Lovin' Hydrogen

Discover ^ | November 2001 | Brad Lemley

[hopespringseternal]

This stone-cold fact first appeared awfully far down in the article. It should have been in the first paragraph; then we could have dispensed with many of the idiotic claims in the article, such as:

Too far into this tripe for me to delve.

If only we could turn the ignorance, stupidity, and dishonesty of "science" reporters into an energy source, then we would have something worth talking about.

[Ditto]

of course the utility companies will fight it - but it is the future - and not a minute too soon.

You better check your premise. They utility companies love fuel cells. Who the hell do you think owns the natural gas you need to run them?

I always thought hydrogen has a future, but when I see a proven jerk like Lovins jump on board, I have to rethink my premise. This guy, like his buddy Paul Erlich, has been wrong 100% of the time. They have a political agenda that they push with junk science.

[Fixit]

it'd be more efficient to give them diesel powered cars.

Diesel power bump!

My VW TDI averages ~50mpg mixed cycle, including a lot of city driving, high speed (75+mph) highway driving, and copious air-conditioner use. It starts on the coldest New England winter morning even without the benefit of a garage to cover it. No smoke, no smell and it isn't a snail.

Today's breed of diesel engines are generations removed from the stinkpots of the early 80's, and what is just over the horizon is even more impressive. The Germans have full size (Big Audi, Big BMW) sedans running the next generation of diesel power that get 40+ miles to the gallon delivering plenty of horsepower.

Solar isn't the only power source to benefit from the rapid expansion of available computing power and reduced costs of semiconducters. As sensors and control systems are improved all sorts of systems will be improved in a way that will lead to a more efficient use of energy without a corressponding decrease in lifestyle.

[Fixit]

Link to another thread on a very similar topic.

The Coming Hydrogen Economy

[chimera]

Formal thermodynamics just adds a bunch of math to those ideas to better define what is meant.

Yeah, but its pretty pedantic and boring. I got very weary of drawing control volumes and figuring out flows across boundaries. I'm a statistical mechanics kind of person myself...

[FreedomPoster]

Yeah, I did a little of that in grad school. As I (dimly) recall, it was pretty neat figuring pressure via the statistical number of particles bouncing off of the container wall.

[FreedomPoster]

If solar cell cost tracks Moore's Law

Whoa, pawdner! That's a mighty big "if" you've got there. I've seen nothing to indicate this is the case.

I'd love to see something that shows this is happening, or even likely to happen. Got any links? Otherwise, like much of Lovins' "work", it's a pipe dream.

[chimera]

I always thought hydrogen has a future, but when I see a proven jerk like Lovins jump on board, I have to rethink my premise. This guy, like his buddy Paul Erlich, has been wrong 100% of the time. They have a political agenda that they push with junk science.

That was my thought too. Being on the same side as Amorous Loving on any issue is a bit too much to fathom. The guy has to be Luddite numero uno when it comes to central generating facilities for baseload power. He even seems to contradict his one good idea (matching energy source to end use, which is just common sense) if you read between the lines in the article.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

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