If we're really going to be serious about this...
A hydrogen transportation economy is actually technically sound. The
gasoline you burn in cars is NOT oil, it's petroleum based, a relatively
small component that is fractioned from the feedstock. The process of
making gasoline requires a lot of energy, transportation and loss. The
only feedstock is oil.
Hydrogen can be generated from any electrical source and electrical
generation is rarely oil-fired. Western coal is not scarce and generation
plants can be mine-mouth. We also generate (and can generate more)
electricity from hydro, nuclear, wind, geothermal, and even photovoltaic.
Of all those choices I prefer Nuclear (as a former nuclear power plant
operator who still has an appreciation of how well these plant CAN work).
Transportation is less of a problem than gasoline because the Hydrogen
generation can occur anywhere with only minor transmission losses.
It's a good direction to take, has been well analyzed, and really does
require a national initiative by a leading power to undertake. The exhaust
is water vapor, no greenhouse gases. It can be done so that there is a net
positive for the environment and a sustainable mode of transportation.
But I'd hate to stand within a hundred yards of a Hydrogen powered
Triumph.
-----Original Message-----
From: Randall Young [mailto:Ryoung@navcomtech.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 7:01 AM
To: fot@autox.team.net; team-thicko@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: State of the Onion speech
Jack W. Drews wrote :
>
>
> I am enthusiastic about everything that President Bush said in his
> speech last night.
>
> However, there is one subject that gives me pause for reflection --
> the Hydrogen Powered Car initiative. Some things to consider:
>
> 1. In the future, what leaks out of Triumphs?
Oil, just like always.
There are some fundamental flaws in the Hydrogen car initiative, not least
of which is where does all that hydrogen come from ? Unlike petroleum,
free hydrogen does not occur naturally, it has to be separated from
something else, usually water, which takes energy, usually electricity.
Where do we get electricity ? Burning fossil fuels (coal, petroleum) is
where we get most of it today ... and coal is starting to get scarce here
... so guess what, we're going to wind up burning petroleum to make the
electricity that makes the hydrogen that we burn in our cars; and losing
energy at every step ... which means the Hydrogen car will increase our
dependence on oil, not decrease it.
Randall
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