rickair7777

OK, I admit it, I was a nuke at one point

CPOonfinal

Who would've guessed?!? Now it makes sense and I'm laughing because you were flexing you mental muscle (and crushed me, by the way). Navy nuke?

rickair7777

Yup.
................

flightest

Hydrogen as fuel? Sure, as soon as somebody figures out how to produce and distribute Hydrogen for less money, and energy, than it takes to do the same with petrol.

I'm not holding my breath.

FT

rickair7777

Obviously it's not competetive now because...

-Hydrogen is not an energy source (like fossil fuels). You have to put energy into some process (such as electrolysis) to produce hydrogen in the first place. $$$$

-Vehicles are not designed to use it, and would have to be re-enginered or modified $$$$

-A delivery and storage infrastructure would have to be developed. Actually this would be easier than one might think, because small electrolysis unit could be connected to any elextrical grid...you could even have one in your garage.

-There will be performance penalties...you will either give up range or trunk space due to the volume. Also the fuel tank will need to be very heavy to withstand collision impact. Any rupture of a liquid hyrdogen tank would be almost certainly catastrophic.

Once "Peak Oil Production" is reached (we may be there already according to some), gas prices will rise inexorably and new fuels will come into use according to their costs and associated drawbacks. Hydrogen could be one of them, but it will depend on the cost and environmental impact of the competing fuels.

Hydrogen has some environmental benefit. It burns with essentially zero emmissions (other than water) but because it must be produced using energy, some power plant somewhere may be burning coal or whatever else. The good news here is that large power plants can run FAR more effeciently and cleanly than ANY vehicle engine. Shifting the power generation from vehicle engines to big plants will reduce emissions, even using fossil fuels. Nuclear, Hydro, and solar obviously can produce grid power with zero emissions.

mike734

Solar is the key to producing Hydrogen. Large amounts can be produced in the SW USA and transported via pipelines to regional distribution hubs.

rickair7777

This is a possibility. Over longer distances, it might be more economical to generate it locally (at or very near the end-use site) using grid power which could be produced by the most logical means. I can think of a few snags regarding the pipelines...liquid H2 would probably not be good in pipes, and gaseous H2 would have a large volume. Plus H2 diffuses right through metal...you'd lose a fair bit over the distance I think.