steam that is added during the process. As technologies progress, renewable, nonpolluting fuel sources such as solar energy will be used, creating cleaner means of hydrogen production.
Currently, vehicles running on CNG are effective in combating harmful emissions. Some hydrogen critics question continuing to devote resources into hydrogen fuel cells while current technology is working. It's because the progress we put into hydrogen now will let us get rid of nonrenewable sources in the future. California will become a true protector of natural resources.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set the wheels in motion, pledging to take California to "the environmental future" by way of hydrogen. The Vision 2010 outlined in his Hydrogen Highway Network Action Plan would ensure that, by 2010, every Californian would have access to hydrogen fuel along the state's highways, with an increasing percentage of that hydrogen produced from clean, renewable resources.
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(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Find out more about hydrogen at www.hydrogenhighway.ca.gov
The same author who wrote this article would be the first to don his hippie threads and protest in front of all the nuclear reactors that would have to be built to sustain a hydrogen economy.
And to what price level will gasoline have to rise before hydrogen fuel becomes comparatively economical?
The last reports I've seen is that presently around $6.00/gallon although once the economies of scale kick in that would drop to around $4.
Hyrdogen is not cheaper than hydrocarbons.
Ditto that........ Nukes are the only win-win method of producing hydrogen.
"some of them clean and renewable"
The accent there should be on SOME.
My brohter in law is a chemist, and he tells me that getting it from natural gas yields a bi-product of CO2.
Not so nice, Huh?
Check out BLPD on stock market.....The are using fuel cells that can use any thing that produces methane, from corn through garbage.
Purdue University recently received a grant to produce the brakes for the cars (a major problem) and most of the major auto manufactures are buying stock (DC, Ford, Nissan, Tyota etc....It's cheap right now, but expected to go up in the next five years)
The state of Michigan gave the company several acres in the Detroit area to build their new factory) They are currently building buses for large cities and have several on back order.
Only bi-product on the buses is 100% pure water.
See post above.....Have been following the development since the founder was recognized in 2000. Lots of progress since then. "W" greeted a car made with their product at the WH last year....It had driven cross country from CA....again the only bi-product was H2O. Modified commercial car....FOrd or CHevy IIRC.
Hyrdogen is not cheaper than hydrocarbons.zactly. I can't believe that anything is cheaper than raw feedstock that is pumped out of the ground ...
CH4 + 2 H2O => CO2 + 4 H2
If you also do the math on the energetics, including the huge energy losses in using hydrogen as the carrier, you'll find that for the same amount of "gas mileage" you generate more CO2 from the natural gas than you would from gasoline.
Uhhhhhh...No. Hydrogen must be manufactured...only practical non-polluting way would be to construct many more nuke plants, (not that I am against that)...but if you are going to do that, just invest the $ in new battery technology and go with electric cars...(skip the hydrogen "Middleman").
OOps forgot the link to the page.
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/index.html
The First Man-made Nuclear Reactor
How Does a Nuclear Reactor Work?
Where Will the Next Generation of Nuclear Engineers Come From?
My brother in law is a jerk and says that we could drink selzer with CO2 instead of plain water, methink mucho nicer!
The "new" diesel gas made with soybean is now on sale at our local Farm Bureau Co-op....It's cheaper than the gasoline.And - how much of that is subsidized?
See, if it were TRULY 'cheaper than gasoline' I believe we'd be 'drowning' in that stuff ...
DOn't know the answer to the subsidy question, but do know that they aren't the only one to carry it....If supply and demand are the issues....They're having a bit of problem keeping up with the demand....BTW the same station was the first to offer lead free gasoline....It's everywhere now, but IIRC it was initially subsidized.
There was a very informative article in our local paper, but that was last year. If you are interested I'm sure the Soy bean farmers have material on the intrenet.
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