CharlieDigital
02-24-2006, 05:32 AM
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70273-0.html?tw=rss.index
As I understand it, we currently have three major roadblocks against the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells.
1. Hydrogen is difficult to store, leading to lower "efficiency" as defined in distance traveled per volume of fuel.
2. There is no infrastructure in place to transport and deliver hydrogen as a fuel.
3. Current processes still require too much energy to produce hydrogen in an economically and environmentally viable manner; we are still mostly dependent on fossil fueld to produce the stuff.
Number 3 is, IMO, the big one. Make it economically viable and the capitalist economy of ours will do the rest. What's interesting is that the US may end up late to they hydrogen party since most of this research will benefit countries, like China and India, where the gas distribution and delivery infrastructure is still sparse. These countries, with their growing thirst for energy have a more than likely opportunity to take the lead in terms of switching to an alternative like hydrogen. Plus it doesn't hurt that the government in China also has much more power over their populace.
As a side note, I haven't seen it mentioned on this board, but has anyone else read about Ford's hydraulic hybrid technology (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/02/60_mpg_ford_f15.php)? They claim to be able to acheive 60MPG with a Ford F150 using this technology. The only downside is that just when it looked like the monster trucks were starting to fade out, we may see a revival and a reverse swing in the trend.
Very interesting times http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
As I understand it, we currently have three major roadblocks against the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells.
1. Hydrogen is difficult to store, leading to lower "efficiency" as defined in distance traveled per volume of fuel.
2. There is no infrastructure in place to transport and deliver hydrogen as a fuel.
3. Current processes still require too much energy to produce hydrogen in an economically and environmentally viable manner; we are still mostly dependent on fossil fueld to produce the stuff.
Number 3 is, IMO, the big one. Make it economically viable and the capitalist economy of ours will do the rest. What's interesting is that the US may end up late to they hydrogen party since most of this research will benefit countries, like China and India, where the gas distribution and delivery infrastructure is still sparse. These countries, with their growing thirst for energy have a more than likely opportunity to take the lead in terms of switching to an alternative like hydrogen. Plus it doesn't hurt that the government in China also has much more power over their populace.
As a side note, I haven't seen it mentioned on this board, but has anyone else read about Ford's hydraulic hybrid technology (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/02/60_mpg_ford_f15.php)? They claim to be able to acheive 60MPG with a Ford F150 using this technology. The only downside is that just when it looked like the monster trucks were starting to fade out, we may see a revival and a reverse swing in the trend.
Very interesting times http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/smirk.gif