Posted on 06/12/2008 6:34:42 PM PDT by doug from upland
Nuclear fission.
Couldn't that make Hydrogen as a bi-product of making nuclear power? That would make nuclear and hydrogen a natural? Power for the cars and nuclear power make electricity for our homes.
Hydrogen does not and never will make economic sense, other than in the most exotic applications. Yhe space shuttle is the best current example, because MASS energy density is the critical measure. However, the space shuttle can pay the price of carrying LIQUID hydrogen, with a density far exceeding the extremely costly, bulky, and clumsy 5000- or 10,000-psi gaseous hydrogen tanks. But like the nuclear powered carrier or submarine, it just cannot be scaled down to less than gigantic size.
But that tank of liquid hydrogen actually holds less than 2/3 the hydrogen present in the same volume of gasoline - and barely over 1/4 the energy content! So hydrogen is a boondoggle, and so is ethanol, which has only 2/3 the energy content of gasoline. Butanol - from biological sources - is a far better alternative.
Transportation - gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel - account for over 2/3 of our petroleum consumption. And more than 95% of these products are made from petroleum. These light liquid hydrocarbons (LLH) that are the transportations fuels of today will serve the same role for many decades in the future. The only change will be the raw materials from which they are made.
“Found” petroleum is valuable because of its energy content. What you put in your tank contains about 85% of the energy content of what came out of the well. Non-petroleum sources will require added energy to assemble those large hydrocarbon molecules from more elemental sources of carbon - perhaps from CO2, waste products, coal, or other sources - and hydrogen, probably from brackish or partially treated waste water.
Right now I THINK that bioengineered bugs - bacteria or algae - will be the major new source, probably grown in transparent tank farms in sunny climates near industrial CO2 sources.
Your insurance company won't let you put your H2 powered car in a garage. Neither will the car company.
Liquid H2 requires about 10% boil-off every 24 hours.
The world's leakiest substance and 5,000 psi don't mix.
Would Muslims find this car an already explosive device that they can use as a terrorist weapon?
Sign me up!
That was only fiction in “Back to the Future”. Nukes don't fit in cars yet, so for now we are stuck primarily with carbon emitting sources of power.
You statement said “...power this earth.” I figured you meant what you said. My bad.
YEAH, BUT THIS CAR SPITS OUT WATER. THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE GOING TO COMPLAIN THAT ONCE THIS CAR GOES INTO PRODUCTION THE WORLD’S OCEAN LEVELS ARE GOING TO RISE.
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